7 Books That Will Make You Think About Today’s Society

Heinrich Heine once said that “where books are burned, men are also burned”. Reading is truly capable of awakening consciences and becoming a vehicle of wisdom. For this reason, today we offer you a list of works that will make you reflect on today’s society.

They are books of different genres: from science fiction to dramatic ones. Moreover, they seem written today, in the past and forever. Their teachings are almost as current today as they were at the time they were written. Fortunately or unfortunately, many of these reflect our current society well.

1984 by George Orwell

Let’s start with George Orwell’s wrecking and current work, “1984”. It tells the story of a totally authoritarian regime based on individual decisions to ensure control of personal freedom.

Currently many nations have governments elected in a “democratic” way, through universal suffrage. However, reading this book, we discover that the paradox between certain behaviors and psychological factors related to the differences between slaves and the powerful are perfectly adaptable to today’s democratic societies. Control over individuals can be exercised through power, but also through the mass media, advertising and information.  

‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde

Many years have passed since Oscar Wilde wrote “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”, but the themes dealt with in this work are as current as they were then.

Why do humans obsess about having to look young for life?  Society looks at itself so critically in the mirror that, at times, it is unable to accept its own reality, manufacturing a different one, in its own mind.

‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ by Truman Capote

Surely many of you will remember the famous movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Audrey Hepburn as the protagonist. It is based on the novel of the same name by Truman Capote.

Far beyond the romanticism that many attribute to this work, its loneliness emerges. Unfortunate people who seek in social success what they do not actually find in their own lives. However, they look more like empty bodies unable to be happy than people who focus on appearances.

‘Eternal War’ by Joe Haldeman

Joe Haldeman was a veteran of the Vietnam war who, once back in the United States, decided to report what he lived in a singular science fiction book.

This book tells the story of an insignificant character who survives a 1000-year war that he doesn’t understand. On his way, he finds love, abrupt social changes, loneliness and a great lack of communication. It is  a foreboding story of what we might consider today’s society.  

‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding

William Golding wrote a novel considered dystopian *. It tells the story of a group of teenagers who are forced to organize a new society after a nuclear disaster.

“Lord of the Flies” deals with several themes. The risk of a nuclear war, as Einstein said, would be the last major world confrontation. But it also speaks of human nature which, however refined it may seem, continues to be wild, instinctive with respect to survival and, at times, unpredictable.  

* Dystopian: opposite of utopian. Something really unwanted.

‘The Prophet’ by Khalil Gibran

It has been several years since Khalil Gibran wrote this magnificent work, “The Prophet”. A collection of short and simple stories that offer little pearls of wisdom.

Each story that makes up this book is a magnificent reflection on love, justice, pleasure, beliefs, human behavior, friendship, religion…  That is to say, themes that are always current, yesterday as today.

‘The little prince’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Whoever considers “The Little Prince” a simple story for children means that he has not read it or that he has not done it carefully. In fact, Saint-Exupery’s work is as complete and profound as the human brain itself.

The protagonist of the work travels to different planets, meeting characters who enrich him and allow him to grow. These characters have current characteristics. For this reason, The Little Prince is a reflection on the society of yesterday and today, seen with the heart. 

These 7 books will help you reflect on today’s society.  In each of these you can find teachings that will make you think, get excited or get angry. But never forget one thing: reading these works will enrich you as a person and will allow you to acquire a more critical and objective spirit about the world around you.