65 pages • 2 hours read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Solnit is an accomplished essayist and nonfiction writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine. She has received several accolades, such as a Guggenheim Fellowship and a nomination for a National Book Award. Her book River of Shadows won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2004. Intellectually voracious and culturally curious, Solnit tackles questions about beauty and meaning in this book, Orwell’s Roses, an eclectic combination of biography, memoir, and essay.
The epigraph to the book, from Octavia Butler, reveals the impetus behind her work: “The very act of trying to look ahead to discern possibilities and offer warnings is in itself an act of hope.” This quotation is repeated within the text on page 259, in the context of her examination of 1984, a dystopian novel that is usually read simply as an ominous warning. Solnit teases out its beauty and its hopefulness rather than emphasizing its klaxon call: “A warning,” Solnit writes, “is not a prophecy” (259). Rather, a warning “assumes that we have choices and cautions us about the consequences” (259); a prophecy, on the other hand, is unavoidable.
Plus, gain access to 8,600+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By Rebecca Solnit
Beauty
View Collection
Books About Art
View Collection
Books & Literature
View Collection
Contemporary Books on Social Justice
View Collection
Earth Day
View Collection
Essays & Speeches
View Collection
Inspiring Biographies
View Collection
National Book Critics Circle Award...
View Collection
Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics
View Collection
Politics & Government
View Collection
Popular Study Guides
View Collection
Science & Nature
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection