1984 (Polish Edition) (Hardcover)

by George Orwell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
"Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere."

The year is 1984; the scene is London, largest population center of Airstrip One.

Airstrip One is part of the vast political entity Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two other vast entities, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment, depending upon current alignments, all existing records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truth involves the constant "correction" of such records. "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'"

In a grim city and a terrifying country, where Big Brother is always Watching You and the Thought Police can practically read your mind, Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. He knows the Party's official image of the world is a fluid fiction. He knows the Party controls the people by feeding them lies and narrowing their imaginations through a process of bewilderment and brutalization that alienates each individual from his fellows and deprives him of every liberating human pursuit from reasoned inquiry to sexual passion. 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.

Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime--in 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control that have since passed into our common vocabulary. More importantly, he has portrayed a chillingly credible dystopia. In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always looking for his chance. --Daniel Hintzsche

Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1984)
• Language: Polish
• ISBN-10: 0151660387
• ISBN-13: 978-8422615798
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #439,648 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Depressing, dark, complicated, yet one of the best books..., March 18, 1998

By A Customer

Conspirisy therories aside, Orwell's prolific masterpiece '1984' tells of the struggle to remain human when faced with insurmountable odds. Orwell's unique vison, formed in the desperation of post-war Europe in 1947, descibes a future in which a totalitarism government controls all. The main character, Winston, is not set up to be a likeable, hopeful, hero-type protagonist, but rather, is created in the image of all men. He loses hope, attempts to fight the system with small rebellion of his own, and fails miserably, as anyone would under the circumstances. His affair with a woman is the subject of censure in many reviews of this book, but again, it was not set up to portray a loving, human relationship, but to serve as irony in it's most bitter form. When love, honor, compassion, and other words of that calibure are erased from the human vocabulary, you have 1984. And Orwell's vision may serve as the correct one. People today lose their humanity with alarming swiftness, and we are faced with the simple choice Winston must make: fight or flee. Fight Big Brother and the government, or flee the mind and become another faceless drone like other characters in the story. While depressing, this novel also raises some interesting questions. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned the fate of the human race. In short, everyone should read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Frightening Future, December 6, 2007

By	B. D. Pruett "Thunderworm" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The classic original. The reason we use the term: "Orwellian". This is the book which predicted "The Lives of Others" The Lives of Others. Much of Orwell's work is now part of our lexicon: "Big Brother". This should be mandatory reading in High Schools.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both excellent and important, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

Orwell's 1984 is the best reason for people to read. It demonstrates clearly and horrifically what can happen to an uneducated society that allows itself to be controlled due to it's own fear of initiative. Anyone who asks me why I read is automatically referred to this book, which is as important now as it was when it was written.