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Original poster

What novels have had a substantial real-world effect?

214 replies

MsAmerica · 15/01/2026 23:40

What novels have had such a powerful impact that they triggered an actual change in socio-political policies or overall public opinion on an important subject?

I can only think of two, offhand:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair Any others?

As far as I know, books like Grapes of Wrath may have had enthusiasts, but by the time it came out, it was too late for any relevant policy. And I know that Dickens may have influenced public policy, but I don’t think it was due to a particular novel.

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FruAashild · 28/02/2026 11:51

@MsAmerica recently got annoyed on another thread she started that people were having a discussion about short novels rather than saying 'oh,that book recommending short novels looks interesting' 😂.

SheilaFentiman · 28/02/2026 10:37

MsAmerica · 27/02/2026 22:31

Sorry, I should have been more precise:

I was referring only to the BOOK of The Handmaid's Tale, which I think had no effect and didn't even really permeated the public consciousness.

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You are precise, OP.

But poster after poster is refuting the extremely narrow premise of your request in the name of a more interesting discussion.

Most OPs go with that rather than getting cross that others aren’t conforming to their exact requirements, what with this being a discussion board and all.

Silverbirchleaf · 28/02/2026 10:24

Imdunfer · 28/02/2026 08:39

The book spawned TV which spawned immense heightened understanding of current world events.

It makes no sense to restrict the analysis of the impact of a book to the reading of it.

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I agree.

Imdunfer · 28/02/2026 08:39

MsAmerica · 27/02/2026 22:31

Sorry, I should have been more precise:

I was referring only to the BOOK of The Handmaid's Tale, which I think had no effect and didn't even really permeated the public consciousness.

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The book spawned TV which spawned immense heightened understanding of current world events.

It makes no sense to restrict the analysis of the impact of a book to the reading of it.

Original poster
MsAmerica · 27/02/2026 22:31

Imdunfer · 21/02/2026 09:01

That book and the TV series it spawned are being used on this forum, and no doubt around the UK, to persuade people not to vote for Reform in the upcoming Council elections. Their performance at those elections might impact the result of the next general election and that could easily cause a change in the history of the UK.

I think you are dismissing the seeds of change far too easily on this thread and making it far less obsessing than it might have been as a consequence.

I made an early contribution which you squashed, and I left. I popped back today to see why the thread is still live and was pleased to see people felt the same as I did about it.

Edited
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Sorry, I should have been more precise:

I was referring only to the BOOK of The Handmaid's Tale, which I think had no effect and didn't even really permeated the public consciousness.

OP posts:
Imdunfer · 21/02/2026 09:05

Imdunfer · 21/02/2026 09:01

That book and the TV series it spawned are being used on this forum, and no doubt around the UK, to persuade people not to vote for Reform in the upcoming Council elections. Their performance at those elections might impact the result of the next general election and that could easily cause a change in the history of the UK.

I think you are dismissing the seeds of change far too easily on this thread and making it far less obsessing than it might have been as a consequence.

I made an early contribution which you squashed, and I left. I popped back today to see why the thread is still live and was pleased to see people felt the same as I did about it.

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Obsessing should read interesting, though both might apply!

Imdunfer · 21/02/2026 09:01

MsAmerica · 24/01/2026 22:51

Largely because I was thinking of books that had a fairly immediate impact, not something gradually over a period of time.

As to Handmaid's Tale, my impression is that not only do I not know of any change that it has wrought - I don't even think it entered the public consciousness until the television series.

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That book and the TV series it spawned are being used on this forum, and no doubt around the UK, to persuade people not to vote for Reform in the upcoming Council elections. Their performance at those elections might impact the result of the next general election and that could easily cause a change in the history of the UK.

I think you are dismissing the seeds of change far too easily on this thread and making it far less obsessing than it might have been as a consequence.

I made an early contribution which you squashed, and I left. I popped back today to see why the thread is still live and was pleased to see people felt the same as I did about it.

SharonEllis · 20/02/2026 21:06

MsAmerica · 20/02/2026 20:57

I suppose you'd prefer a stance of "Ignore my actual question of what interests me, and say whatever you like" no matter how it strays?

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Except that isn't what people have done is it? They have developed an idea, in a normal conversational way. Its unusual to have such a dogmatic approach to controlling a conversation.

Original poster
MsAmerica · 20/02/2026 21:01

sashh · 13/02/2026 07:51

Also spawned the names of two TV shows, Big Brother and Room 101.

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Yes, but clearly that's not what I had in mind in terms of actual real-world consequences. I'm pretty sure that if you could proudly tell Orwell that his book had the real-life consequence of spawning an entertainment show of TV, it's not likely that he would consider that a gratifying accomplishment.

Personally, I'm baffled that 1984 didn't even have the minimal real-world effect of motivating Brits to refuse the current state of government surveillance.

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Original poster
MsAmerica · 20/02/2026 20:57

SheilaFentiman · 13/02/2026 06:54

Most threads of this nature turn into a discussion.

Your style throughout has been rather peremptory - “bring me examples that suit my exacting standards, or I will jump on them” - which is quite odd.

I’ll leave you to it.

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I suppose you'd prefer a stance of "Ignore my actual question of what interests me, and say whatever you like" no matter how it strays?

OP posts:
SharonEllis · 13/02/2026 08:37

Sorry don't know how my post was posted 3 times!!

