{"product_id":"9781804132289-1948","title":"1948","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Critical and Creative Prequel to Orwell's 1984\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e1948\u003c\/em\u003e offers an answer to the question, what would George Orwell have written after \u003cem\u003e1984, \u003c\/em\u003ehad he lived? It quotes, parodies, and pastiches Orwell’s \u003cem\u003eDiaries \u003c\/em\u003eof the period just before his death, and offers the reader a prequel to \u003cem\u003e1984\u003c\/em\u003e that explores the gaps, equivocations, and contradictions in Orwell's last great novel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescribed as the most widely read and influential serious writer of the twentieth century, George Orwell remains relevant in our own era of contested media. He continues to attract a large readership.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book is about Orwell’s post-war cultural moment c. 1948. Taking his \u003cem\u003eDiaries \u003c\/em\u003eof the time\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eas inspiration, together with his famous final novel, \u003cem\u003e1984 \u003c\/em\u003e(published 1949), and treating them as contiguous texts, Brian May considers the gaps, equivocations, and contradictions in Orwell's message and asks what Orwell would have written next.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut \u003cem\u003e1948\u003c\/em\u003e is more than a work of literary criticism: rather, it balances critical discussion with creative intervention, being one-half literary-critical commentary, and one-half fictional departure – a novella titled “From the Archives of Oceania,” which quotes, parodies and pastiches Orwell's \u003cem\u003eDiaries, \u003c\/em\u003eoffering a possible prequel. Together these elements offer a resource for the reader to interrogate anew such difficult issues as Orwell's sexism and anti-Semitism; to explore the tensions between various intertwining strands of thought that cast Orwell as both realist and idealist, Puritan and individualist; and to better understand Orwell's curious affection for the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e1948\u003c\/em\u003e will appeal to all readers and critics of Orwell, but also to students of dystopian fiction, \"revisionary\" fiction and  \"reception study,\" which highlights the audience’s contribution to an artwork's meaning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56906811605366,"sku":"9781804132289","price":20.16,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_37708475.jpg?v=1765950645","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781804132289-1948","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}