1984 Was Russia's

Most Stolen Book

in 2023
Vocabulary
dystopian
The game takes place in a dystopian world where resources are scarce and survival is difficult.
exert
China is increasingly using its navy to exert control and influence in the South China Sea.
censorship
China has long been criticized for its excessive internet censorship.
propaganda
The news outlet's coverage of the election was biased and filled with propaganda.
discredit
The rumor was aimed at discrediting the politician.
effectively
Under Putin, Russia has effectively become a dictatorship.
Article
Read the article aloud on your own or repeat each paragraph after your tutor.

1984 Was Russia's Most Stolen Book in 2023

George Orwell's 1984 tells the story of a dystopian government that exerts complete control over everyone
and everything.

Through censorship and propaganda, people's freedoms are taken away, war is continuous, and the
history books are constantly revised to match what the government wants people to believe.

And in Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine since 2022, Orwell's novel has been named the most
stolen book of 2023.

That's according to the Chitai-Gorod bookstore chain, which said the book had been stolen from its stores
around the country 460 times.

Chitai-Gorod means "reading town" in Russian.

The bookstore said 1984 was also among the top 10 most-bought books of 2023. And CNN reported in
December 2022 that it was the most popular fiction download of that year on LitRes, a popular online
bookshop in Russia.
The book's popularity in Russia may not be surprising to some. Oceania, the fictional state in 1984, was often
compared to the USSR.

And more recently, the book has been mentioned in the context of Russia's February 2022 invasion of
Ukraine.

A law introduced after the invasion made it illegal to "discredit" or spread "false information" about the
Russian army — and the law has frequently been used to jail critics of the war, including students and
journalists.

Even the word "war" has been effectively banned, with the government insisting that people call the conflict
in Ukraine a "special military operation.“

And while the war is still ongoing, there are people in Russia who oppose it — like Dmitry Silin, who set up
the George Orwell Library in 2022 to counter what he saw as growing propaganda and censorship.

The library is in Ivanovo, a five-hour drive east of Moscow. While small, it has books about dystopias, the
USSR's prison system and more.

"The more you read about dystopias, the more freedom you have," Alexandra Karaseva, the librarian,
told AFP. "They show the dangers, as well as ways of avoiding them and of resisting."
Silin, however, has since left the country, out of fear that he could be arrested.
Make a Story

dystopian
exert
censorship
propaganda
discredit
effectively