The Best Political Satire Books - P. J. O'Rourke on Five Books

10 Best Satires

Best Satirical Novels | List of Works of Satire Literature

100 Best Satire Books of All Time (Updated for 2021)

An award-winning pig, Old Major, gathers his fellow farm animals for an assembly where he shares his dream of a world where all animals coexist without human oppression. After his death, three younger pigs - Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer - articulate his ideas into a philosophy named Animalism. Through a successful revolt, they oust the human farmer, Mr. Jones, from the property, now renamed as the Animal Farm. With new found passion for the cause, Boxer, the horse, dedicates his strength for the farm's prosperity, vowing to work harder than before.

The Animal Farm initially thrives under the new leadership. Snowball focuses on teaching the animals to read while Napoleon takes the young pups under his wing to instill in them the principles of Animalism. Despite defeating Mr. Jones again in what would later be referred to as the Battle of the Cowshed, internal disagreements between Napoleon and Snowball escalate. Napoleon ruthlessly drives Snowball away from the farm with his pack of dogs, thus assuming undisputed authority and dismantling the democratic structure of the farm. He now declares that only pigs will make decisions for the collective good.

Napoleon suddenly reverses his stance on the windmill project previously proposed by Snowball, and the animals, particularly Boxer, devote themselves to its completion. When the windmill collapses, Napoleon blames it upon Snowball's sabotage. Any animal questioning Napoleon's leadership meets a swift end by the dogs. Napoleon, with his authority unchallenged and his deeds justified by his propagandist, starts displaying human-like behaviors - sleeping in a bed, drinking alcohol, and trading with other farmers. Betraying his loyal workforce, Napoleon sells the injured and aging Boxer for whiskey money. Over the years, the pigs grow more human-like, and the original principles of Animalism are manipulated to justify their actions. By the end, the animals peering through the farmhouse window can no longer differentiate between the pigs and the humans.

Animal Farm

Rebelión en la Granja

At the outset, we are introduced to a future society based in what used to be London, where human embryos are mass-produced and conditioned for specific roles in a strictly hierarchical society. This society is divided into castes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon; with Alphas being the intellectual elites and Epsilons the manual laborers. Two employees, Lenina Crowne and Henry Foster, serve as our immediate introduction to this world. However, Lenina becomes drawn to the unconventional Bernard Marx, and agrees to accompany him to a “Savage Reservation” in New Mexico, despite her friend Fanny's disapproval. Meanwhile, Bernard grapples with his dissatisfaction with the system, feeling out of place due to his physical inadequacies.

Upon reaching the Savage Reservation, Lenina and Bernard encounter aging and disease, both of which have been eradicated in their society. They also meet John, a fair-skinned young man who has been raised in isolation due to his mother's, Linda, sexual promiscuity. John tells them of his upbringing, how he learned to read from an embryology manual and Shakespeare's works, and expresses his desire to see the world his mother had described to him. Despite the shock and disgust Lenina feels for the Reservation, Bernard secures permission to bring John and Linda back to London. Back home, Bernard escapes banishment due to the Director's shame at being revealed as John’s father. John quickly becomes a curiosity for London's high society, but is increasingly disturbed by their lifestyle and values, leading to conflict and confusion between him and Lenina.

As John's disillusionment grows, he finds camaraderie with Bernard's friend, Helmholtz, who also feels at odds with his society. Meanwhile, Lenina's infatuation with John escalates, leading her to attempt to seduce him, only to be met with rejection and confusion. As John navigates this unfamiliar world, he is confronted with the death of his mother and the disturbing behaviors of the society, resulting in him inciting a riot. The riot sees him, Bernard, and Helmholtz arrested and tried by Mustapha Mond, one of society's ten World Controllers. They debate the merits of their society, leading to Bernard and Helmholtz’s exile. John, however, rejected the option to leave and sought isolation in a lighthouse. Yet, his attempt at solitude was foiled by the intrusive society culminating in a frenzied orgy where Lenina is present. Overwhelmed by guilt and frustration, John ends his life the following morning.

