Every decade or so, writes George Packer in his review of Dorian Lynskey’s The Ministry of Truth, it’s the same old line: “[George] Orwell got it wrong. Things haven’t turned out that bad. The Soviet Union is history. Technology is liberating.” But these arguments miss the point: “Orwell never intended his novel to be a prediction, only a warning.” For The Atlantic, Packer asks what 1984 means in today’s America.
‘1984’ in 2019
Best Food Books
Food writing fans: In the Chicago Tribune, several top chefs name their favorite books about food. (Thanks Laurie)
Hiding Behind the Powerful
For Guernica, Tana Wojcznick explores the belief in populism in Shakespeare’s often-misread play Coriolanus. She writes, “Coriolanus criticizes the people he claims to want to represent not simply because they are a mob, but because as a single body they are too easily swayed in their opinion, too easily flattered.” Pair with this Millions essay on rewriting Shakespeare.
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William Gibson’s Zero History
The New York Times reviews William Gibson’s new novel Zero History: “To read Gibson is to read the present as if it were the future…” Also: Douglas Gorney interviews Gibson for the Atlantic.
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Poussey Lives
Exciting news, Orange Is The New Black fans! Samira Wiley will be co-starring in the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
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So many wobbly assumptions
Laura Miller pokes some holes in that Dartmouth study about how little classic literature appears to be influencing contemporary writers.