The recent resurgence of dystopian literature is fun and all, but the fact is that many of us who are now turning (or returning) to the likes of 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale are doing so out of nervous desperation. A few years ago, these novels provided fascinating, escapist fiction. Today, they can feel like the closest thing we have to a survival manual for the future of America.
George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel, for one, hits pretty close to home: It's set in a totalitarian state in which the official language, called "newspeak," does not permit criticism of any kind — essentially quashing citizens' freedom of expression. The novel, what with its government of tyranny and alternative facts, sold out on Amazon in the week after President Trump's inauguration. Now, Mashable reports that a stage adaptation is heading to Broadway this summer — to undoubtedly give New Yorkers and tourists alike an uncomfortable case of déjà vu.
The play, which debuted in London two years ago, was created by veterans of the British stage Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. Little did they know in 2015 just how much 2017 would look like 1984. We're guessing Icke and Macmillan would agree with The Handmaid's Tale star Elisabeth Moss when she said, "We never wanted the show to be this relevant."
If you can't make it to Broadway, we hear certain bookstores are giving away 1984 for free — along with copies of The Handmaid's Tale as well as Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, of course.
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