Read the scathing review of '1984' by science fiction legend Isaac Asimov

George Orwell's '1984' is one of the most famous dystopian works

Orwell's life experiences, from living among the poor to witnessing the rise of authoritarian regimes, deeply shaped his worldview. His iconic works, "Animal Farm" and "1984," offered stark warnings about power, control, and propaganda, making him one of the most enduring voices against totalitarianism.

A critic evaluates Orwell's lesser-known books

Orwell is primarily known for "Animal Farm" and "1984," but The Critic's Alexander Larman argues that Orwell's other titles—especially the 1936 novel "Keep the Aspidistra Flying"—are also worthy reads. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Aldous Huxley, author of 'Brave New World,' wrote to his former student, George Orwell, after the release of '1984,' suggesting that Orwell's vision of dystopia was misguided.

Read George Orwell's essay 'Why I Write,' the writer's memoir on how he came to literature.

George Orwell's original preface to 'Animal Farm' criticized the publishers who had rejected the book for political reasons.

Why school boards ban dystopian books

Journalist Ali Velshi analyzes the lasting appeal of Lois Lowry's "The Giver" and George Orwell's "1984," two dystopian novels that have courted controversy since their publications. Beyond his interpretations, though, Velshi wants to understand why school boards perennially ban these books—and what makes them so fascinating for adolescent readers. In his search, he talks to Lowry about the lasting influence of her novel and to Orwell expert James McCallister about the prescient political portrait in "1984."

George Orwell: What is fascism?

This 1944 article by George Orwell attempts to answer the question, "What is fascism?" Orwell's book Animal Farm was published at about the same time at the article, and he penned 1984, a book with anti-totalitarianism sentiments, a few years afterward. In this article, Orwell argues that the term "fascism" has become near "meaningless" due to being essentially demoted to a swearword.

How a sick George Orwell finished '1984'

The writer worked on the novel while living in a remote cottage in Scotland. While he was there, he was in a boating accident that sent him overboard, eventually leading to a fatal bout of tuberculosis. Orwell finished the novel (and massive revisions) while trying to recover. He died in 1950, at 46.

Dystopian satire became more prominent in the 20th century

Although "anti-utopian" stories have always existed, the international conflicts of World War I and World War II inspired some of dystopian literature’s most influential novels, like Yevgeny Zamyatin’s "We," Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World," and George Orwell’s "1984." In the decades to follow, more writers would follow the example of those early novels, using the dystopian model to critique artificial intelligence, climate change, and more.

T.S. Eliot rejected George Orwell's 'Animal Farm,' suggesting that the despotic pigs might be the best leaders for the farm.

George Orwell, avid outdoorsman

The writer is often pigeonholed as either a cranky paranoiac or a self-righteous scold, but this essay by Danny Heitman explores a lesser-known side of Orwell's personality: his love for nature, something that's subtly expressed in some of his greatest works.

An academic on why the animals in 'Animal Farm' matter

Although Orwell intentionally wrote his 1945 novella as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, Charlotte Sleigh—an associate professor of science and technology—argues that the text can also be used to understand (and complicate) our relationship with the nonhuman world.

Why Orwell called Dalí a 'disgusting human being'

Writer George Orwell took offense at the disturbing actions described in Dalí's salacious autobiography "The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí." In a 1944 essay, Orwell described the cruelty and moral degradation of Dalí—while also admitting the artist's undeniable talent.

Hear 2 literature professors unpack the legacy of 'Animal Farm'

The University of Oxford's David Dwan—a professor of English literature and intellectual history—is an Orwell scholar who has written about the author's politics, especially as they relate to "Animal Farm." In this conversation with Dr. Nathan Waddell, from the University of Birmingham, UK, Dwan explores how framing the novella as a beast fable both made it more accessible and allowed it to be overly simplified.

Writer Christopher Hitchens on why Orwell matters

In this 2008 segment with NPR, the author of "Why Orwell Matters" discusses his admiration for the author and fields questions from callers. Hitchens notes that anyone can write about tyranny, but that Orwell's brilliance is in exploring why people "are so keen to obey."

Browse a fan-made 'Newspeak Dictionary'

In Orwell's "1984," citizens of Oceania are expected to use Newspeak, a form of English that limits abstract thought and reinforces the government's version of reality. This satirical dictionary of the language demonstrates how Orwell constructed a lexicon for his fictional world.

The story behind David Bowie's failed '1984' musical

The musician hoped to adapt Orwell's dystopian novel for the stage, though the project floundered after Orwell's widow—who found Bowie's vision in poor taste—refused to grant him the rights. Several of the project's songs—including "Big Brother" and "1984"—eventually appeared on Bowie's 1974 album "Diamond Dogs."

Why both the left and the right use 'Animal Farm' as an allegory

Figures from both ends of the political spectrum have claimed Orwell's novella as their own, sometimes ignoring inconvenient aspects of the plot or details of Orwell's biography. This analysis of those political reactions explores why the text is so malleable.