SheilaFentiman · 13/02/2026 08:27

Thanks @SharonEllis - it wasn’t my example originally 🙂 but I do think writing styles are real world effects

On the whole, I think any one book, painting, lecture, film etc will be part of the change not a standalone catalyst, but that is still worth talking about (OP sees it differently…)

sashh · 13/02/2026 07:51

efeslight · 16/01/2026 06:48

I think George Orwell 1984 and Animal Farm have had an impact on our political understanding and are often referenced in modern culture. Not sure if these books had an impact at the time they were published

Also spawned the names of two TV shows, Big Brother and Room 101.

SharonEllis · 13/02/2026 07:24

Yes discussion has certainly been frowned on in this thread! I thought your post was interesting - I always wonder in this sort of example though that the book must have reflected societal change to some extent rather than creating it even if books do go on to shape changes as well. I don't believe Fielding was the first person to 'think like that'. Probably more an issue of what was and wasn't considered 'literature'

SharonEllis · 13/02/2026 07:24

Yes discussion has certainly been frowned on in this thread! I thought your post was interesting - I always wonder in this sort of example though that the book must have reflected societal change to some extent rather than creating it even if books do go on to shape changes as well. I don't believe Fielding was the first person to 'think like that'. Probably more an issue of what was and wasn't considered 'literature'

SharonEllis · 13/02/2026 07:20

SheilaFentiman · 13/02/2026 06:54

Most threads of this nature turn into a discussion.

Your style throughout has been rather peremptory - “bring me examples that suit my exacting standards, or I will jump on them” - which is quite odd.

I’ll leave you to it.

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Yes discussion has certainly been frowned on in this thread! I thought your post was interesting - I always wonder in this sort of example though that the book must have reflected societal change to some extent rather than creating it. I don't believe Fielding was the first person to 'think like that'. Probably more an issue of what was and wasn't considered 'literature'

SheilaFentiman · 13/02/2026 06:54

MsAmerica · 13/02/2026 00:18

Surely you know that wasn't what I meant.

I included two examples to illustrate - one of which led to a change in laws, one of which is considered to have contributed to a war.

Most threads of this nature turn into a discussion.

Your style throughout has been rather peremptory - “bring me examples that suit my exacting standards, or I will jump on them” - which is quite odd.

I’ll leave you to it.

Original poster
MsAmerica · 13/02/2026 00:18

Surely you know that wasn't what I meant.

I included two examples to illustrate - one of which led to a change in laws, one of which is considered to have contributed to a war.

OP posts:
SheilaFentiman · 11/02/2026 07:03

MsAmerica · 10/02/2026 22:50

Okay, but that doesn't seem to translate into specific, direct real-world results.

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Aren’t “new styles of writing” real world results?

Original poster
MsAmerica · 10/02/2026 22:50

Dappy777 · 01/02/2026 10:39

Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. Martin Amis said you can feel a new voice/consciousness breaking through in that book. It is possibly the first time a truly modern, democratic spirit appears in literature. For example, there is a scene in which Tom, the son of a landowner, learns that he's made a local girl (the daughter of a poor farm labourer/poacher) pregnant. Fielding describes Tom's thought process. He has him think "it would be wrong to abandon her. Just because she's poor, that doesn't mean she's worthless or that she won't suffer or that her pain doesn't count. She will suffer just as much as any woman, and I have a duty to protect her." People just didn't think used to like that. Tom has the mind and morality of a square-jawed Hollywood hero from the 1950s.

Okay, but that doesn't seem to translate into specific, direct real-world results.

OP posts:
Original poster
MsAmerica · 10/02/2026 22:49

FannySqueers · 01/02/2026 07:05

More Dickens! Nicholas Nickleby led to the closure of a notorious school in Yorkshire and the prosecution of its head 'teacher'. Along with Jane Eyre it revealed the terrible abuse of the step/illegitimate children who were literally sent there to starve and/or die of disease. Even by Victorian standards these schools were horrific.

Nice about Nickleby!

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Original poster
MsAmerica · 10/02/2026 22:48

Silverbirchleaf · 01/02/2026 01:20

Silent Spring - Rachel Carson , about pesticides, so not a novel as such, but very influential, and a book I was advised to read whilst studying geography twenty years after it was written.

Yes, but I specified novels.

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Arlanymor · 01/02/2026 14:09

SharonEllis · 01/02/2026 07:19

I hope you get to do it one day!

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Aww thanks! Fingers crossed!

Dappy777 · 01/02/2026 10:39

Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. Martin Amis said you can feel a new voice/consciousness breaking through in that book. It is possibly the first time a truly modern, democratic spirit appears in literature. For example, there is a scene in which Tom, the son of a landowner, learns that he's made a local girl (the daughter of a poor farm labourer/poacher) pregnant. Fielding describes Tom's thought process. He has him think "it would be wrong to abandon her. Just because she's poor, that doesn't mean she's worthless or that she won't suffer or that her pain doesn't count. She will suffer just as much as any woman, and I have a duty to protect her." People just didn't think used to like that. Tom has the mind and morality of a square-jawed Hollywood hero from the 1950s.

SharonEllis · 01/02/2026 07:19

Arlanymor · 01/02/2026 01:29

Definitely Chaucer - he did EVERYTHING! Broke the fourth wall, was meta, had his own cameos - hugely experimental. In fact if I had all the money and all the time I would do a PhD in Chaucer as 'the firste fyndere of queynte experimentes' . Sigh... lottery win where are you? I have the title and everything! I want to be Dr Arlanymor!

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I hope you get to do it one day!