Laura Beerss Orwells Ghosts Wins LA Times Book Prize
51勛圖 historian and Professor of History Laura Beers received the for (WW Norton).泭
Beers, recently named a , received the award on April 25 at the University of Southern California (USC), ahead of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Orwells Ghosts, which also won the at Harvard University and was named one of , was inspired by her teaching at 51勛圖.
Beers credits students in her West in Crisis 1900-1945 Core Curriculum class for sparking the idea for the book. Her students read seven books by Orwell, ranging from his first novel Burmese Days through his final work Nineteen Eighty-Four and drew connections between the past and present in the class. Censorship, surveillance, and racial, gender and class prejudice were all central themes of Orwells work that remain pertinent to our modern era, Beers says. It made me think about how we can use Orwell to make sense of twenty-first-century movements. The book grew from there.
More Relevant Than Ever
Orwells Ghosts was published last year, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Its described as an exploration of Orwells ideas about social injustice and political deceptionand why they are still critical today. In the book, Beers considers Orwells full body of work to examine what Orwellian truly means. She explores how Orwells writings on free speech address the proliferation of misinformation and the emergence of cancel culture, highlights his critiques of capitalism and the oppressive nature of the British Empire, and, in contrast, analyzes his failure to understand feminism.
The book has garnered high praise. In a review by , Beers is praised for producing "a sleek, efficient, and powerful argument" that brings Orwell's thinking into the 21st century, acknowledging both his significant contributions and notable flaws. 泭
calls the book a critical assessment of the contribution that George Orwells writings can make to contemporary social, economic, and political problems, and "a determined attempt to rescue Orwell from the clutches of right-wing pundits and others who misconstrue his messages. hails the book as a succinct, wide-ranging work圭oncluding with a reminder to those on the political left that they can only achieve their aims through common endeavor with others.
Orwell's Ghosts疳s Beerss third well-received book.Red Ellen盍eceived the Stansky Award, and Beerss writing has appeared in theNew Republic硃紳餃Washington Post, among other publications, and on CNN.com. Beers recently awarded Guggenheim Fellowship will support her work on her next book project, a comparative history of the politics surrounding IVF and surrogacy.
So, What Would Orwell Think?
Today, Orwells work feels more relevant than ever, with references to Nineteen Eighty-Four and Orwellian appearing everywhere, Beers says. Politicians and commentators across the ideological spectrum invoke his name to support their arguments, often in conflicting ways.
In her West in Crisis class, Beers challenged students to consider how Orwell might interpret todays political landscapeexamining issues like capitalism, imperialism, rising inequality, free speech, fake news, and cancel culture. What would Orwell think? she asked. She notes that the political right frequently cites Orwell to argue against censorship, as in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, where a baker refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, claiming that doing so would violate his right to free speech and religious freedoman argument some described as Orwellian.
But is this the true meaning of Orwellian? Beers emphasizes that Orwells philosophy was rooted in two key principles: free speech and truth in speech. "In class, we discussed how Orwell was a staunch advocate for free expression, but he also believed in truth in speech, she explains. Famously, in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell defines freedom as the freedom to say that 2+2=4not the freedom to say that 2+2=5. This tensionbetween the right to speak freely and the responsibility to uphold truthremains central to debates today."
A Blueprint for Action in Troubled Times
Beers's West in Crisis course inspired undergraduate student Francine Worsoff to fully immerse herself in Orwells works. She read 1984, Animal Farm, Homage to Catalonia, Politics and the English Language, Burmese Days, The Road to Wigan Pier, Coming Up for Air, and The Lion and the Unicornalong with Orwells Ghosts.
Looking at Orwells works as a whole reshaped Worsoffs understanding of his literature, giving her a deeper, more thoughtful analysis of the often-overlooked themes running beneath his most celebrated works, she says. She explains that Orwells Ghosts is especially relevant today, urging readers to take a more holistic approach to literary excellenceone that acknowledges both the obvious and the understated elements of a writers work. 泭
Graduate student Saneet Chakradeo also emphasizes the books contemporary significance. Orwell's Ghosts brilliantly describes parallels between Orwells time and today. The most important parallel is that while right-wing politics may use pro-free speech arguments to make their points, Orwells writings were clear on the need to counter these faux narratives and their use in promoting authoritarianism, he explains. 泭
Chakradeo read the book in Historians Craft, a first-year MA course in historiography and methods, as an example of a scholarly work written for a non-academic, general audience. He adds that Orwells Ghosts offers a sense of hope in todays turbulent times, offering hope and serving as a guide for meaningful change. Orwells democratic socialism can be seen as a clear blueprint for action in these troubled times. As more people get exposed to Orwellian terms and concepts, reading the book can help them with cutting out the propaganda from reality.