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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My husband and I have listened to this audio book together many times. It definitely promotes intelligent discussions
How on earth can anyone enjoy this book. Its awful. Its confusing. I had to read the sparknotes after each and every chapter just to partially understand it. The only reason I didn’t give up and chuck it off a cliff into the deep, dark abyss is because for Father’s Day I told my dad I’d read along with him as this was one of his TBR books. Next …
This book was on the band list of the Catholic school that I attended. As soon as I found that out, I ran right out and bought it. I read it at the tender age of 15. I am 70 now. This book is as thought provoking now as it was then. Read this book, and take it’s message and warning to heart.
Disturbingly relevant in this post-truth environment. Heed the warning! Concise and evocative writing and believable characters in an unbelievable situation create feeling of unrelenting pressure that keeps the pages turning to the final conclusion.
Futuristic story which has predicted many advances in technology and how they affect nations politically in every day life.
A must-read for everyone at least once, but a bit depressing and bleak. Greatly influential to many other works.
I like how this book tries to relate to today’s society by using different symbols.
A favorite of mine for a very long time. I re-read it every few years, so I highly recommend it.
Travel to Oceania in this look at a world that was taken over by socialists. We follow Winston Smith as he lives out his life under the constant watchful eye of Big Brother. His vague memories of freedom lead him to hope for another revolution. Can he help in some way? What will happen when he starts an affair with a beautiful woman?
I read …
Eerily dystopian now too close to true eye opener conspiracy theory thriller.
“1984” is a classic! Read this book!
Classic book about Big Brother watching and why you hate to hear those words: “I am from the government and I am here to help you.”
Thought provoking.
Everyone should read this and remember its not a how to book
great classic worth reading again and again
One of THE most important novels of the 20th century! I find it terrifying how 1984 and Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 are so prophetic to what is happening today… I think EVERYONE needs to read and understand this book!
A classic dystopian look at the world. Everyone should read this book at least once and be prepared to never look at the world around you the same way as you read it. No matter what your politics are, you will re-evaluate the political machine and wonder what it is doing. Orwell was way ahead of his time. Obviously a reaction to the search for …
There’s something very unsettling about reading this book in the current political climate.
in our world everyone needs to read this at least once
This classical isn’t easy to read. It doesn’t feel good. It’s full of violence and hopelessness. It’s bleak. It doesn’t have a happy ending. But, it’s a necessary cautionary tale. Now, more than ever, we need to be wary of “Big Brother” taking over American democracy.