A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick With extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity, George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life in this edition. “Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where … city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. 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.
Lionel Trilling said of Orwell’s masterpiece, “1984 is a profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book. It is a fantasy of the political future, and like any such fantasy, serves its author as a magnifying device for an examination of the present.” Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s novel remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.
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funny,fun,l serious lovable way to write a forever book if I could write this is exacally, what i would want to write.
Read it a couple of times.
Amazing that Orwell could predict our future world at the time he was writing. Deserves to be re-read considering what is happening in the US today. A warning we all need to heed.
The original dystopia – scarily accurate in its predictions
If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s not pleasant reading, but it’s not supposed to be. When you look up dystopia in the dictionary this book should be there. I literally threw this book across the room when I finished it. Don’t read it if you are feeling hopeless–this book won’t help.
A must-read for any citizen who hopes to remain free. No review would do it justice, just go read it. Repeat every 5 years or so, it gets scarier with life experience.
Disturbing… Again, a cautionary tale. History being re-written to suite those in charge…
Boring as hell
Isn’t it interesting how the best sci-fi really does tell us our future? This classic does just that. 1948 – 1984 – 2016 – ?? 2020 ???
This should be required reading for all people. A perfect fictional portrayal of fascism. Itt reads like a playbook for the current US political culture and, as such, is scary as hell
Nineteen eighty-four is the gold standard of dystopian literature. The world has devolved into three warring factions, leadership is ruthless and absolute, the masses barely survive. Big Brother knows everything, controls everything. Can anyone escape?
Mandatory reading. The main character works for the Ministry of Truth, which determines what is “truth” on a day by day basis, actually erasing history when necessary to the new version. The world has come so close lately. This is the logical extension of the doctrine “history is written by the winners” but updated to a day by day (hour by hour?) …
i was required to read this in school and that’s about all i can say. i really didnt enjoy it much, but it still is a classic. the main thing about it is that its sort of the original dystopian society. if you love that sub-genre, read this.
I get it.
Haunting book that resonates with our current high tech world. Big brother is always watching you.
I think this type of thing could easily. It really scares me. The population is generally willing to go along with any thing that comes along, so what is there to prevent Big Brothet from moving in and taking over?
I read this book many years ago and the subject matter was considered to be a book of fiction. Now, sense having read 1984 again recently, I feel the book should now be classified in the non-fiction category. What sounded like Science Fiction and completely far fetched 20 years ago, 1984 is now all too real.
Big Brother is everywhere
Classic.
I first read this book in 1962 and considered it far out. And now so much of this has happened.