George Orwell estate 'appalled and wryly' amused at Amazon's 'doublespeak'
Just when you thought things couldn鈥檛 get any worse for Amazon in its e-books pricing battle with Hachette, the latest round of which saw Amazon misquote and misinterpret George Orwell, the Orwell estate has spoken out against Amazon.
鈥淭his is about as close as one can get to the Ministry of Truth and its doublespeak: turning the facts inside out to get a piece of propaganda across,鈥� Bill Hamilton, executor of the Orwell estate, pointed out in a letter to the editor published in the .
The gaffe began last weekend when Amazon wrote a 聽criticizing publisher Hachette in its months-long standoff over e-book pricing. In the letter, Amazon compared its battle over e-book pricing to the fight publisher Penguin had when it introduced cheap paperbacks in the 1930s.
Here, it quoted, or misquoted, George Orwell.聽
鈥淭he famous author George Orwell came out publicly and said about the new paperback format, if 'publishers had any sense, they would combine against them and suppress them'," wrote . "Yes, George Orwell was suggesting collusion."
Except he wasn鈥檛.
In fact, Orwell鈥檚 full quote was: 鈥淭he Penguin books are splendid value for sixpence, so splendid that if other publishers had any sense they would combine against them and suppress them.鈥� He went on to say that it was "a great mistake to imagine that cheap books are good for the book trade," adding, "The cheaper books become, the less money is spent on books.鈥�
In other words, Orwell was supportive of paperbacks and ambivalent about lowering book prices.
The irony was so biting, it was amusing.
鈥淗e was using irony. It鈥檚 a literary device. You sell books. What is wrong with you,鈥� tweeted Glenn Fleishman, a technology journalist.
Jean Seaton, director of the Orwell prize, called Amazon鈥檚 鈥渄ystopian and shameless.鈥�
The deepest embarrassment, of course, came when Orwell鈥檚 own estate spoke out against Amazon.
鈥淎mazon is using George Orwell鈥檚 name in vain,鈥� began Hamilton鈥檚 to the editor. 鈥淚t quotes Orwell out of context as supporting a campaign to suppress paperbacks, to give specious authority to its campaign against publishers over e-book pricing; and having gotten as much capital as it can out of waving around Orwell鈥檚 name, Amazon then dismisses what was an ironic comment without engaging with Orwell鈥檚 own detailed arguments, which eloquently contradict Amazon鈥檚.鈥�
As he went on, he delivered a final blow to Amazon.聽
鈥淎s the literary executor for the Orwell estate, I鈥檓 both appalled and wryly amused that Amazon鈥檚 tactics should come straight out of Orwell鈥檚 own nightmare dystopia, '1984.' It doesn鈥檛 say much for Amazon鈥檚 regard for truth, or its powers of literary understanding. Or perhaps Amazon just doesn鈥檛 care about the authors it is selling. If that鈥檚 the case, why should we listen to a word it says about the value of books?鈥�
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
