In the past few weeks, George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 has been steadily climbing the bestseller lists, most notably at Amazon, where as of January 26, 2016, it's the bestselling book overall. Not James Patterson, Jodi Piccoult, Stephen King, an Oprah book club selection, Harry Potter novella, or a Twilight spinoff.
No.
George Orwell.
Largely, this is due to a new political climate that is--how shall we say this in a nuanced fashion?--surreal compared to the previous 240-years of American history.
As The Atlantic points out, though, Orwell isn't the only one finding a revival. Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here has risen to #26 on Amazon, while John Steinbeck's 1961 tome The Winter of Our Discontent has seen an abnormal uptick as well.
Then there's political theorist Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, which was published in 1951. While not usually nearly as well known as 1984 or The Winter of Our Discontent, Arendt's book examines the rise of fascist governments in Europe over the previous two centuries. Clearly, if there's anything Americans love doing, it's kicking back with a expansive examinations of political philosophies.
In the end, the misery of the past two years of political campaigning--the yelling, the finger-pointing, the glad-handing, the falsehoods--has had one bright spot: Americans are reading, and they're rediscovering what was once forgotten--in many ways.
As The Atlantic points out, though, Orwell isn't the only one finding a revival. Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here has risen to #26 on Amazon, while John Steinbeck's 1961 tome The Winter of Our Discontent has seen an abnormal uptick as well.
Then there's political theorist Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, which was published in 1951. While not usually nearly as well known as 1984 or The Winter of Our Discontent, Arendt's book examines the rise of fascist governments in Europe over the previous two centuries. Clearly, if there's anything Americans love doing, it's kicking back with a expansive examinations of political philosophies.
In the end, the misery of the past two years of political campaigning--the yelling, the finger-pointing, the glad-handing, the falsehoods--has had one bright spot: Americans are reading, and they're rediscovering what was once forgotten--in many ways.
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