Science fiction or new technology?

Dystopian literature is no longer relegated to the page, with innovations like the Tesla Cybertruck and Meta virtual reality headsets mirroring the aesthetics of texts like "The Running Man" and "Neuromancer." In this essay, Casey Michael Henry argues that the images from these works remain while their messages have faded.

Orwell warned readers about how abuse of language can lead to dystopias

In his 1946 essay "Politics and the English Language," Orwell argues that language is the primary tool of political control and is "designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." The essay warns readers that how they use and consume language will dictate what they permit—or prohibit—in society.

What it means to call something 'Orwellian'

The adjective often refers to anything that resembles the dystopian governments of George Orwell, usually a state like the one in "1984" that monitors its citizens to ensure compliance. But as this video essay from Noah Tavlin makes clear, the more precise definition is a society that redefines language to control thought.

'Dystopia,' explained

John Stuart Mill introduced the term "dystopia" in 1868 to critique harmful policies, calling it the opposite of utopia, or an ideal world. The concept grew as industrialization and totalitarian regimes exposed societal flaws, inspiring works like George Orwell's "1984" to warn against oppression and moral decay.

Read a 1971 magazine feature on Lucas' debut film, the sci-fi 'THX 1138'

Almost a decade before the arrival of "Star Wars," George Lucas directed "THX 1138," a grim science fiction film about a dystopian future in the vein of George Orwell's "1984." This article from the October 1971 issue of American Cinematographer features a young George Lucas, who developed the film from a short he worked on while a student at the University of Southern California just a few years earlier.

Browse an Orwell superfan's book collection

This Brown University Library exhibit displays scans from collector Daniel Leab's extensive trove of Orwell's works, including many first editions and translations. In addition to the beautiful covers, there's also plenty of fascinating bibliographic information.

How Orwell's time in Myanmar influenced his writing

Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police in Myanmar (then Burma, a British colony) in 1922, at 19. In her introduction for Orwell's debut novel, "Burmese Days," Emma Larkin unpacks how Orwell's five years working there shaped the book and informed his politics, especially his negative view of colonialism.

Critic Neil Postman argued modern technology is dystopian

Cultural critic Neil Postman argued in 1985's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" that mass media had made the dystopia of Huxley's "Brave New World" a reality. In 1992, he published "Technopoly," a wider critique of the utopian visions of technology or, as Postman calls it, "all of the machinery that takes people out of public arenas and keeps them fixed in their homes."

Watch the 1954 film adaptation of George Orwell's 'Animal Farm,' which was covertly funded by the CIA.

Sartre panned 'Citizen Kane'

Jean-Paul Sartre was primarily known for his philosophy, fiction, and drama, but he was also a critic. In 1945, he wrote a rather negative review of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane," deriding Welles' decision to tell the story in the past tense, writing, "film in the past tense is the antithesis of cinema. Therefore 'Citizen Kane' is not cinema."

How 'Star Wars' changed science fiction

The popularity of "Star Wars" shifted the market away from the more literary, and sometimes cynical, science fiction of the 1960s and '70s. In the wake of George Lucas' space opera, publishers and studios wanted similarly optimistic adventure stories. In time, though, writers like William Gibson would react against that and, in turn, create the "cyber punk" subgenre.

Sartre admired American novelist William Faulkner

In addition to writing philosophy and fiction, Jean-Paul Sartre was also a literary critic. His 1939 essay on Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" focused on the way the American novelist commented on time, favorably comparing him to Marcel Proust. Ultimately, Sartre argues Faulkner's "despair" about a "closed future" is a result of the "social conditions of our present life." Ever the existentialist, though, Sartre suggests this reality is something that should inspire rather than depress.

The nonfiction book that kick-started Orwell's career

1935's "The Road to Wigan Pier" was a piece of investigative journalism that explored how the impoverished were handling the Great Depression, known in England as "the Slump." Orwell divided the book into two parts: One that described the living conditions of the working poor, and the other that criticized middle-class socialists' ineffectiveness at helping them.

See the list of alleged communists Orwell gave to the British government

In 1949, Orwell provided a list of communist sympathizers to a British anti-communist propaganda unit, naming figures like actor Charlie Chaplin and writer John Steinbeck. When it was made public in 2003, some called Orwell a government informant, though others blamed his tuberculosis, which would take his life a year later, while others blamed his romantic interest in the woman who asked him for the names.

Listen to the Pink Floyd album inspired by 'Animal Farm'

The 1977 album "Animals" was loosely inspired by Orwell's 1945 novella, though it was not a strict allegory for the Russian Revolution. Instead, Roger Waters' and David Gilmour's songs criticize what they see as the inhumanity of modern capitalism.

Dystopian literature is focused on oppressive societies

The subgenre can come in many forms, but its shared traits are the way it reflects the anxieties and satirizes the utopian thinking of its writers’ societies. One of the earliest examples is Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."