Brave New World

Un Mundo Feliz

The chronicles revolve around Lemuel Gulliver, a pragmatic English surgeon turned voyager who embarks on oceanic journeys after his professional downfall. Gulliver, with a dry, objective narrative voice seldom revealing any profound emotional insight or introspection, describes the extraordinary encounters on his travels. 

His first adventure in the miniature kingdom of Lilliput unfolds when diminutive captors discover him post-shipwreck. They are simultaneously awed and threatened by him, using force fearlessly despite their miniature weaponry. Despite this, they are largely warm-hearted, extending their hospitality even at the risk of their own resources. Gulliver's size and strength are eventually exploited in the Lilliputians' conflict against their rivals, the Blefuscudians. However, charges of treason are raised against him when he extinguishes a palace fire using his own urine. Gulliver then escapes to Blefuscu, repairs a boat, and sails back to England. 

Upon his brief return home, Gulliver soon embarks on another sea exploration, landing him in the land of the colossal beings of Brobdingnag. Initially treated like an exotic pet, he is eventually sold to the queen and becomes a court entertainer. Despite his comfort, Gulliver finds himself disgusted by the magnified physical imperfections of the giant Brobdingnagians. His encounters with the gigantic fauna are perilous, and their trails on his food make consumption a challenge. His journey in Brobdingnag concludes when an eagle seizes his cage and drops it into the sea. Subsequent travels take him to the floating island of Laputa and its oppressed underlying region Balnibarbi, inhabited by frivolous scholars and academics. After a detour to Glubbdubdrib, where he conjures historical figures, and the land of the senile immortals, the Struldbrugs, he sails to Japan and eventually back to England. 

In his final voyage, Gulliver lands in an unknown territory inhabited by the rational, horse-like Houyhnhnms and the brutish, humanoid Yahoos. Despite his desire to dwell with the civilized horses, his humanoid physique leads to his banishment. Stranded on a nearby island, he is rescued by a Portuguese ship captain. However, Gulliver now perceives all humans, including the captain, in the degrading light of the Yahoos. His narrative concludes with a dubious claim of England's colonial proprietorship over the lands he's traversed.

Gulliver's Travels

Los Viajes de Gulliver

In the latter part of the Second World War, an airman named Yossarian is assigned to an Air Force unit on the Pianosa island, close to the Italian coast in the Mediterranean. Yossarian, along with his comrades, is trapped in a surreal, chaotic reality shaped by red tape and hostility, being perceived as mere expendable assets by their blindly ambitious higher-ups. The unit is recklessly dispatched into violent combat scenarios and bombing sorties, where capturing high-quality pictures of detonations takes precedence over annihilating their objectives. The commanders persistently escalate the count of operations they must accomplish before repatriation, effectively ensuring nobody ever gets sent back. Nevertheless, Yossarian seems to be the only one cognizant of the ongoing war, with his insistence that countless people are out to kill him deemed insane by others.

The narrative predominantly revolves around Yossarian's experiences, hence most occurrences are seen through his lens. Yossarian perceives the whole war on a personal level: he is incensed that his life is persistently hanging by a thread due to reasons beyond his control. His will to live is potent, and he is firmly resolved to either attain immortality or perish in the attempt. Consequently, he spends most of his time pretending to be ill in the infirmary, to evade the war. As the story unravels through its loosely linked sequence of recurring tales and anecdotes, Yossarian is continuously haunted by his recollection of Snowden, a comrade who perished in his arms during a mission that extinguished Yossarian's will to contribute to the war. Yossarian finds himself in ludicrous, absurd, desperate, and sorrowful situations—he witnesses comrades disappearing or dying, their unit getting bombed by its own catering officer, and higher ranking officers using their men as cannon fodder to bolster their own reputations.

