A book containing good story telling that I recently read was 1984 by George Orwell. This was in part due to Orwell’s lucid and descriptive explanations of the pervasive tyranny of the socialist regime, Ingsoc. One passage that exemplifies this trait is as follows:
“The mutability of the past is the central tent of Ingsoc. Past events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records, and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it. It also follows that though the past is unalterable, it never has been altered in any specific instance. For when it has been recreated in whatever shape is needed at the moment, then this new version is the past, and no different past can ever have existed. This holds good even when, as often happens, the same event has to be altered out of recognition several times in the course of a year. At all times the Party is in possession of absolute truth, and clearly the absolute can never have been different from what it is now.”
This passage not only illustrates George Orwell’s writing style, an important characteristic in good writing, but also the novel’s insight into philosophical issues, in this case political philosophy. This attribute is critical in good writing because it permits analysis of a particular facet of human existence relating to the philosophical idea being discussed. Without such discussion of the human condition, novels tend to fade away because with society’s ever-changing fads, values of the society during the time when the novel was released may not be important to a society ten years down the road. Novels with philosophical discussion, however, tend to be valued for considerably longer periods of time since such philosophy is often still applicable for many years into the future. For example the political philosophy in 1984, which cautions the reader of a government (socialist in the novel, though the philosophy can be applied to any type of government) yielding too much power over its subjects, is still important today because this scenario remains a potential threat in today’s world. (In fact, certain predictions in 1984 have been realized, such as complete government surveillance over its people through tactics such as satellite imagery, email monitoring, and wire-tapping.) Because 1984 contains principles and insights applicable today and likely for many years into the future, it is an example of great writing.
Good choice. If the party has discovered a way to make the past "mutable" then its powers go way beyond its power over its subjects. If the past can be changed, then reality itself has no independent existence outside the political goals of the party. One of the most frightening ideas of the novel, or maybe of any novel.
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