http://therumpus.net/2009/02/winston-smith-is-39/ Books, Music, Movies, Art, Politics, Sex, Other Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:27:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://therumpus.net/2009/02/winston-smith-is-39/comment-page-1/#comment-1321 Olga Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:41:14 +0000 http://therumpus.net/?p=8263#comment-1321 Obviously, I must read this novel. The fact that I haven't read it yet is only partially explained by the fact that I was born in Leningrad in 1979. It was translated and published in the Soviet Union in 1988, a major event. Everybody read it since then, why didn't I? Perhaps, for the same reason I didn't read "Fahrenheit 451" or "Animal Farm." There was something inherently suspicious in a novel about Stalinism written outside of USSR. Because how would "they" know? I read "Master and Margarita" and "Doktor Zhivago" and Shalamov and Chukovskaya. I've read "A Brave New World" later, when I was already in the States, in English. It confirmed my suspicions. "They" couldn't get it right. It took me years to realize that what "they" were writing about had less to do with Soviet Union and more with who "they" were, the world of their own. "They" were writing about themselves. But anyway, James, I really appreciate you giving me another point of entry into this novel. I am fascinated. Obviously, I must read this novel. The fact that I haven’t read it yet is only partially explained by the fact that I was born in Leningrad in 1979. It was translated and published in the Soviet Union in 1988, a major event. Everybody read it since then, why didn’t I? Perhaps, for the same reason I didn’t read “Fahrenheit 451″ or “Animal Farm.” There was something inherently suspicious in a novel about Stalinism written outside of USSR. Because how would “they” know? I read “Master and Margarita” and “Doktor Zhivago” and Shalamov and Chukovskaya. I’ve read “A Brave New World” later, when I was already in the States, in English. It confirmed my suspicions. “They” couldn’t get it right. It took me years to realize that what “they” were writing about had less to do with Soviet Union and more with who “they” were, the world of their own. “They” were writing about themselves. But anyway, James, I really appreciate you giving me another point of entry into this novel. I am fascinated.

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