First published 1924
D-503 lives as a mathematician in OneState, a society enclosed in glass where straight lines dominate every surface. The Benefactor rules this world, and citizens exist without passion or creativity. D-503 dreams in numbers and follows the prescribed patterns of his totalitarian state. Then something changes within him. He realizes he possesses an individual soul, a discovery that transforms his understanding of himself and his world. This awakening forces him to confront the rigid control that shapes every aspect of life in his twenty-sixth century society. His newfound awareness creates a tension between his mathematical mind and his emerging humanity, challenging everything he believed about his existence in this regimented world.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, literary-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: awakening, man-vs-society
Setting: OneState
Period: 26th Century
256 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books