George Orwell’s 1984 returns to best-selling list following Kellyanne Conway's 'alternative facts'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.America’s political paradigm shift is clearly making people ponder on the nature of dystopia, as George Orwell’s classic 1984 is the sixth best-selling book on Amazon right now.
Its surge was spotted by the Guardian, and 1984 could climb higher as the chart is updated on an hourly basis.
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway is likely responsible for more readers discovering the 1949 novel, as she used the term “alternative facts” during a CNN interview - a phrase many have noted is evocative of the word "newspeak" used in the book by Orwell.
The term is reminiscent of those used by Big Brother’s regime to keep the wool over the public’s eyes in the book, also including “doublethink”.
Conway used it with regards to press secretary Sean Spicer’s claims that Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration had “the largest audience ever”. Challenged on whether this was the case, Conway defended her colleague by saying that he was presenting the “alternative facts”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments