Book Review - Big brother

Does the case for Why Orwell Matters even need to be made? As I write, the American government is planning a potentially endless war to fuel a permanent wartime economy, violating its citizens' rights to privacy and questioning the loyalty and patriotism of everyone who dares to challenge it. This is more or less the state of affairs in George Orwell's 1984, which has never stopped being relevant. 1984 made "Big Brother," "thoughtcrime" and "Orwellian" part of our political vocabulary.

Christopher Hitchens actually devotes the bulk of his book not to making the case for why Orwell still matters, but to defending him against his detractors. The Left has denounced Orwell for his criticism of socialism, especially in Animal Farm and 1984. Hitchens argues, however, that Orwell was not anti-socialist but anti-Stalinist, and that Orwell was a life-long believer in socialism despite its "bureaucratic and authoritarian tendencies."

The Right has seen in Orwell's critique of socialism evidence for its claim that he is a closet conservative, conveniently ignoring his lifelong opposition to capitalism and imperialism. Hitchens nevertheless refers to Orwell as, temperamentally, a Tory who spoke disparagingly of feminism. It is ironic, but maybe not surprising, that one of the staunchest defenders of free speech in the past century was politically incorrect.

Hitchens calls Orwell "the outstanding English example of the dissident intellectual who preferred above all allegiances the loyalty to the truth." Orwell adapted his political beliefs to his own moral and aesthetic vision; he did not strictly adhere to the party line. Neither does Hitchens, whose support of the Bush administration's plans to invade Iraq somewhat undermines his defense of an anti-imperialist like Orwell.

Admittedly, American society today is a great deal freer than 1984's Oceania, and it is easy to dismiss Orwell as a false prophet, but it might be a mistake to take the date 1984 too literally. With the world on the brink of a catastrophic war, what will it look like in the year 2084? To answer that question is to understand why Orwell still matters.

b>
Why Orwell Matters by Christopher Hitchens. Basic Books. 208 pages. $24.??