Fictional literature with a strong political/philosophical message

[Questionable]

I can't stand fiction for fiction's sake. I like reading stuff like 1984 or Brave New World that has something important to say. What are some good books like this?

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I can't stand fiction for fiction's sake. I like reading stuff like 1984 or Brave New World that has something important to say. What are some good books like this?

Jack London's "Iron Heel"

[Ostrinski]

With a socialist message:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Grapes of Wratch by John Steinbeck
The Iron Heel by Jack London
Martin Eden by Jack London
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

[Let's Get Free]

Have you ever read 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Its not really overtly political, but it does have political undertones. To a certain extent, it outlines the histories of civil war, plantations, and labor unrest, and it tells a story about Colombian history and, more broadly, about Latin America’s struggles with colonialism.

[Questionable]

With a socialist message:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Grapes of Wratch by John Steinbeck
The Iron Heel by Jack London
Martin Eden by Jack London
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

I tried reading "The Jungle" because I heard how groundbreaking it was for the corrupt meatpacking industry, but the first few chapters were pretty dull. He spent a lot of time talking about the characters' relationships to each other and their ancestry and how they came to America and by the time I finally pushed myself to where the action seemed to start I had to return it to the library. Maybe I'll go get it again.

Les Miserables, I read a plot synopsis and it sounded interesting as hell. I'll definitely give that one a look too.

[Ostrinski]

The Jungle is rough to get into but once you are it's intensely political and engaging in a political way. Of course the author wasn't really shy about the intentions of publishing the book, which is probably the reason for that. But I feel like it really demonstrates the absolute barbarity and atrociousness of capitalist society in a very vivid way.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Shattergrave Knights...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Shattergrave-Knights-ebook/dp/B0055F5STS/ref=pd_sim_kinc29?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

[Flying Purple People Eater]

With a socialist message:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Grapes of Wratch by John Steinbeck
The Iron Heel by Jack London
Martin Eden by Jack London
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

lolololo

[Os Cangaceiros]

The Plague by Albert Camus has very heavy philosophical musings. The author practically bludgeons the reader over the head with them.

Personally I think the book is kind of overrated, but you'll mileage may vary.

[citizen of industry]

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut.

[smellincoffee]

I second The Iron Heel by Jack London and add his The Sea-Wolf. Also consider A Life of Her Own, by Emile Carles; while it's supposedly a biography of a French woman who witnessed France's transition from agricultural to industrial, who came to embrace the criticism and ideals of the left, it reads more like a novel. This is the book that made me realize that leftist politics needn't be statist.

[pluckedflowers]

I'm partial to Thomas Pynchon, especially Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day.

[DDR]

The Last Ringbearer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer) by Kirill Eskov is a good book if you like LOTR. Is basicly LOTR but in an orkish POV. It's very interesting because it shows us that the main conflict in LOTR isn't good guys vs. the bad guys, but infact it's industrialism (Mordor & Isengard have factories, steel mills etc.) vs. Feudalism (the socioeconomy of the Free Peoples is very similar to the Feudal system).

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Philip k dick's novels tend to have great undertones. The Penultimate Truth is my favorite.

[Firebrand]

Ursula leGuin- the dispossessed

it's pretty heavy going but very good

[Os Cangaceiros]

Looking at my bookshelf, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury is another pretty famous one, in the dystopian genre.

[Robespierres Neck]

Albert Camus' The Stranger has some really strong philosophical/sociopolitical messages & themes. The last few pages will blow your mind. I've read it once (sometimes twice) a year since my first read, and it never gets old. It's my favorite fiction novel, I highly recommend it. It's a short read as well.

[Robespierres Neck]

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut.

Especially his dystopian novel, Slapstick.

Breakfast of Champions is also great.