1984 (Signet Classics) | George Orwell | "from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was...

1984 (Signet Classics) | George Orwell | Great book. Ready many times over.

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1984 (Signet Class...

	1984 (Signet Classics) George Orwell New American Library, 1961 - 268 pages average customer review:based on 1380 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"from the moment of declaring war on the Party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse."

Anyone familiar with the lives of the Russian people under Stalin and his GULAG (Main Camp Administration) system will notice the many parallels between it and a lot of the goings on in the novel 1984. The story within the story is that of one man, 39-year-old Winston Smith, who works at the Ministry of Truth in London, the chief city of Airstrip One [England], which is (p 5) "the third most populous of the provinces of Oceania." The party's slogans: "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength," make it easy to accept the fact that Smith's job at the Ministry of Truth involves telling lies. More specifically, his job is to edit previously published official documents such that the "facts" du jour spewed by the government are shown to have been correctly predicted, (p 42) "Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date." As Winston thought of it (p 43) "It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another." Each time the country's war opponent changes, Smith's job becomes especially busy modifying documents to show that the country has ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Oceania's opponent and ally alternated regularly, but everyone is expected to unquestioningly believe otherwise. Smith meets and falls in love with a 26-year-old seemingly hard-core party member who, in fact, despises the party but has perfected the part of rabid party member to hide her true feelings. Outside the small world that is their relationship is the larger world of the all-powerful government, especially Big Brother, shown as an enormous face with a heavy moustache (Stalin?) on posters proclaiming, Big Brother is Watching You. Citizens are constantly being monitored by cameras and microphones as well as by their "comrades," acquaintances and even family members. Everyone has a telescreen, which is always turned on since it can't be turned off. As expected, the couple is eventually caught. And Smith is tortured and starved before it's all over. The novel 1984 is an exceptional book about, among other things, the overinvolvement and of the government in the lives of its people. Also good: Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and (for 9 to 12-year-olds) The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

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Great book. Ready many times over.

I wish I could just rate the book w/out writing a review! I'm not an author. I don't have a way with words!

Is this Bush and Ahmadinejad's playbook?

I never read Orwell in school for some reason and I am glad I waited. I can't believe this was written in the late 40's. O'Brien's descriptions of seeking power for power's sake and the mutability of truth and history have never been more applicable to current events. Reading this book now, you really start to feel like this must be on Karl Rove's desk.

Hauntingly accurate...

I don't think I will ever get over the fact that this book is so accurate about the future. This author is a genius, and it's a timeless novel that every person needs to read

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Withstands the test of time

Several concepts from "1984" - especially "Big Brother" - have been popular cultural references for many years. Despite being familiar with them long before reading the novel, I still found the novel to very engaging and entertaining. One easily identifies with Winston Smith, trapped in a brainwashed society and wanting to rebel, knowing things could be better. Instead of feeling dated, the story feels even more relevant today with the level of surveillance that governments across the globe exercise currently.

Some elements such as doublethink may appear to be a bit far-fetched, but still remain scary because one can see a government seeking absolute and unending control going to any lengths to achieve their goal. Indeed, attempting to control people's thoughts isn't outside of the realm of possibility; it can almost seem like "political correctness" taken to an extreme. So while fans of science fiction and readers of almost any dystopian future story will be familiar with some of the concepts seen here, this is well worth a read, being both one of the earliest examples of the story and still one of the best.

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