The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

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 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 ‘Orwell’s 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 Orwell’s 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.