Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Totalitarian Novels

Hillsdale College features a range of free lectures on an array topics from literature, history, etc. Their latest is on "Totalitarian Novels" and the first lecture in the series is on George Orwell's 1984. The lecture is delivered by the college president, Larry Arnn, and is quite good. Other novels in the series are Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon, and C.S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength.

Many of us, perhaps, have frequently heard these books referred to but may not have read them ourselves. If anyone wishes to gain a good overview of what the novels are about or a good review of them if one has already read them, then give this lecture series a try. The lectures are each about 30 minutes long and are very well done.

From the novel 1984  

 

Although each of these classics was written sixty or more years ago they're extremely timely today. In many ways the dystopian future they depict is with us now and every educated person should be familiar with their message.

You can register here and follow the links to get started on the course. Each lecture is accompanied by a quiz and a panel discussion with Hillsdale students to help reinforce what you heard in the lecture.