'The Stranger' remains a popular novel for teenagers

Camus' book's themes—alienation, transgression, and existentialism—continue to resonate with adolescent reader. That's also true of other popular teenage touchstones, like Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," and Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar," which are still widely read—and assigned by high school teachers. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Listen to the audiobook version of 'A Brief History of Time'

First published in 1988, Stephen Hawking's most famous novel has sold more than 25 million copies in 40 languages. Through non-technical terminology, Hawking discusses the nature of space and time, general relativity, quantum mechanics, gravity, black holes, and cosmology.

14 famous authors trash-talking classic books

Just because something's considered a "classic" doesn't mean it's universally loved. Even the world's most respected writers don't agree on what defines great literature. Look no further than this list of writers criticizing canonical texts, like Charlotte Brontë deriding Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" or Virginia Woolf on James Joyce's "Ulysses." The most succinct might be Aldous Huxley on Jack Kerouac's "On the Road": "I got a little bored after a time. I mean, the road seemed to be awfully long."

Stephen King, Octavia Butler, and Anthony Burgess all grew to regret books they'd published

Some, like Butler, regretted writing predictable, trope-heavy books. Others, like King and Burgess, regretted that what they'd intended as satire had been misunderstood as endorsements.

Dystopian literature is a form of speculative fiction

The classification includes any fiction that "speculates" about how society might operate in the future or in contexts different from the present reality. The genre is an umbrella term for science fiction, fantasy, alternative historical fiction, dystopian and utopian fiction, and apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.

Twain read (and lampooned) classic literature

Ever the ironist, Twain claimed to have “ no liking for novels or stories.” Obviously, that was untrue: He read widely, devouring books by Charles Dickens, slave narratives, and texts on astronomy. He also loved John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” which he called “something everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”

Where to start with dystopian literature master Octavia Butler

Rather than simply forecasting events, which she managed with startling accuracy, Butler used dystopian science fiction to explore racial and environmental issues, leaving behind a body of work that was both innovative and thought-provoking. This guide will show you where to begin.

An original review of the 1987 parody 'Spaceballs'

On June 24, 1987, Mel Brooks launched "Spaceballs" in theaters—a comedy starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, and Rick Moranis that spoofed the "Star Wars" trilogy and sci-fi tropes in general. The movie has remained a cult classic ever since. Read the Hollywood Reporter's original review of the film here.

'Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.'

- Author Philip Roth (1933-2018)

Twain ruthlessly criticized other writers

The writer was known for lambasting popular writers of his time, including Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson. One of his most famous takedowns is “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences,” an essay that simultaneously mocks Cooper’s popular adventure tales and satirizes the pretentiousness of literary criticism. Remarking on Cooper’s novel “The Deerslayer,” Twain wrote, “its conversations are—oh! Indescribable; its love-scenes odious; its English a crime against the language.”

One 'Harry Potter' fan fiction deals with cognitive science and philosophy

Eliezer Yudkowsky's "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" is not your typical fan fiction: It uses JK Rowling's fictional universe to wrestle with rationalist philosophy and the physics behind the magic taught at Hogwarts. The book went on to become popular in Silicon Valley, especially in the effective altruism movement.

Sci-fi writer Jeff VanderMeer writes dystopian fiction about the environment

Noted science fiction writer Jeff VanderMeer discusses his 2014 novel "Annihilation," which uses climate change as a dystopian frame. VanderMeer notes that he’s not interested in cynicism, even though that’s how most people view dystopian literature. “I’m not a fan of fiction that’s totally hopeless,” VanderMeer says. “You find ways of documenting the world as it is and you wind up redefining utopia and dystopia.”

Mark Twain once panned 'A Christmas Carol'

The American writer was not a fan of the book, finding it shallow. In an 1867 review, he wrote, "There is no heart. No feeling—it is nothing but glittering frostwork."

Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood,' a pioneer of the true crime genre, isn't wholly accurate

The nonfiction novel "In Cold Blood" influenced true crime's narrative and investigative bend and was supposedly only 92% accurate. Journalist Ben Yagoda reflects on its accuracy after finding the fact-checking file for the four-part series published before the story was converted into hardback. Yagoda says the inaccuracies are "especially striking" because the story was originally published in one of the magazines credited with establishing fact-checking as a practice. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Camus and Sartre admired each other's work before becoming friends

The two writers, who would later be considered two of the biggest names associated with existentialism, wrote positive reviews of each others' early work, with Camus praising Sartre's novel "Nausea" and story collection "The Wall" and, later, Sartre favorably compared Camus' "The Stranger" to Franz Kafka and Ernest Hemingway. Still, their reviews included some critiques, hinting at the larger disagreements that would come much later.

Why dystopian literature remains popular

Yale English professor Joe Cleary argues that dystopian literature’s continued relevance is due to a torrent of additional societal anxieties and that the streaming adaptations of dystopian classics "The Handmaid’s Tale" and "The Man in the High Castle" have expanded the genre’s popularity, introducing new audiences to its tropes.