Customer Reviews

America 2014: An Orwellian Tale

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

There's lots to like about this book, particularly if you are among the millions of people who are experiencing post-election angst, including lingering doubts about whether or not George W. Bush's re-election was even legitimate. In *America 2014*, the author projects into the future current nefarious trends within the fundamentalist-driven, war-on-terror-preoccupied Bush Administration, and winds up with a nightmarish dystopian vision of America's future. Great concept! However, the book appears to have been hastily written, and after the first few interesting chapters it kind of degenerates into a fairly stale potboiler "thriller."

The author (I gather that Dawn Blair is a pseudonym) does a decent job of hypothesizing, in a kind of worst case scenario, where the current "war on terror" might lead our country. Based on the obvious but still cogent observation that the "war on terror" is a fairly transparent Orwellian strategy for controlling the nation through xenophobia and fear, Blair posits that the "successful" war in Iraq will be followed by similar invasions of Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. As the war expands the government becomes increasingly repressive, becoming overtly Christian in its declared theological orientation and even renaming the country "God's United States." Trends toward totalitarianism already implicit within the current Patriot Act become increasingly extreme with successive versions of the Act. Bush overturns the Constitution and ends up running for a third and fourth term. "Foxy News" controlls all public information. The Orwellian future that so many of us have feared since the beginning of the War on Terror becomes America's reality.

This is the context for the story of the "new" Winston Smith. In many respects the trajectory of this novel parallels that of the original *1984*, and this is obviously by design. As an earnest attempt at an "updated" version of Orwell's classic, the book is worth a read.

However, as fascinating as the book's concept might be politically, the novel falls flat as a work of literature. The story comprises a hurried, cobbled-together romp of a plot line, and by just about any literary yardstick the writing is so-so at best. I also confess to being somewhat skeptical regarding the notion that youthful "punk hackers" would provide the backbone of the future Resistance movement. But hey, anything's possible.

I suspect that the theme of "1984 becoming a reality" will inspire further novels by other writers as time goes on. I suspect that some of these efforts will be superior to *America 2014*. But "Dawn Blair" should at least be given credit for being first in line in turning this concept into reality.

Ever since I read this book I hear its echoes in the daily news headlines. Suspenseful and shocking, it reveals the grotesque logic of the Bush administration policies carried to the extreme. A rare contemporary example of politically engaged pop literature, this is a must-read for fans of the fantasy genre and every concerned citizen of this country.

America 2014, written under the pseudonym of Dawn Blair (in homage to the original 1984), is the story of a rich propagandist exec's life, fall from grace and subsequent rethinking of his views, set to the backdrop of a totalitarian America in the near future. By 2014, George Dubyah Bush has abolished the Constitution, reigns supreme, and Homeland Security has become a Gestapo-like organization that ruthlessly crushes any Subversives in society. I think many of us have flirted with this idea in light of the current world situation, and this novel tackles it, in my opinion, pretty well. The how-we-got-theres are pretty convincingly explained, e.g. the extension of the War on Terror to almost all of the Islamic world, the reinstatement of the draft, the proliferation of Predator drones across the world as ubiquitous spies, the abolition of the Democrats and the herding of minorities and dissidents into gulags and ghettos are all reasonably believable extensions of today's problems (if you can use a little imagination). The sequences from Winston's arrest at JFK through the trial and prison parts actually had me angry and frustrated; if you ask me, any book that elicits emotion from me is worth the read.

The characters are pretty well-developed, I thought. I liked and cared about Winston, I believed Prof. Malcolm, and was interested in Dawn and the Resistance characters. Their development and depth was decent, especially compared to the characters in the similar novel "Jennifer Government."

The whole 1984 tie-in thing, however, I found to be plagued by a major hole: how do we explain that Winston has written a new 1984 that he wants to bring to the public, when he doesn't even see a single problem with his own oppressive culture? I know his 1984 was supposed to be set in Iran, but it still didn't seem plausible that he's passionate enough to write a whole new 1984 novel and doesn't even recognize the same problems in "God's United States" (Bush has renamed the nation itself). The other thing that irked me, mentioned by other reviewers, is the befuddling of all real-life names. Bush is "Blush," Ashcroft is "Bashcrost," Tony Blair is "Tony Fair," etc. Come on. The author was bold enough to write the novel, was he really protecting himself or anybody with the Kindergarten names? There is also the bizarre convention the author adopts of misspelling the f-word with an e instead of an i throughout (was that religious or something?)

