By Hillel Italie
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - The literary executor of George Orwell's estate is accusing Amazon.com of committing an Orwellian crime: doublespeak.
In a letter published this week in The New York Times, Bill Hamilton criticized the online retailer for "turning the facts inside out" by alleging that the British author known for the novels "1984" and "Animal Farm" had urged publishers in the 1930s to join together and stop the rise of paperbacks.
Amazon and Hachette Book Group have been locked in a nasty standoff over terms for e-book sales, with Amazon removing pre-order buttons, reducing discounts and slowing deliveries for many Hachette releases. Amazon has defended its actions, saying that it is fighting to keep e-book prices low, ideally around $9.99 for new releases, a rate Hachette and other publishers fear is unsustainable.
In a message posted last week on its website, Amazon likened publishers' objections to concerns about paperbacks in the 1930s. The retailer cited a 1936 Orwell essay in which he wrote of paperbacks that if "publishers had any sense, they would combine against them and suppress them."
But Hamilton and others say that Amazon quoted Orwell out of context, and that his words were meant ironically. Orwell had been praising some new releases from Penguin, which had recently launched its now-famous line of paperbacks.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday.
Published: Fri, Aug 15, 2014
