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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Because we’re living it.
For some of us, it’s been quite a while since high school, but I can confirm that “1984” does in fact hold up. What struck me upon reading the first few chapters was how Orwell introduces Winston and his hatred of The Party. I can see precisely how this would be handled in a movie today: you’d have Winston as a loyal Party member, but then he …
important
I’m not a conspiracy theorist but the notion of Big Brother always looking over your shoulder is always in the back of your mind. It’s fun to get lost in that world…just for a little bit though. This book is an all-time classic. One of my favorites.
A classic treatment of individual vs society. Everyone should read it.
I read it in High School, but it was good reading again in the Age of Trump.
True prediction
1984 is a classic and absolute must read, especially in the current climate. The story itself is dry and predictable. The last act was painful to experience through the eyes of the protagonist. But the ideas that this book presents is as true when it was written as it is now. The ideas stay with you. Maybe you might question the narrative of the …
I thought it was amazing!
1984 is my favorite novel of all time and is as relevant today as it was when it was written. It might as well be titled, “The Authoritarianism Playbook”.
Are we there yet? Hard to say, but it is a cautionary tale we should all read and discuss. I read this book as a student in the early 1970’s, and many times since then, it always gives me pause.
Parts of the story are worth reading, and parts badly needed editing. I felt it was redundant and was disappointed in it overall.
I really don’t understand why this book is on so many G.O.A.T. lists. It really should be in the fairy tales/fable category with Grimms. It took me three tries over 10 years to choke it down.
The Drmocrat administration really shouldn’t encourage anyone to read this book. They have spent the past 60 years implementing all the thought controls this book showcases. That is how they STOLE the 2008, 2012 and 2020 presidential elections.
Written so many years ago but still so current…
A great book
I read this in high school and continue to get amazed at how our changing world is shades of this novel.
A prescient look at the future from 1949. George Orwell saw the the terrifying direction we could go, he just thought it would happen 32 years earlier than it has.
I did a recent reread of this dystopian masterpiece and it still stands up to the test of time. Big Brother watches over every facet of human behaviour and there is no escape from the long tentacles of the Thought Police. Amidst the gloom and darkness of the totalitarian state, Winston and Julia find a hideaway for their love trysts; and slowly …
This is a book everyone should read today.