Students in Lee Marcus’ 讽刺 & 社会 class, a new junior/senior 英语 elective, had the opportunity to converse with novelist 约翰•里德 十大网堵平台他的书 斯诺鲍的机会, which the class had read. 

斯诺鲍的机会

斯诺鲍的机会 is a parody of George Orwell’s 动物庄园, which Poly students read in Grade 7.

Reed is currently the Director of Creative Writing at the New School.  He has been affiliated with several literary publications, including Brooklyn Rail, New York Press, and the literary journal 开放城市.  In 2002, Roof Books published 斯诺鲍的机会.  马库斯解释, “The novella satirizes American democracy and capitalism and critiques Orwell’s central premise,并补充道。,  “John’s collection of essays, The Never End: The Other Orwell, the Cold War, the CIA, and the Origin of 动物庄园, offers further critique of Orwell’s prominence and will be published later this year.”

讽刺,反弹, & 相关性

“It is very unique for students to openly question the author of a book they have read,” said Marcus.  “斯诺鲍的机会 came with lots of controversy. 约翰•里德 wrote the book in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks and is a salient critique of the ways our society has become increasingly polarized over time. The book faced lots of backlash when it was published, and students were excited to learn more about the author’s choices and the way the book does and does not hold up to modern society. This is the focus of the class — to consider the relevance and effectiveness of satire — and allowing space for the students to process the novel with the author there to respond to their questions was critical to understanding the way that satire works.”

关键回应 雪球

In class, Reed addressed the critical response to 雪球 when it was first published in 2002. For example, in a 2002 纽约时报 审查, 迪尼西亚·史密斯写道, “Mr. Reed says he is definitely one of those in the anti-Orwell camp. ‘I really wanted to explode that book,’ he said of ‘动物庄园.’ ‘I wanted to completely undermine it.’”

史密斯接着说:“史密斯先生. Reed decided to turn Orwell’s classic back on itself. In his parody Napoleon, the Stalinist pig dictator of ‘动物庄园,“死, 而他的老对手, 雪球, returns transformed into a corporate capitalist dressed in cuff links and a blazer. “今晚, I present an animalage of such erudition that all the wisdom of the village is now ours,斯诺鲍说, 宣布新的, decidedly free-market credo for the farm: ‘All animals are born equal — what they become is their own affair.’”

“It’s hard to see history while you are in it.”

Reed, who lives in NYC, told students that his book was a response to the 9/11 attacks. “I had the whole thing in my head,” he said, “I just had to type it out.”

Reed said he was “totally surprised” by the strong critical responses including by the late British author and journalist Christopher Hitchens. “But I was also delighted when Orwell lawyers wanted to sue me,” he said. Reed was especially angry about one 审查er who, he said, did not read the book. “She missed the ending,” he said. Reed added that he lost friends because of the book.

Looking back at the criticism, Reed says, “It’s hard to see history while you are in it.”

在一个Q里&A, students asked how Reed dealt with the criticism and how he developed his characters and he asked them which were their favorite characters in the book.

外卖

之后, Marcus说, “I took away many things from the conversation, but one piece that stands out is how 约翰•里德 framed the role of the engaged citizen: It is about doing what you are good at to make a difference in society.  为他, 这是写作, as he’s an expert writer, and it was nice to hear him affirm the various ways that citizens might have an impact on affecting positive change.  Unlike what students might have expected, he was more optimistic than cynical about the state of the world.”