Orwell's Revenge. The 1984 Palimpsest [Hardcover]

Peter Huber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1994

George Orwell's "1984" and it's bleak vision of the future has long haunted the imagination. In a move which turns the computer against Orwell's own text, Peter Huber scanned all of Orwell's writings into a computer, using the machine to rewrite the book completely, using Orwell's own language.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, the telescreen-which spies on its captive audience members and fills their minds with propaganda-is the instrument that makes possible the totalitarian state's absolute control. Huber (Galileo's Revenge) believes Orwell was fundamentally wrong in assuming that electronic media would facilitate mind control. On the contrary, he argues, today's telecommunications world-spanning cable television, personal computer networks, cellular phones and so forth-offers a multiplicity of choices in information and fosters the exchange of ideas. In alternating chapters, Huber splices a belabored critique of Orwell's prophecies with an experimental fiction, closely based on 1984, but with Eric Blair (i.e., Orwell under his real name) as the protagonist. The fictional chapters interpolate real-life figures such as spy Guy Burgess, Orwell's colleague at the BBC, and Vaughan Wilkes, Orwell's sadistic schoolmaster. Concluding with a handy capsule history of telecommunications, Huber provocatively predicts the convergence of computing, television and the telephone in a myriad of mixed-media networks.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In his preface, Huber discusses the grim and compelling vision of Orwell's 1984. However, as Huber (Galileo's Revenge, LJ 8/91) points out, and as is evident by the passage of time, Orwell's vision of the future and of the uses of technology was fundamentally wrong. To explore the central themes of Orwell's work, as well as his essays and letters, Huber rewrites 1984; each chapter of this novel-within-a-book is followed by commentary on the major themes in 1984. Entitled "1994 and After," the work features the main character, Blair, who is modeled on Orwell (whose given name was Eric Blair). Blair's story roughly parallels Winston Smith's experiences in 1984. In the final section, Huber recapitulates the developments of the telecommunications and computer industries to demonstrate more precisely why Orwell's predictions were so off the mark. Recommended as a companion to the study of 1984.
Cheryl L. Conway, Univ. of Arkansas Lib., Fayetteville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 366 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (November 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029153352
• ISBN-13: 978-0029153352
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,210,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent sequel to Orwell's "1984", January 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Orwell's Revenge. The 1984 Palimpsest (Hardcover)

I have been fond of the negative utopias for some years - Orwell's "1984" being my favourite. You might imagine the excitement I felt upon seeing a sequel! At first read of Huber's sequel I was, however, outraged! What gaul to plagerize Orwell as this book does ... until, as I read on, I was dumbfounded to realize that this is *exactly* what Orwell *would* have appreciated - the symetry, the self-reference, the genius of Huber to become his own Winston Smith and rewrite the story is perfect. Huber does, indeed, add his own original touches: by incorporating Orwell's other writings into the work, thus giving us insight into Orwell's evolution and psychology, and more cogently,by updating The Party and Oceania into today's world of political correctness, multiculturalism, the green movement and other frightening signs that Big Brother is alive and well. Huber, however, holds out the hope that the "telescreen" (i.e. the Internet) will be the very tool that undoes the power of Big Brother/Big Government/Intellectual Enslavement that masquerade as today's fashionable causes ( political correctness, eco-green-fascism, and multiculturalism) by providing true freedom of thought, expression and commerce - all anathema to centralized control. David Findley, Jan. 1997

5.0 out of 5 stars Will the Internet Save Mankind?, March 8, 2010

By 

Brian (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orwell's Revenge. The 1984 Palimpsest (Hardcover)

Remarkably original idea. Huber scanned the text of George Orwell's "1984", analyzes it, and uses it to write a sequel. The point of the sequel is not to develop the Winston Smith character, who doesn't even make an appearance. Instead, it Huber examines the telescreen device, and explores its potential to undermine the ruling Oligarchical Collectivists. The parallels between the telescreen in their world and the internet in our world are clear, but what is amazing is that Orwell's Revenge was written in 1995! Considering the role of the fax machine in bringing down the Soviet Union, this book should not be taken too lightly. How cogent is this book to America and the West? The author was invited to speak at the Bohemian Grove.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Huber is an absolute genious!, May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Orwell's Revenge. The 1984 Palimpsest (Hardcover)

Orwell's Revenge is a literate masterpiece, written impressively by Peter Huber. Modern thoughts are given a new outlook in Huber's amazing work. Peter Huber is truly a genious and his work should be read immediately.