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Orwellian nightmares: What I learned about today’s rage culture from rewriting 1984
‘Orwellian’ is an accusation increasingly levelled by both right and left but what does it mean, asks author Sandra Newman – and why does Orwell’s dystopian classic speak so powerfully to our current moment?
A few years ago, I got what, for a writer of political fiction, is a dream job.
- Sandra Newman
- The Guardian
I was invited by the estate of George Orwell to write a retelling of Nineteen Eighty-Four from the point of view of Julia, the lover of the protagonist, Winston Smith.
The concept had been in the air for years, until its writing seemed inevitable; by asking a trusted person to do it, they hoped to nudge it in a direction that did justice to the…