1984
Info
- Author: George Orwell
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Publisher: Signet
- Type: Official Novel Book
- Release: Jun 01, 2003
- ASIN/ISBN: 0451524934
- Rating:
- Status: Read (268 Pages)
Review
On Oct 25, 2007 Corinne said:
I read this book for the first time back in the 10th grade. It's about oppression, control, lies, fear, hope, loss, love. You name it. It really evokes emotion and thought. I cried at the end. I'm not sure if everyone will have the same connection to it that I had, but if you only read 5 books in your life, this has to be one of them.
I think one of the most spectacular features of this book is how accurate George Orwell was when he wrote it. It really helps to capture the dangers of a totalitarian government. Big Brother watches you always, and in doing so, he tempers your actions. You cannot stand up against the government because there are no channels for doing so. The government filters the truth, so you have zero options for defense.
One thing that those who are politically aware realize is that the American government/society has many of the same elements. Many people may not know this, but the government, as well as others, can track almost every move you make. They can find out what you bought in the grocery store last week, they can find out which country you traveled to 10 years ago. They can find out which car you drove on the turnpike. Information is no longer private, if it ever was.
Details
"Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere."
The year is 1984; the scene is London, largest population center of Airstrip One.
Airstrip One is part of the vast political entity Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two other vast entities, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment, depending upon current alignments, all existing records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truth involves the constant "correction" of such records. "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'"
In a grim city and a terrifying country, where Big Brother is always Watching You and the Thought Police can practically read your mind, Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. He knows the Party's official image of the world is a fluid fiction. He knows the Party controls the people by feeding them lies and narrowing their imaginations through a process of bewilderment and brutalization that alienates each individual from his fellows and deprives him of every liberating human pursuit from reasoned inquiry to sexual passion. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.
Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime--in 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control that have since passed into our common vocabulary. More importantly, he has portrayed a chillingly credible dystopia. In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always looking for his chance. --Daniel Hintzsche"