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Right Angle: Backstage (01-28-2020)

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20 replies on “Right Angle: Backstage (01-28-2020)”

Yep, brokered convention. She reluctantly for the good of the country agrees to save the republic from the bad orange man.

Fun Fact. The local high school in Chappaqua NY (where Bill and Hil currently reside) is Horace Greeley HS. We played them in sports when I was in HS a town or two over.

I would love to see an occasional episode where the three of you do a book review. I really want to see your collective take on R.H. Benson’s 1907 novel, Lord of the World.

Bill should like it because of the elements that are early science fiction, Steve should like it because it is quite possibly the first dystopian novel in English (and an influence on later dystopian literature), and Scott would have an interesting take on its faith themes.

I recommend this because it is set in the early 2000s (predicted from a hundred years off) and contains many details about what supposedly happened over the course of the 20th century. While there are a few areas where Benson’s predictions are a bit “off,” he is uncannily accurate with most of his predictions. Most of the elements that make for the dystopian oppression of conscience are in place and have been for quite some time.

The best part is that it’s in the public domain. There are physical reprints available at Amazon for low cost, but electronic versions are up at Project Gutenberg for free.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14021

That sounds interesting and I’ll add it to my TBR pile, but I do have to point out that the “first dystopian novel in English” (nicely specific, that) by nature excludes both Thomas More’s Utopia and Plato’s Republic, both of which are arguably dystopias (but neither of which were novels, nor written in English).

Thanks for reminding me again of the reasons I love this place. Great people, great ideas, learning something new every day.

I could perhaps have said “the first modern dystopia,” but I’ll stand by my original statement, for the reasons you noted.

I hope you enjoy it. While one very rarely finds LotW explicitly named as an influence on later, more famous dystopian works, its influence will be readily apparent to a modern reader.

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