Yossarian discovers an ironic rule, referred to as Catch-22, which stipulates that one can be exempt from military duty on grounds of insanity. Grasping at this potential loophole, Yossarian asserts his insanity, only to learn that by declaring his insanity, he has demonstrated his sanity—since any rational person would declare insanity to avoid deadly bombing assignments. Simultaneously, other plots unfurl around Yossarian. His comrade Nately courts a prostitute from Rome despite her persistent indifference and constant interruptions from her kid sister. Tragically, just as she reciprocates Nately's affection, he is slain in his next mission. Upon receiving the unfortunate news from Yossarian, she holds him responsible for Nately's demise, attempting to stab him upon each subsequent encounter. Towards the climax, Yossarian, stricken by Nately's demise, declines to participate in further missions. He roams the streets of Rome, witnessing every imaginable human atrocity—violation, disease, murder. Eventually arrested for being in Rome without a permit, he is given an ultimatum by his superiors, Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn. He can either confront a court-martial or be honorably discharged and sent home, provided he endorses Cathcart and Korn and their policy mandating eighty missions for all squadron members. Despite the temptation, Yossarian realizes that agreeing would jeopardize other innocent lives. He opts for an alternate escape—deserting the army and absconding to neutral Sweden, thereby rejecting the military's dehumanizing system, the absurdity of Catch-22, and aiming to reclaim his own life.

Catch-22

Trampa-22

A middle-aged gentleman hailing from central Spain becomes engrossed in the noble principles depicted in the books he immerses himself in. Taking it upon himself to protect the weak and eradicate evil, he embarks on an adventure with a confused laborer he convinces to be his loyal squire, Sancho Panza. With promises of making Sancho a wealthy governor, the two travel through Spain on his aged horse Rocinante, with the gentleman renouncing all comforts in honour of a common woman he believes to be a princess.

During his second quest, the gentleman becomes more of a menace than a hero, causing harm to innocent citizens while standing against what he perceives to be threats to his knighthood. He abandons a child to a cruel farmer, steals a barber's basin believing it to be a legendary helmet, and induces sickness from a potion he believes has healing powers. Sancho remains by his side, often suffering the consequences of his master's actions. The narrative of their deeds also encompasses the tales of those they encounter during their travels. The duo inadvertently brings together two separated couples and releases a cunning criminal, among other actions.

As the narrative continues, Sancho attempts to bring his master back to reality, and the gentleman's friends try to take him home. They convince him that he is under a spell, and he decides to return with them. They embark on another adventure after hearing about a fake sequel to their story. The gentleman is tricked into believing that his beloved has been enchanted into a peasant girl by an evil sorcerer. He ends up at the mercy of a Duke and Duchess who play tricks on him for their amusement. Sancho becomes the governor of a fictitious island but chooses to return to his former life after a ten-day stint. The gentleman eventually loses a duel and renounces his chivalrous beliefs, dying from a fever, thereby symbolizing the end of knights-errant.

Don Quixote

Don Quijote

Winston Smith, a minor functionary for the government, lives in a dystopian society where the ruling Party, led by Big Brother, scrutinizes every aspect of people's lives, even their thoughts, through omnipresent surveillance technology. The Party orchestrates a linguistic purge, introducing Newspeak, a language designed to obliterate any words or ideas that could provoke opposition to its rule. Winston, growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Party's oppressive control, procures a forbidden diary to record his subversive thoughts. He also becomes intrigued by O’Brien, a high-ranking Party official whom he suspects to be part of the legendary Brotherhood, an underground organization bent on toppling the Party.

Working at the Ministry of Truth, Winston manipulates past records to align with the Party's current narrative. His fear of detection intensifies when he notices a female colleague, Julia, observing him closely. Despite the Party's historical revisionism, Winston can vaguely remember a past that contradicts the official narrative. Meanwhile, he explores impoverished areas, where the proletariat, or 'proles', live relatively unmonitored lives. His relationship with Julia evolves from paranoia to romance after receiving a love note from her. They clandestinely meet in a rented room in the prole district, where Winston’s contempt for the Party intensifies, while he also awaits a potential meeting with O'Brien.

