Like Paradise: 5 Utopian Books

I've never been one for the dystopian binge. 

Painting above: Flowers c. 1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

Be it books, music, TV, movies, dystopian narratives tend to dominate the mainstream, and while it can be cathartic, I would echo Karol Collymore's 2016 article over at Bitch that I personally find such narratives traumatic to watch.  Some even think the saturation of dystopian narratives are downright dangerous at worst, and rather narrow-minded at best.


Hunger Games? The Handmaid's Tale? Count me out, thanks (and yes, I have read Roxane Gay's 'What We Hunger For' in Bad Feminist and The Handmaid's Tale itself).

I think it is rather the duty of art at times to present a utopian vision for the future, or even alternate experience, especially at this time (says the person who is definitely not an artist). 

So let's talk utopianism as a Way Forward or possible Future Of. Reading is arguably one of my strengths, so I'm going to offer a reading list of utopian books.

Not another recommended reading list...

We have seen a proliferation of recommended reading lists of late, especially with regards to dismantling white supremacy and examining our own prejudices. While the theory and  presented on these lists are essential, I was surprised to see so little fiction and older books making the cut. Indeed, Cree Myles over at The Mary Sue put it best: If You Really Want to Unlearn Racism, Read Black Sci-Fi Authors.

To be perfectly honest, I think this scramble for and similarity among reading lists is further symptomatic of us non-Black and non-Indigenous folks suddenly realizing "oh my god, I have only been reading/consuming the writing of white people," (aka, our bookshelves are further reflective of our own prejudices and racism).

What makes for a utopian book imo?

Painting above: Study of Capers, Gorse, and a Beetle c. 1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

In making this list, I had three qualifying factors.

First, I wanted to make sure I have actually read all of the books I'm recommending, as I have recently made the mistake of recommending books I haven't read.

The second qualifier was the idea of utopianism itself. The books selected must not merely be a vision, but embodied/in practice. For the fiction specifically, I picked books where the characters not only live but thrive; where characters are safe in their own right, experience love, joy, pleasure, and justice. I wanted to see people win not just because they might be an underdog, but because it's so distinctly a possibility in their society.


Lastly, I didn't want the main plot point driving any of these books to be sexual violence of any sort. Oddly specific? I think not. A few years ago on The Toast, Michael Roston wrote a review of Hild by Nicola Griffith, and in this review, he had a critique (which was then a raging topic of debate) of George R. R. Martin's GOT series:

Fans of Martin’s argue that the rape (and molestation and misogyny) endemic in his work are nothing more than historical accuracy, and they do have a point. But his is a book that has dragons in it, and this is an old question but it’s always worth asking: why is it that a man can imagine flying, fire-breathing lizards, but he simply cannot get to a world in which women don’t live under the constant threat and fear of rape? (Michael Roston here )

So without further ado, here are five utopian books I recommend.

Painting above: Carnations c. 1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

FICTION
Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Readers of my previous blogs will no doubt recall my obsession with fantasy writer Jacqueline Carey. To put it extremely crudely, Starless is about a non-binary warrior and bodyguard to a physically differently-abled Princess, and they save the world from what is essentially a horde of zombies. I'm not kidding. It's awesome. It's beautiful. It's the anti-GOT with the same complexity of world building all in one novel. I read forty-eight books in 2018, and Starless is easily in the top five from that year.


What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours: Stories by Helen Oyeyemi

This collection of short stories is probably my favourite book of all time right now. Oyeyemi offers new fairy tales and enchanting stories where all sorts of folks are in love, and where all sorts of justice (sometimes magic is involved, sometimes not) is served.

Painting above: Tulip, Two Branches of Myrtle, and Two Shells c. 1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

NON-FICTION
The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of a Medieval Women's Movement by Laura Swan

Okay so this is the non-fictional account of what is sort of a group of radical not-quite nuns running their own utopia. Or, in short, its the herstory of a utopia that existed. I know, how do I even find these books? Beguinages are what cults fail so wildly and violently to be. Here's Swan's description of the book:

Beguines were laywomen, not nuns, and they did not live in monasteries. They practiced a remarkable way of living independently, and they were never a religious order or a formalized movement. But there were common elements that these medieval women shared across Europe, including their visionary spirituality, their unusual business acumen, and their courageous commitment to the poor and sick. Beguines were essentially self-defined, in opposition to the many attempts to control and define them. They lived by themselves or in communities called beguinages, which could be single homes for just a few women or, as in Brugge, Brussels, and Amsterdam, walled-in rows of houses where hundreds of beguines lived together--a village of women within a medieval town or city. 

Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu

If you were to ask me to recommend one book on how to actually practice utopian living IRL, it would be this one. This is a guidebook, focused on career and self-help. Dufu came up with her recommendations in the book by living this out herself, which she describes in detail in her book. To say this is merely about work-life balance is flippant and dismissive of what Dufu is actually offering - it's an actual manifesto, a how-to, and the world has never been more ready for it.

POETRY
#IndianLovePoems by Tenille K. Campbell

Would you believe that I bought this book at a cafe in Saskatoon in the same purchase where I was getting a cup of tea and cake? What a stroke of good luck. In the vein of pleasure activism, Campbell's poetry is funny, sweet, erotic, and quite literally, a pleasure to read. Follow her on the 'gram to get a sense of her excellent work.

Painting above: Butterfly c. 1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

HONOURABLE MENTIONS
The Feminist Utopia Project Edited by Alexandra Brodsky and Rachel Kauder Nalebuff

This seems like an obvious choice, no? I'm leaving it off the list for two reasons. First, it's very American. Second, while there are many gems in this collection, I personally find it heavy-handed on the whole.

Miss Fisher Murder Mystery Series by Kerry Greenwood

I have literally read all twenty books in this series. If anyone knows how to live, it's Phryne freaking Fisher. The reason the series doesn't make the cut is because there is frequent mention of sexual violence in the books (Phyrne Fisher is a detective). Otherwise, Phyrne is a wild, rich woman who actually gives to the poor/make things right, she catches the bad guys, and lives one helluva glamorous life while doing so. Greenwood wrote the first book in 1989! Though the series is older (book #20 was published in 2014), Greenwood faithfully tackles race, class privilege, socialism, and very often features LGBTQ2S characters.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Ozeki is one of my very favourite authors, and this, like the Miss Fisher series above, fails to make the cut because of the violence in the book. It gets an honourable mention because (spoiler) you see victims of terrible violence and illness survive when the odds seem stacked against them. Another reason I like it is for its realities- in Time Being you have women becoming warriors of sorts, and men being super emotionally vulnerable. Time is lived forwards and backwards-- one of my fave novels for sure.

Painting above: Pomegranate and Menelaus Blue c.1700 by Maria Sibylla Merian

Other, possibly utopian works I want to read

Curious about reading some Charlotte Perkins Gilman, though I know the tide has turned against her in recent years. 

Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series also has great appeal to me though I'm generally not much of a YA fiction fan.