George Orwell and Russia

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For those living in the Soviet Union, Orwell's masterpieces, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, were not dystopias, but accurate depictions of reality. Here, the Orwell scholar and expert on Russian politics, Masha Karp Russian Features Editor at the BBC World Service for over a decade explores how Orwell's work was received in Russia, when it percolated into the country even under censorship. Suggesting a new approach to the controversial Orwells list of 1949, Karp puts into context the articles and letters written by Orwell at the time. She sheds light on how the ideas of totalitarianism exposed in Orwells writing took root in Russia and, in doing so, helps us to understand the contemporary political reality. As Vladimir Putin's actions continue to shock the West, it is clear we are witnessing the next transformation of totalitarianism, as predicted and described by Orwell. Now, over 70 years after Orwell's death, his writing, at least as far as Russia is concerned, remains as timely and urgent as it has ever been.

Reviews

Many people over the decades believed that Orwell must have lived or at least been to the Soviet Union, because of his deep understanding of totalitarianism. In her brilliant and informative book, Masha Karp suggests that not much has changed and that the Russia of today under President Putin proves the point that Orwell made following his experience during the Spanish Civil War and his comments in his controversial list of 1949 where he names people in England sympathetic to communism.' -- Richard Blair, George Orwells adopted son, Patron of The Orwell Society and member of The Orwell Foundation Council
In George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp explores the relationship between totalitarianism, as imagined by Orwell, and totalitarianism, as it really existed in Soviet Russia. As Russia slides backwards into a new form of authoritarian dictatorship, this book is a timely reminder of what came before. -- Anne Applebaum, Staff writer for The Atlantic and author of 'Gulag, A History'
Karp's Russian view of Orwell is unorthodox and makes a novel case for the continuing relevance of this controversial writer in the age of Putin. -- Michael Scammell, Author of 'Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth Century Skeptic'
In 2022, sales of George Orwell's "1984" went sky-high across Russia as people sought to discover more about the reality they were now living in - a reality in which "war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength". In truth, this reality was long in coming - from the moment a former officer of the Soviet "thought-police" came to power and re-instated the Stalin-era national anthem back in 2000. It was a straight road from then on. Masha Karp's new book offers a timely and important insight into how Europe's largest country has descended in the 21st century into a truly Orwellian reality - and a warning against failing to recognise such obvious signs of danger in the future. A must-read. * -Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian politician, historian, journalist; political prisoner since April 2022, arrested for his anti-war speech at the Arizona House of Representatives; winner of 2022 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize awarded by PACE *
Those who dared to read 1984 in Eastern Europe and the USSR during the Cold War era always felt that it was a miracle that George Orwell so deeply and fully grasped the nature of a society that he had never stepped foot in: the totalitarian tyranny of Stalins Russia. Equally miraculous, his nightmarish vision continued to be eerily apposite to the USSR of later decades--just as it is to Russia today. In George Orwell and Russia, Masha Karp works wonders in explaining his mirabilia of imaginative insight as she charts how Orwells hard-won experience of collectivisms corruptions enabled him to conjure a terrifying world whose numerous catchphrases are bywords in the cultural lexicon. This outstanding, path-breaking book should be read by all those who care about the Soviet past, agonize about the Russian present, and worry about the worlds future. * John Rodden, Author of 'Becoming George Orwell: Life and Letters, Legend and Legacy' *

Author Bio

Masha Karp is a political journalist and a leading scholar on the work of George Orwell. She worked for the BBC Russian Service between 1991 and 2009, first as producer and then as Features editor. A member of the St. Petersburg Writers' Union and the Literary Translators Guild in Russia, she translated Animal Farm and its original preface The Freedom of the Press into Russian. Her biography of Orwell, the first to be published in Russia, was a finalist for the ABS Literary Prize. She is a member of the board of the Orwell Society and the editor of its journal.