Book Review - The Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey

 The Ministry of Truth: a Biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lynskey

London: Picador, 2019                                ISBN 9781509890743 

I purchased this book on a whim - it tempted me sitting on the shelves of the second-hand book dealer by being filled with newspaper cuttings to do with Orwell. I confess I didn't have a huge desire to read the book, as I feel that I have drunk enough from the well of Orwell, having read most of his work, and several biographies and critical pieces over the years.

However, I'm glad I did decide to go beyond the cuttings, as Ministry of Truth is a fascinating insight into both the journey Orwell took in life that led him to 1984, and the strange and wonderful "life" of the book itself, mostly "lived" without its "father" (Orwell died 227 days after publication - as Lynskey describes, the act of writing 1984 considerably hastened Orwell's death).

In many ways, the short focussed life or Orwell depicted by Lynskey in these pages is more than enough for most Orwell fans. The book shows how many of the events of Orwell's life led up to the moment when he finished 1984. It seems to me that Lynskey sees Orwell's time in Spain during the Civil War as a turning point for not only for how he viewed Communism, but a solidification for him of what he did believe in - individual freedom and a democratic socialism. His experiences in Spain certainly opened his eyes to totalitarianism, and steeled him for the fight against it - he fought in the best way he could - with words.

Orwell was, as we all are, full of contradictions and blind spots: despite himself, his education and upbringing coloured his view of society, and he was a man of his time in his view of women (thankfully Lynskey doesn't belabour these points too much - one can't blame someone for not having the same outlook on things as we do, seventy five years on).

Orwell saw 1984 as more a satire rather than a prediction: it was a book of possibilities to be avoided rather than a foretelling of future history. It's clear from Lynskey that Orwell was thinking about the book long before he put pen to paper. He drew inspiration from everything around him as well as from his own lived experience: from friends such as Koestler, and from his time working for the BBC, as well as through closely dissecting societal and governmental changes brought by the Second World War.

For me, it was the second part of Ministry of Truth that brought something new to the map of my Orwell world. Despite the subtitle, it's not really a "biography" of the book itself (there is no detailed analysis of its publishing history for example), but more a discussion of the many ways 1984 has gone on to influence political, social and artistic activity down to the present day. Lynskey references a gamut of voices who have felt that influence, from Terry Gilliam, Margaret Attwood and David Bowie, to Margaret Thatcher and Donald Trump. There are also fascinating snippets of information, such as the fact that so many actors that have played the character of Winston Smith in television, radio and film have gone on to play one of the Doctors in Doctor Who. Lynskey references much utopian and dystopian literature in the first half of the book as well as in the second half - Orwell's complex relationship with the work of H.G. Wells is discussed, as is the effect 1984 had on modern literature.

The reception of 1984 down the decades of politics is also well covered. It has over the years been adopted by both the Left and the Right as a talisman, often with a huge distortion of Orwell's thinking and message. At first the Left reacted against the book, treating Orwell as a traitor to the cause, of writing a polemic against Stalinist Communism. He certainly did that in Animal Farm, but 1984 is an altogether more subtle book, with a message that bites both sides of the political spectrum. Orwell was a committed Socialist, but also a committed believer in personal freedom.

At the end of the Cold War, there were some who felt that the changing political scene would lead to a diminution of the power of Orwell's book. However, Lynskey explains that 1984 has continued to be relevant - while the ideas about totalitarianism may have faded somewhat, Orwell's description of a surveillance State and of the destruction of language are more relevant than ever. Lynskey also makes some neat points about current political movements, from Trump to Putin, and how Orwell foresaw much of today's politics in the book as well.

While 1984 may not be the height of literary style, its ongoing influence more than seventy years after it was first published means that it qualifies as a great book. I think Ministry of Truth goes some way to explaining why it still has such influence. It is well-written and engaging, and even an Orwell expert may learn something new.

My only gripe with the book is that while it contains good notes there is no bibliography, the lack of which was painfully felt by me.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell