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.
more
good read on political systems out of control and how the individual is compelled to join or resist the system.
My favorite book. Scary.
Very appropriate for today
Thought provoking and intriguing, is this book a warning or a description of how things are?
I compare (somewhat loosely) to “Fahrenheit 451”. It’s just that good.
I have read this book a couple of times and seen the movie. I guess in the UK Big Brother is really watching you, Orwell just missed the date by a couple of decades. The US is rapidly headed that way.
George Orwell must have had a crystal ball tuned into 2017. He’s got it all in this post/WW II book exposing the dangers of a fascist state. Read it and compare it to current events — he even anticipated “fake news”!
a classic. foresaw a future that has come to pass.
Lots of “today happenings”. So much happening today that we can almost read it as a current evens book.
This novel has endured the test of time and many of it’s insights have come to pass.
This should not be read if you want a feel good novel. I think everyone should make an attempt to read it at least once in their life
A glimpse into a possible future that seems closer as everyday passes.
The classic of the futility of fighting city hall. A warning for everyone.
Great classic
Set the mold. Date was wrong but it came true so far.
A classic. Almost prophetic of today’s self indulgent, vapid culture.
A bit frightening how well he predicted the future. One would do well to re-read this classic.
Everyone should read this. Period. It’s that important.
A “must read” for everyone. Along with Ayn Rand’s “We The Living”.
This book didn’t become a classic because it’s not great. It became a classic because it IS great. The idea of the government (Big Brother) running every facet of our lives is still something we need to worry about.