What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

A very long time ago, a young optimistic reader once wrote a post about what could be a perfect bookworm utopia. Innocently—maybe with a tinge of evil—he thought we were ready to use all that precious knowledge we have accumulated on our history to begin a new world where bookworms could live happily. And maybe be praised as kings and queens in the process.

Today, I find myself reevaluating such a vision of life. Such innocence should be purged out of all adults. That is why I bring you my bookworm dystopia. A world in which I could never evolve without killing someone in the process.

Here’s what my bookworm dystopia would be like.

Bookworm Curfew.

Imagine a government-imposed and finable curfew that forces everyone to be restrained to only 15 minutes of reading per day. If you thought mental health problems in the world have exploded over the past years, wait till such a curfew sees the day!

Alpacino GIF - Alpacino - Discover & Share GIFs | Godfather image ...

Personal Book Collection Restriction.

We’re all guilty at some point for owning far more books than we could ever read in a lifetime. But there’s something quite satisfying in having a room filled with books. Now imagine having it restricted by a AI-controled state-police that limits the number of books per household to five?

Al Pacino GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Spoilers.

Imagine a society where non-readers are compelled to spoil books for you thanks to the Great Internet and some kind of incurable spoiler-provoking disease.

al pacino GIFs - Primo GIF - Latest Animated GIFs

Unfinished Series.

As if it wasn’t enough that certain authors do this already, imagine if all authors strongly believed that cliffhangers, open endings, and unfinished trilogies/series were the new cool.

88 minutes | Tumblr

Worldwide Alarm.

We’re talking about a time where drones are flying above our heads as we speak. I wouldn’t be surprised if noise pollution became part of our culture. Now imagine a world where peace and quiet were foreign to all, where, on top of the constant bickering of every individual out there, we’d have a gnawing discrete alarm constantly ringing in our ears.

Al Pacino GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Literature Destruction.

This isn’t just about the atrocious and horrifying dog-earring culture that some indulge today. This is about full-out destruction, from ripping to burning books!

Intense Scream GIF | Gfycat

While some of these ideas are actually present in certain societies, it’s good to know that there are still ways to steer clear from them and enjoy being a voracious reader.

All we could do now is pray that we won’t be Mother Nature’s target in this time of crisis. Imagine a virus spread through books. Oh boy.

Time to dive back into a book and escape.

Happy reading! 🙂

What do you think?

What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?

Till next time,

Banner1

INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – GOODREADS – TWITTER – OUTLOOK

Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

49 thoughts on “What is Your Bookworm Dystopia Like?”

  1. You know, if EVERYONE actually read for 15 minutes a day, I bet that would be a huge upswing in the overall numbers 😦

    I think we’re already living in a bookish dystopia. I mean, people watch(ed) American Idol, Survivor, the Kardashians, etc *double sad face*

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  2. My first thought after reading the title was Fahrenheit 451’s book burning. And a virus spread through books? Fantastic! And the contents of some books are more contagious or lethal than others. You can open a book, no big deal. But do you DARE read its words? Is it worth the potential consequences? I feel a fever coming on…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Great post and fun to think about! My bookworm dystopia is pretty much described in Fahrenheit 451. What if they burned all the books? And prevented knowledge? I’ve always loved to acquire new knowledge and I was one of those weird kids who just LOVED to go to school 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Bookworm dystopia? Imagine waking up one day and realizing you’re unable to read – worldwide analphabetism, and no one left to teach you how to read again. You can only ever retell the books you have read, until you forget them… 😉

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  8. Oh! My! Goodness!!!! 😱😱
    After reading your list I am in dire need of rainbows, unicorns and cute puppies videos!!!
    The nightmarish worlds in your list are quite horrible, but the first two make me look at pandemics and the zombie apocalypse as if they were Sunday picnics… 😀

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. Excuse me? How dare you even think about this nightmare dystopian world? This is the stuff of nightmares and I definitely would not survive. Surprisingly, I can cope with spoilers, but unfinished series would be my downfall and I’d rage.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I can’t imagine any of these happening to us bookworms, the thought is too terrifying! Although I’m sure that some people who never read might benefit from 15 mins reading time each day. This was a really fun post to read!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hahahah it is true. It would be such a positive thing for the world to have many of our fellow non-reading humans indulge a book for 15 minutes per day but man… imagine the toll on us! On bookworms! Oh boy. 😛 Thanks for reading, Darina!

      Like

      Reply

  11. Um, forget horror movies – this is one of the most TERRIFYING posts I’ve ever read!!! Limit my book collection to 5? Have every book end on a cliffhanger/open ending, or even worse, to have an author leave one of my most beloved series unfinished? PEOPLE BEING FORCED TO SPOIL BOOKS?? Just kill me now 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. I think if everyone read even just 15 minutes a day it would be a huge improvement! That being said, I completely agree with your list! I am currently without any fiction book to read and I feel completely lost 😧

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hahahah I honestly didn’t think about those non-readers and how beneficial it could be. I just thought about the countless hours, day and night, that I spend reading and couldn’t imagine a life where I could only do it for 15 minutes!! 😛

      Hmmm… All I could propose is to try audiobooks and get back to ebooks. But something tells me you prefer physical books hahahah 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. It could be beneficial for non readers yes! But when you’re in the middle of a great book having to stop after only 15 minutes is indeed torture!😁

        I have never tried audiobooks but I’m pretty sure I would stop listening after 2 mins, BUT you remind me that I have an uncharged kindle somewhere!! 🤩 I do obviously prefer physical books though 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Pingback: Saturday Miscellany—4/18/20 – The Irresponsible Reader
  17. Pingback: Links I’ve Enjoyed This Week – 19/04/2020 #WeeklyRoundUpPost 🔗📆 🔗 #SecretLibraryBookBlog – Secret Library Book Blog
  20. Pingback: My Monthly Wrap-Up | April 2020 – Bookidote
  21. Pingback: April Wrap Up 2020

  22. Hahaha how horrible to be limited to only 5 books. I can never think about which books to take when that deserted island question comes up in tags. No I can’t limit myself to 5 books let alone 1! The 15 minutes a day would be hard too! Does work reading count? How about reading signs and storefronts? It would be a mess! 😵

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s