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Jonathan Freedland 1984

Decent Essays

According to Jonathan Freedland, in writing 1984, George Orwell created “the very model” of political thrillers, with a novel that completely fulfills the demands of the genre, as it combines “the illumination of an intriguing idea and the telling of a cracking story.” Freedland emphasizes the pervasiveness of 1984, relating that it is known by those to whom Winston Smith and Julia’s yearning for freedom is foreign. Although Freedland praises the novel for providing a “shorthand” for extreme political policies, he emphasizes that the story is “to be read,” and that the political part of political thriller is not the reason the novel succeeds; it is Orwell’s capacity to affect readers with his answer to the question: What

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