V for Vendetta
Alan Moore, 1982
Graphic novels & humour Science fictionContemporary fictionMystery, thriller & crime
A masked anarchist blows up a fascist Britain's symbols and teaches a young woman to see the state for what it is.
Feels like defiance and dread. About freedom and power.
A page from the book
Three days of privacy, granted by the people who took it away.
Good evening, London. This is the voice of fate. Almost four hundred years ago tonight, a great citizen made a most significant contribution to our common culture. It was a contribution formed in stealth and silence and secrecy, although it is best remembered in noise and bright light. To commemorate this most glorious of evenings, Her Majesty’s government is pleased to return the rights of secrecy and privacy to you, its loyal subjects. For three days, your movements will not be watched, your conversations will not be listened to, and ‘do what thou wilt’ shall be the whole of the law. God bless you, and goodnight. Alan Moore.Alan Moore has described himself as a ceremonial magician and worships Glycon, a snake god from Roman antiquity.
Books that feel like this
More by Alan Moore
Watchmen
Alan Moore, 1986
A murder mystery among retired superheroes becomes a cold look at power, memory, and what it costs to save a city that may not deserve it.
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Questions readers ask
- What is V for Vendetta like?
- Feels like defiance and dread. About freedom and power.
- What should I read after V for Vendetta?
- If you liked V for Vendetta, try Foundation (Isaac Asimov), Under the Dome (Stephen King) and The Woman in the Window (A.J. Finn).
A taste of the feed
What it feels like to wait for a whole planet to appear.
What Gaal was waiting for after the disappointment of the Jump was that first sight of Trantor. He haunted the View-room. The steel shutter-lids were rolled back at announced times and he was always there, watching the hard brilliance of the stars, enjoying the incredible hazy swarm of a star cluster, like a giant conglomeration of fireflies caught in mid-motion and stilled forever. At one time there was the cold, blue-white smoke of a gaseous nebula within five light years of the ship, spreading over the window like distant milk, filling the room with an icy tinge, and disappearing out of sight two hours later, after another Jump.
Foundation · Isaac Asimov
The moment care turns into a kind of ownership.
Denial gives way to acceptance; acceptance breeds dependence. Anyone who’s ever cared for a terminal patient will tell you that, too. Sick people need someone who will bring them their pills and glasses of cold sweet juice to wash them down with. They need someone to soothe their aching joints with arnica gel. They need someone to sit with them when the night is dark and the hours stretch out. They need someone to say, Sleep now, it will be better in the morning. I’m here, so sleep. Sleep now. Sleep and let me take care of everything.
Under the Dome · Stephen King
When a feeling stops being an emotion and starts being a growth.
Something’s happening to me, through me, something dangerous and new. It’s taken root, a poison tree; it’s grown, fanning out, vines winding round my gut, my lungs, my heart.
The Woman in the Window · A.J. Finn
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