1984
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Product Details
Series: Everyman's Library (Cloth)
Hardcover: 376 pages
Publisher: Everyman's Library; Special Edition edition (November 3, 1992)
Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“Nineteen Eighty-Four is a remarkable book; as a virtuoso literary performance it has a sustained brilliance that has rarely been matched in other works of its genre…It is as timely as the label on a poison bottle.” –New York Herald Tribune
“A profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book…Orwell’s theory of power is developed brilliantly.” –The New Yorker
“A book that goes through the reader like an east wind, cracking the skin…Such are the originality, the suspense, the speed of writing, and withering indignation that it is impossible to put the book down.” –V. S. Pritchett
“Orwell’s novel escorts us so quietly, so directly, and so dramatically from our own day to the fate which may be ours in the future, that the experience is a blood-chilling one.” –Saturday Review
Eric Arthur Blair was an important English writer that you probably already know by the pseudonym of George Orwell. He wrote quite a few books, but many believe that his more influential ones were "Animal farm" (1944) and "1984" (1948).In those two books he conveyed, metaphorically and not always obviously, what Soviet Russia meant to him.
I would like to make some comments about the second book, "1984". That book was written near his death, when he was suffering from tuberculosis, what might have had a lot to do with the gloominess that is one of the essential characteristics of "1984". The story is set in London, in a nightmarish 1984 that for Orwell might well have been a possibility, writting as he was many years before that date. Or maybe, he was just trying to warn his contemporaries of the dangers of not opposing the Soviet threat, a threat that involved a new way of life that was in conflict with all that the English held dear.
Orwell tried to depict a totalitarian state, where the truth didn't exist as such, but was merely what the "Big Brother" said it was. Freedom was only total obedience to the Party, and love an alien concept, unless it was love for the Party. The story is told from the point of view of Winston Smith, a functionary of the Ministry of Truth whose work involved the "correction" of all records each time the "Big Brother" decided that the truth had changed. The Party slogan said that "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past", and they applied it constantly by "bringing up to date" the past so as to make it coincide with whatever the Party wanted.
From Winston Smith's point of view, many things that scare us are normal.Read more ›
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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
In 1949, George Orwell (pen-name of Eric Arthur Blair) published what many consider his magnum opus, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In this dystopian future, Great Britain is part of an ideological superstate that maintains a totalitarian grip on society that is all-encompassing, with the population being monitored by round-the-clock surveillance, with government agencies that control all aspects of daily life, and with the very language manipulated to stifle un-approved thinking. It's the story of Winston Smith, who dreams that it might just be possible to oppose "the Party" and bring about change, and it's about the lessons he learns about the true nature of power in the modern world.
I first read this book in 1988, and while I did find it interesting, I thought that it went too far in expanding the Communist system of oppression to the entire world. But, watching the world around me I am astounded to find that Mr. Orwell's dystopia is actually beginning to have its echoes in my reality. I reread the book, and was surprised at just how prescient the book really was. The government wishing to monitor people without search warrants, the limitless laws that seem to reach into every aspect of everyday life, and even the manipulation of language to remove certain words or ideas as "politically incorrect."
Just how much does this book reflect reality? For those who would lead us, is it true that, "power is not a means, it's an end"? Is it true that, "If you want a vision of the future...imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever"? Or perhaps it's a boot on a human neck?
Whether this book is a prescient look at a future that is already being built, or a piece of doomsayer literature that goes too far, it is a classic of English literature that cannot be ignored. I find this to be one of the most interesting and disturbing books that I have ever read, and it is definitely one that I think should be read by EVERYONE.
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311 of 352 people found the following review helpful
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell was never required reading for me when I was in school, so it took me some time to finally get around to reading it. I found it to be a complete and enjoyable read that had me hooked from the very first sentence. It is an excellent exercise in symbolism and creative imagination. While the book may be a very short read, it brings a whole lot to the table by giving you an interesting take on how history can be reenacted in the most imaginative ways.
The animals on Mr. Jones' farm have had enough of what they deem to be slavery. They're tired of being ordered around by humans while they see no benefits in their daily work. This is all sparked by a dream that the boar, Major, had about a unique place where animals called the shots and never had to be ordered around by humans ever again. He tells them a revolution is very much needed. When Major dies, the animals act quickly and are able to overthrow the alcoholic farmer and his thugs from his very own farm. The pigs are in charge now, as they claim that they are much smarter than the others and know how to lead. What seems to be paradise quickly transforms into another form of slavery altogether enforced by propaganda and threats from the pigs. And yet, the animals do not know any better, as they are deceived by the new system that gives them the illusion that they are better off than they were with Mr. Jones calling the shots.
The book is greatly inspired by real events that went down during the era of communism in Russia, using animals as the actual people. While it helps to know about that time period, the book is written so well that it is easily understood even if you only know a little about what happened during that time.Read more ›
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