paranoia will destroy ya

Four months of almost nothing but dystopian fiction. That's about 32 novels, each with their own take on a perfect society harboring a fatal flaw. I've waded through bloody dictatorships, brutal authoritarianism, drugged out masses, information hoarders. I've wallowed in stories about corporate control, religious rule, all-for-one fascism, medical manipulation for the good of society. Big Brother's heart beats on every page - children turn in their parents, husbands their wives, teachers their students.

So, how is it affecting me? Well, my friends say I'm a little more paranoid. Rather, when I point out something that sounds perfectly logical to me (for instance, the fact that a largely unemployed populace of young adults makes for a very good pool of soldiers in ongoing wars, when I suspect some of our leaders may have in mind), they've taken to saying things like, "Still reading dystopias, huh?"

I think this literary diet is making the dystopian elements of our own society jump out at me. My friends, although a paranoid and anti-authoritarian bunch in general, think it's making see ghosts that are only dust mites. I suspect it's six of one and a half dozen of the other.