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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Out of all the books I’ve read, George Orwell’s 1984 is probably my favorite. It does hit close to home, maybe that is it’s allure. You can actually see it happening to an extent right before your eyes.
Classic and disturbingly real.
Should be read by everyone.
A classic. Very scary view of our potential future.
I’m on my 3rd (or possibly 4th) copy of this incredible book. I read this for history class in 1980 (maybe 1981). I’ve NEVER forgotten it. A classic written 40+ years before it’s time and with such unimaginable insight, it makes one shudder. Frighteningly beautiful. Hauntingly, and rather accurately, foreseeing our years to come. A page …
what is most profound, is how much it reflects the world of 2018.
Another book that was required reading in school that I’m glad was.
Frighteningly predictive.
This was a required read when I was in high school (1975). At the time the events in the book were unimaginable, and when they were imagined, they were imagined to be in a communist country such as the Soviet Union. Now, in 2018 the book seems somewhat dated, and several times in the last decade I have found myself thinking, “Oh, George. You had …
All time greatest classic.
This hits very close to current reality. We have Antifa trying to silence anyone that doesn’t agree with them, The Intelligence community is become politicized, and Big Brother is working with Google and face book to invade our private lives and is right around the corner. How fun.
George Orwell was a visionary, it is happening now
Wake up, everybody! It’s 1984. this book is more poignant than ever. Although it was written in 1949 it has proved to be a prophetic description of our world today. TV’s that spy on us, politically correct speech, government overreaching its authority to control citizens; all these dystopian concepts are sneaking up on us. I believe everyone …
Excellent book, several of the books that a friend recommended were not so hot, but this one is the real thing. Enjoyed reading it, would have completed it much sooner if not for having surgery a couple days after starting to read it and was not in much if a reading mood. 1984 is everything it was. Built up to be, wish I had read it when I was …
I love Stephen King books but this book is, by far, one of the scariest books I have ever read. Truly terrifying, particularly given the state of things in this country.
A terrifying novel of what could be.
Amazingly predictive and frightening. A great motivation for becoming politically active.
I believe science-fiction is the most important genre of our time, especially when it attempts to paint a picture of a possible future. In this novel, Orwell created the ideas “big brother is watching you” and political correctness run amuck. Ditto for Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, in which he created an early prototype of the first …
No fun, but compelling nonetheless.
Essential reading for understanding society, politics and human nature. Gripping.