Sinposis

GEORGE ORWELL REMAINS AN ICONIC FIGURE TODAY - EVEN THOUGH HE DIED IN 1950. HIS DYSTOPIAN NOVEL NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR DEPICTS A BIG BROTHER SOCIETY IN WHICH THE STATE INTRUDES INTO THE MOST INTIMATE DETAILS OF PEOPLE'S LIVES - AND, NOT SURPRISINGLY, IT BECAME A CONSTANT REFERENCE POINT AFTER EDWARD SNOWDEN'S REVELATIONS. THE WORD «ORWELLIAN» IS CONSTANTLY IN THE MEDIA - USED EITHER AS A PEJORATIVE ADJECTIVE TO EVOKE TOTALITARIAN TERROR OR AS A COMPLIMENTARY ADJECTIVE TO MEAN «DISPLAYING OUTSPOKEN INTELLECTUAL HONESTY». INTEREST IN ORWELL'S LIFE AND WRITINGS - GLOBALLY - CONTINUES UNABATED. BEGINNING WITH A PREFACE BY RICHARD BLAIR, ORWELL'S SON, GEORGE ORWELL NOW! BRINGS TOGETHER THIRTEEN CHAPTERS BY LEADING INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS IN FOUR THEMATIC SECTIONS: ¦ PETER MARKS ON ORWELL AND THE HISTORY OF SURVEILLANCE STUDIES; FLORIAN ZOLLMANN ON NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR IN 2014; HENK VYNCKIER ON ORWELL'S COLLECTING PROJECT; AND ADAM STOCK ON `BIG BROTHER'S LITERARY OFFSPRING' ¦ PAUL ANDERSON «IN DEFENCE OF BERNARD CRICK»; LUKE SEABER ON THE «LONDON SECTION OF DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON»; JOHN NEWSINGER ON «ORWELL'S SOCIALISM»; AND PHILIP BOUNDS ON «ORWELL AND THE ANTI-AUSTERITY LEFT IN BRITAIN» ¦ MARINA REMY ON THE «WRITING OF OTHERNESS IN BURMESE DAYS AND KEEP THE ASPIDISTRA FLYING»; SREYA MALLIKA DATTA AND UTSA MUKHERJEE ON «REASSESSING AMBIVALENCE IN ORWELL'S BURMA»; AND SHU-CHU WEI ON ORWELL'S ANIMAL FARM ALONGSIDE CHEN JO-HIS'S MAYOR YIN ¦ TIM CROOK ON «ORWELL AND THE RADIO IMAGINATION»; AND EDITOR RICHARD LANCE KEEBLE ON «ORWELL AND THE WAR REPORTER'S IMAGINATION» PETER STANSKY, IN AN AFTERWORD, ARGUES THAT ORWELL IS NOW MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER BEFORE.