Since 1990, historian, activist, and essayist Rebecca Solnit has written more than twenty books, on subjects ranging from natural disasters and wandering to feminism and social change. In the past, Rebecca has singled out female authors such as Virginia Woolf as important influences. Today, though, she\u2019ll be talking about a more surprising writer to whom she feels she owes a debt: George Orwell.<\/p>\n
Orwell is best known for essays such as \u201cPolitics and the English Language\u201d and for his chilling portrayal of totalitarianism in novels such as 1984<\/em>. He has long been revered by male writers such as George Packer and the late Christopher Hitchens. But female writers, including Rebecca, have tended to be more critical, sometimes taking Orwell to task for ignoring the injustices of sexism.<\/p>\n And yet Rebecca counts Orwell as a major influence. In fact, she has devoted her latest book to his life and work. It\u2019s called Orwell\u2019s Roses<\/em>, and it was inspired by a visit she paid to his rural cottage, where she learned about the gardening he did long ago. Rebecca contends that nature not only mattered greatly to Orwell, but that it is directly related to his antifascism. In this conversation, she elaborates on her unconventional view of Orwell, and she offers an alternative reading of 1984<\/em>. She talks about how Orwell was both a socialist and a critic of the left, and why she identifies with this, and argues for the political importance of pleasure and beauty. And she explains why, despite Orwell\u2019s troubling silence about the plight of women, she believes we should still read his works.<\/p>\n