In the end though, I found an engrossing story, good characters and a frighteningly believable possible future. Truth be told, why couldn't something that happened to Russia, China, Cuba, East Germany and most of the Middle East happen to us, as well???

America 2014 is one of the best books I have ever read. It's 1984 repackaged with relevance to today. Dawn Blair (a pseudonym) cleverly creates a world in which the supreme power is George O. Blush, and in which Homeland Security has become similar to the Gestapo. America 2014 poses the scary question: "What If?" What if George W. Bush continues to pass more Patriot Acts (a staple of the book, and instrumental in taking away freedoms of Americans), and what if he runs for a third term? I read this book on a recent vacation to Mexico and finished it in about four hours. It's a smooth, great quick read. And the fabulous thing about it is how relevant it is. Everything's not just drawn up as in a science-fiction tale, but it draws off things from the present day (i.e. the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, etc.). Coming back from my trip, I saw that several of the things mentioned in America 2014 had been implemented in America. Fingerprint readers and Cameras were now present at each U.S. Customs booth. Is the world becoming like America 2014? Let's hope not.

I'll make this short. The concept is interesting. It's probably an idea that we've all had off and on for the past several years now, especially with the presidential election cycle roaring over us like a monster storm. But while I can appreciate the general plot, the writing is too awful to be discounted. I tried to mentally filter out all the ridiculousness and concentrate on the underlying story, but I was so distracted by the childish and repetitive nature of Blair's writing to even finish reading the book.

I must also say that Blair, searching for anyway to make the story more interesting, completely missed an opportunity to write about a more truthful and thus more horrifying near future scenario. A near future that encompasses a creeping and subtle yet ever increasingly powerful merger of government and business (fascism), and the not-so-secret oppression of all who stand in the way of that merger, as opposed to the outright scenerio depicted in America 2014. Perhaps it would have been more believable if it were set a hundred years in the future. But it doesn't work here.

Sorry folks!

America 2014 is an admirable start for this first time author. A gripping tale that is set in the political wasteland of,The United States of America,Now refered to as God's United States, thanks to the outdated and outmoded constition being replaced with "The Patriotic Citizens Bill of Rights". This 1984 knock-off holds to the idea that thanks to the war on terror and the conservative sweeping of the government following a series of crackdowns on liberal groups,the Republican party takes control of congress. They then promptly make a constitutional amendment banning a two party system. This makes the GOP the primary holder of all the cards, which they promptly begin using to push forth their own view of the world by instituting the afformentioned bill. This sets the stage for the emergence of our hero Winston Smith(Named by his parents after the protaganist of 1984) A solid party man with all the connections, an up and comer who is held by the GOP as a great asset. Nearing the edge of mental breakdown in his job writing propaganda for the party (which the author takes as a chance to spew political rhetoric), Winston is advised to take a vacation. So he gathers up his supermodel wannabe girlfriend, and packs it off to jolly old England, one of the last free countries in the world thanks to the GOP's political machinations and colonial expansions. While on vacation, Winston meets up with old freinds who have become radical liberals, A discussion of politics ensues. It seems that Winston wishes to be a screen writer and had been working on a script for a remake of the movie version of 1984. However the powers that be in Washington have informed him that this would be a terrible idea for him to follow so he sells the idea to the BBC. Upon his return to God's America he is arrested for treason and sentenced to be executed. A last minute political donation saves him from this fate and our hero is sent to a prison workcamp for political dissidents, where he meets up with other political prisoners (cue more political discussions), and eventually escapes. We then get to follow our hero through the now expansive ghetto, filled with even more political dissidents (cue even more political rhetoric). Eventually Winston sees that the party does not in fact live up to its reputation and joins the resistance. This clever retelling of the classic tale of big brother is well written with the exception of several glaring problems which detracted from my enjoyment of the story. First of all the author uses a choice of poor pseudonyms for the antagonists (President Blush, Vice-president Croney among others) which I found to be distracting from the story and which will in a few short years render this story obsolete. Secondly and perhaps the most blinding is the way in which the author beats the reader nearly to death with her political views.Rather than the expansive mildly sinister big brother of the original she has made the GOP into a monster with no motive except destruction. Where Orwell used a scalpel to dissect an idea the author comes in wielding a katana. By no means do I mean to detract from the authors ability to write intelligent and thought provoking prose. In fact, I found the writing style to be fluid and well thought out, If not for the way in which the author brought forth the politics, which was reminicent of a second year political science major, I would of enjoyed the story even more than I did. A truly excellent piece of literature that I fear will be rendered obsolete in a few years due to the abovementioned flaws. Not a classic, by any means, but something good for the political buff who needs a little fluff.