Their anticipated meeting with O’Brien takes place in his lavish apartment, where he lives a life of privilege as part of the Inner Party. O’Brien admits his own hatred for the Party and confirms his participation in the Brotherhood, subsequently initiating Winston and Julia. O'Brien provides Winston with a forbidden book containing the Brotherhood's ideology. However, their rebellion comes to a sudden halt as they are arrested by the Thought Police; O'Brien is revealed to be a loyal Party member and their landlord, Mr. Charrington, a Thought Police agent. Imprisoned and tortured in the ironically named Ministry of Love, Winston endures psychological manipulation aimed to eradicate his rebellious thoughts. Ultimately, his resistance crumbles in Room 101, where he is tormented with his greatest fear, rats, and betrays Julia. Broken, Winston is released; he encounters Julia but feels nothing. In the end, Winston has fully succumbed to the Party's indoctrination, even proclaiming love for Big Brother.

1984

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

La Guía del Autoestopista Galáctico

The Master and Margarita

El Maestro y Margarita

In a quaint town by the Mississippi River, two boys - Huckleberry Finn, a poor child with an alcoholic father, and Tom Sawyer, a middle-class imaginative boy, stumble upon a robber's treasure. The newfound wealth is kept in a bank for Huck, who is taken in by Widow Douglas, a well-meaning woman with her self-righteous sister, Miss Watson. Despite Huck's initial displeasure with his new respectable life, he stays put for the sake of joining Tom's new gang. However, his alcoholic father reappears demanding Huck's money, resulting in a custody battle. A new judge tries to reform the father, but fails. Angered when Widow Douglas warns him to stay away, Huck's father kidnaps him and confines him in a cabin across the river.

Huck endures imprisonment and regular beatings until he fakes his own death and escapes to Jackson’s Island in the Mississippi River, where he encounters Jim, a runaway slave. Despite reservations about the legality and morality of aiding a fugitive, Huck pairs up with Jim on their journey downriver, encountering robbers, narrowly escaping slave hunters, and surviving a steamboat collision. Huck ends up with the Grangerfords, a feuding Southern aristocrat family, while Jim repairs the damaged raft. The duo then rescues two men pursued by bandits, who claim to be a displaced English duke and a long-lost French heir. Despite their obvious deception, Huck and Jim are forced to continue with them down the river.

The charlatans commit numerous scams, culminating in selling Jim as a runaway slave. Huck locates Jim and resolves to free him, ending up in the household of Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle, who mistake him for Tom. Tom arrives, pretending to be his younger brother and devising a dangerous plan to free Jim. After unnecessary complications, they free Jim, but Tom is shot in the process. Jim sacrifices his freedom to nurse Tom, but it is revealed that Jim had been freed via Miss Watson's will. Tired of civilization, Huck plans to set out for the West.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Aventuras de Huckleberry Finn

A Novel

Una Novela

Born in 1922, Billy Pilgrim leads a rather ordinary life in Ilium, New York, attending night school for optometry and eventually being drafted into World War II. After his father's tragic hunting accident, Billy is shipped overseas and thrust into the infamous Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, where he is captured by the Germans. Amidst the chaos, he has his first experience of time-shifting, seeing his entire life play out at once. He is then transported to a POW camp in Germany, and later to the city of Dresden, where he survives a horrific bombing by hiding in a meat locker of a former slaughterhouse.

After the war, Billy returns to his hometown, completes his optometry studies, and marries Valencia Merble, a wealthy optometry school founder's daughter. Despite seemingly achieving the American dream of wealth and family, he struggles with war memories triggered by simple events in his life, like a barbershop quartet at his eighteenth wedding anniversary. Interestingly, Billy claims to have been abducted by aliens, known as Tralfamadorians, who took him to their home planet and introduced him to new concepts of time and life. 

Following his return to Earth, Billy keeps his alien experiences to himself until a plane crash in 1968 leaves him the sole survivor among his optometrist colleagues. After a brain operation and the accidental carbon monoxide poisoning death of his wife, Billy feels compelled to share his extraordinary experiences with the world. He goes on a radio talk show, writes letters, and even predicts his own death in 1976, alleging that he will be assassinated at the behest of a wartime acquaintance. Billy is unwavering in his belief, stating that he will merely experience the hum of death and then time-shift to another point in his life.

