“The government wouldn’t do that”
“Oh yes they would.”
Reading is ALWAYS political!
Feel free to recommend your own in the comments (fiction and nonfiction) and let’s create a list of books about people + systems + power !! Would love any recs to diversify this list too, knowledge is power people !
created by paigeypop
last updated September, 2026
Comments
“The government wouldn’t -“ I’m going to stop u right there bc the government absolutely would do that
great list! i definitely recommend chain-gang all-stars and ella minnow pea
YESSS. I would also add “The Jakarta Method” as well! Haven’t finished it but sooo good. It’s about the US govt.’s influence and the lengths they went to in spreading anti-communist propaganda and promoting capitalism in third world countries (like Indonesia) and atrocities that came with it.
Added!!! Thanks for the recommendation 🌟
i love this list! off the top of my head i want to recommend the long walk by stephen king or the running man!
Oooh! I have been wanting to dip my toes in some of his books, but normally too spooked at his other ones. Thanks for the recommendations!
those are my two favorites by far!!! he has some longgg books and a lot of his books can be very… problematic for lack of a better word, but those two are a lot tighter and more focused!! and not as weirdly problematic as some of his others!
I just finished reading It's Not the End of the World by Jonathan Parks-Ramage and holyyyy shit is it relevant. Genuinely felt like reading into a very possible future in the worst way. Highly recommend.
gotta suggest Fireborne by Rosaria Munda. its about a post revolutionary society and deals with these exact questions of what a new government would or wouldn’t do
Thank you for putting this list together! May I suggest minor detail by Adania Shibli and as long as the lemon trees grow by Zoulfa Katouh?
I would also recommend the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein in this area - she’s a dense non fiction book but well worth it to understand how and why ‘socialist / communist’ countries were / are overtaken and forced to sell off their sovereign wealth, by other countries and the IMF, all in the name of ‘Freidmanomics’.
Thank you for the list, eager to see what keeps being added and suggested! The Power by Naomi Alderman could maybe be added?
Trying to think of books to diversify the list, here are some loose recommendations, I'll let you see whether they fit the theme in your eyes!
- King Ubu by Alfred Jarry, it's a short satirical play about a crazy king.
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, not directly a critic of a political system but a story about 2 boys finding prohibited books in rural China during the cultural revolution. Could be interesting to illustrate what was actually done in other countries under other times?
- The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, a founding text on political philosophy, questioning the nature of power. Although I think it was written as a guide to power, it can also be read as a warning text for wrongdoings made to acquire and keep it. Please don't quote me on this, I haven't read it yet but it's famous.
awesome list! A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher also fits this :)
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng!
It's scary to think that " oh the government wouldnt do something like that, theyre supposed to protect us", but in reality.... well. Love this list!