I'm writing this review on the day George W. won his second term. (Thank God the political ads are finally over.) This little book is about George W's fourth term. Yes, that's right, fourth term, he's still president in 2014. He's finally been able to get rid of America's "treasonous" opposition party. The Patriot Act VI has ... well you get the idea, it's George Orwell's 1984 thirty years later.

The author, Dawn Blair, is also a character in the story telling the story in the first person. Dawn Blair is a pseudonym for the real author Jonathan Greenberg, who used a pen name for this book to emphasize one of the work's many parallels to George Orwell-whose real name was Eric Blair. That should give you some idea of what to expect in the book. It's well thought out, well written and just a bit wacky. The hero of the book is Winston Smith, the hero in 1984 was, yup - Winston Smith. If you haven't read 1984, its available free at books-on-line.com

Remember though, this is just a novel, just like 1984. 1984 was/is a good book, but the real 1984 didn't turn out like the fictional 1984 any more than this book actually predicts the future. I have more faith in the American system.

Cool narrative of what it would be like in a Police State. Great gift for those that disliked President Bush.

This is a book whose time has come -- what with the Bush administration riding roughshod over our constitional rights and all. And their never-ending expansion of executive branch powers. It all seems disturbingly reminiscent of "America 2014." And now that people like Rudy are being taken seriously as a candidates, the more chilling the scenario presented in this book becomes. A fascinating read.

The book's haunting vision is real; or maybe it's real and I don't know about it--yes, exactly, that makes it even more real.

America 2014 captures reality more closely than George Orwell's 1984--where the ideas like Newspeak and one global mega-state might have been too much for people living in 1948.

For instance, last week I was waiting for train at Great Neck, a small train station in Long Island. It's a peaceful town in the outskirts of New York City, and in the waiting area only advanced technology is a big electronic screen saying "If you see something, say something" and every minutes or so a monotonous voice echoes throughout the station "If you see something, say something."

Why is that monotonous voice and screen so reminiscent of "we're watching you" propaganda in 2014; the voice I was picturing while reading the book is the exact same-the sense that people around you are suspicious, the sense that we're all under constant danger, the sense that we need an almighty figure--like the government who's feeding these messages--for our protection.

Not to mention thousands of monitoring cameras watching us every step of our life, not to mention mega-billion wire tapped phone records NSA allegedly has--these are happening right now at this moment.

Media conglomeration is another big thing; News Corp (which owns Fox, Myspace, you name it) resembles the pervasive, fear-mongering, totalitarian media outlet we see in 2014; every time I walk in the streets of New York, I see Fox declaring themselves The Most Powerful Name in the News--well, not much different from the Only Truth media we see in 2014, ain't it.

And tortures. We have already seen evidences of our government torturing people not only in the United States but in other parts of the world as well. And common sense tells us that what we see about government is only inkling of what actually happens behind the scenes; think about it, how much we don't see about what our government is doing; yes, we see the President giving speech and footages of the Congress making decisions and what-nots but that's just a teeny-tiny bit of what's being planned in White House and in Congress, right? So we see these pictures of our government torturing people abroad, who are you to say brutal killings and abusive prison environment in 2014 are not happening?

The year 2014 is approaching, and will we see things happening in 2014 actually happening? They might be happening, but we might not know about it--and that's the most dreadful implication.