Slaughterhouse-Five

Matadero Cinco

A young man, an illegitimate nephew of a German baron, is sent away from the castle he grew up in for falling in love with the baron’s daughter. Alone for the first time, he is conscripted into the army and, after experiencing the horrors of war and severe punishment for desertion, manages to flee to Holland. There, he is taken in by a good-hearted Anabaptist and is reunited with his former tutor, Pangloss, who despite his physical deterioration and the devastating news of the violent deaths of his loved ones, clings to his optimistic philosophy. When their ship is wrecked during a storm, they find themselves in Lisbon, which had been ravaged by an earthquake and was now under the control of the Inquisition. Pangloss is hanged for his beliefs, but the young man is saved by an old woman, who leads him to his beloved, who had survived but was now the property of two men.

The young man and his beloved, along with the old woman, escape and find their way to South America. His beloved ends up marrying a governor for her own financial security, and the young man, now a wanted criminal, finds himself in Jesuit-controlled territory. There, he encounters the baron’s son, who has also escaped the Bulgars. When the baron’s son refuses to let him marry his sister, the young man kills him in a fit of rage and escapes. After an adventurous journey, he and his companion stumble upon Eldorado, a utopian society filled with unimaginable wealth. Despite the peace and prosperity of this land, the young man yearns for his beloved and leaves with a fortune, hoping to use it to free her.

After a series of misadventures and betrayals, the young man makes his way to Venice, where he learns that his beloved is in Constantinople and has been enslaved. He purchases her freedom, along with that of his tutor Pangloss and the baron’s son, who both managed to survive their previous ordeals. Despite the hardships they faced, they make their way back to a farm near Constantinople, where they settle into a comfortable, yet unsatisfactory life. Inspired by a simple farmer, they start cultivating a garden, dedicating all their energy to it, leaving none for philosophical debates. Eventually, they find fulfillment and happiness in their new, simple life.

Candide

Cándido

Jack Worthing, a respected landowner and justice of the peace in Hertfordshire, is the guardian of Cecily Cardew, an appealing young woman. Jack invented a troublesome alter ego named Ernest that he would frequently have to rush off to aid as a way to escape his responsibilities and enjoy himself. Unknown to others, Ernest is merely a deception; Jack is Ernest himself. He is enamored with Gwendolen Fairfax, his best friend Algernon Moncrieff's cousin. Algernon, suspecting Jack of living a double life, confronts him when he discovers a mysterious inscription in Jack's cigarette case. Reluctantly, Jack discloses his real name, not Ernest, and that Cecily is his ward.

Algernon, intrigued by Jack's description of Cecily, impersonates the fictional Ernest and proposes to Cecily, unknowing that she's already invented a romance between herself and "Ernest". Amid the confusion, Gwendolen comes to visit Jack, who she believes to be Ernest, and meets Cecily. A heated argument ensues when both women discover they are engaged to the same man, Ernest, who doesn't exist. Jack and Algernon arrive, both having decided separately to be christened as Ernest, only to have their deception unravelled by Gwendolen and Cecily, who are both furious and shocked. 

In the final act, the two women confront Jack and Algernon about their deception. Both men justify their actions, soothing the women's concerns. Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen's mother, arrives unexpectedly. She finds out about Algernon's engagement to Cecily and starts inquiring about her social connections, which irritates Jack. However, learning about Cecily's considerable inheritance and fortune, Lady Bracknell shows interest. The story reaches an unforeseen climax when it is revealed that Jack is indeed the legitimate son of Lady Bracknell's sister, making him Algernon's elder brother. Furthermore, Jack's original christening name is revealed to be "Ernest John", making his deception unintentionally truthful. The narrative concludes with the reinstatement of the couples and Jack's understanding of the vital necessity of being earnest.

12 Best Satire Books of All Time

Animal Farm

Brave New World

Gulliver's Travels

Catch-22

Don Quixote

1984

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Master and Margarita

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Slaughterhouse-Five

A Novel

Candide

The Importance of Being Earnest

Sources

What To Read Next

12 Best Satire Books of All Time

Animal Farm

Brave New World

Gulliver's Travels

Catch-22

Don Quixote

1984

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Master and Margarita

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Slaughterhouse-Five

A Novel

Candide

The Importance of Being Earnest

Sources

What To Read Next

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