1984

Rating:
Summary: excellent but with reservations
Review: I really enjoyed this book. But I will explain my three star review instead of 5 star later in the review. The book has excellent characterization and theme. The main character Winston is fighting big brother ie; big government. This is a nameless, faceless power structure who controls things through double think; holding two contradictory premises as being true and newspeak and other illogical and insane techniques. When I read the book through, it seemed to describe some of the methods currently being used in the real world. In the introduction, the editor claimed that the book is about power politics. This book though should not have been published. There are people now who use the techniques in this book, whether they admit it or not. For instance, before this book was published, you could start at the bottom of the ladder in a job, work hard and go to the top of the corporate ladder. Now, you have the use of double think in job situations. They tell you that to get a job you have to have prior experience. But how do you get that, if no one hires you? So it goes. The entertainment business is a prime example of double think. To get anywhere you need an agent, but an agent will tell you to get experience. Ayn Rand would have had a field day with Orwells book. The fact is truth is eternal, and the war against it as in Orwells book is bound to fail.

Rating:
Summary: Still Relevant Today!
Review: It is hard to believe that Orwell wrote this book so many years ago and 1984 has already come and passed over 18 years ago. This book brought up the idea of government control of how people live and think. It is relevant as much today as it was back then. This book is a must for anyone studying political science or socialogy. Remember, Big Brother is always watching you!

Rating:
Summary: 1984 was an good year
Review: I first read this book when I was only 17 or 18. I was very impressed with it then and continue to be so now that I am in my early 30s. I cannot remember how many people I have suggested this book to but... I will continue to recomend it. 1984 opened my eyes to a thing that most choose to ignore. Way before its time, 1984 will continue to facinate readers for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: A Dark and Complicated Forecast For Humanity
Review: "1984", by George Orwell, is a dark complicated warning to humanity to change its present course or suffer the consequences. Although potentially very enjoyable, this original "Big Brother" book presents an interesting enigma for the student and teacher. In high school, the science fiction genre can be difficult to "sell". This book lives in the realm of soft science fiction (as opposed to the hard gadget oriented world of Mr. Asimov), and deals with fairly complicated philosophical and political issues. These complications come with their own confusing terminology. Orwell, with his already expansive vocabulary, even creates a new language, "Newspeak", to help explain a new set of socialistic societal and philosophical concepts. The fictional nation of Oceania (England) is one under an extreme socialistic, power hungry, and mind-bending government. Once the basic concepts of the government and society are understood the book becomes an interesting struggle of one man against "Big Brother". Although entertaining enough to earn five stars, the complexity causes some parts of the book to go very slowly and the lack of happy ending is disappointing if not disturbing. If you liked this book, I recommend "Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley, as a companion read. Unless you have a prodigy on your hands, due to the reading level and complexity of the book, I wouldn't recommend it to someone under 15 or a freshman in high school.

Rating:
Summary: As timely as ever
Review: ... we do in fact live in a rather Orwellian world. In Orwell's dystopia, the state is all powerful; every aspect of life is controlled, down to --and especially-- the language itself. This is probably the book's greatest contribution to social theory --the idea that words and definitions have such a great influence on our thoughts. If we can't think of the word for something, we can't have a coherent thought about it. Orwell may not have invented these ideas, but he certainly dramatized them in an unprecedented manner. Another significant aspect of the novel is the perpetual warfare. The state is constantly at war, but allies and enemies constantly shift. The population is kept under complete surveillance by televisions that watch the viewer; and this was written years before internet cameras! The everyman hero, Winston Smith, gradually gets involved in a resistance movement that may or may not really exist. The paranoia of this scenario is total --no one can be trusted. In my opinion, many people have missed the point of this novel. ...I can't be sure of Orwell's purpose in writing the book, but to me it's not meant to be a realistic portrayal of any actual or even possible dictatorship. It's more of a theoretical model of a perfectly evil state --the antithesis, for example, of Plato's supposedly perfect society. ... To see the relevance of 1984, we have to focus on the techniques and mindset used by the state in that novel. Armies that are called peacekeeping forces; wars that are never declared against always changing enemies; a language of PC euphemisms and bureaucratic jargon -- these are facts of modern life. The fact that it hasn't gone to the extreme of 1984 and probably (and hopefully) never will does not in any way detract from Orwell's brilliant insights.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling tale of anti-utopian England
Review: I won't say that Orwell was ahead of his time, because 1984 came and went without any domineering governments popping up, but this is still a brilliant book. It follows the life of Winston Smith, who edits history to serve "the Party" and its needs. THe Party controls every aspect in peoples' lives, watching and listening as much as possible. Nonetheless, Winston begins a love affair with a co-worker, knowing only too well the ramifications of doing so. 1984 also provides some interesting insights about how weak memory when compared to facts, or what everybosy says are facts. A true classic of 20th Century Literature.

Rating:
Summary: A necessary addition to any personal library
Review: I will start off by saying that if you have not read George Orwell's "1984," then you have missed out on one of the true masterpieces of English literature. The ideas presented here have become so essential a part of Western society that phrases such as "Big Brother is watching" and "Orwellian doublethink" have become forever incorporated into our vocabulary.

"1984" is above all a commentary on the social and very human forces that drive authoritarianism. At every step the role of human nature, a nature which is at times so independent and yet at other times obedient, is explored in multiple facets. What motivates us as social beings? What creates the need for control? How do we, beings whose ultimate love and need is freedom, become acquiescent in authoritarian governments? Orwell answers all of these questions with amazing clarity and directness. He convinces us with his powerful vision of the "future" that human fragility and human strength are two sides of the same coin. Without one the other cannot exist.

The issues raised in "1984" are extremely valid today. In the terrible aftermath of September 11th, Americans, as lovers and upholders of liberty, have been eager to protect these most valued keepsakes. Yet this protection comes at the expense of freedom, the ultimate goal, with greater government surveillance and control over the lives of innocents. Thus we face the classic dilemma of "1984," as puzzling a problem today as it was then. All we can hope is that as individuals we do not face the same fate as the protagonist, whom we last see proclaiming his love for Big Brother.

Rating:
Summary: This edition is an embarrassment.
Review: First off, this review is in reference to this particular edition not the story 1984. George Orwell's 1984 is a genuine masterpiece and my mind is just to feeble to adequately comment on it. Read it immediately, just remember to carefully avoid anything not written by Orwell.

Okay, this edition starts with an About the Author blurd. It gives the usual. It goes on to say Orwell "hated totalitarianism" then "Orwell considered himself a socialist" and as an afterthought adds "although he was critical of communism." Critical? Somewhere in the subterfuge is "Orwell hated intellectuals" then plainly hints he was a massive intellectual and hypocrite himself. Then it gives the unnecessary details of his death "died at the age of 49 from a neglected lung condition." Here's my perception of the intro message/s both direct and not: 1 Orwell was a man of contradictions (a nutcase) to be trusted only so far [as it serves left wing arguments] 2 Orwell was a basically a communist 3 Orwell hates US style "totalitarianism" (laugh!) 4 in the rare case a student reads this book and realizes the actual message just remember Orwell was so incompetent he couldn't even take penicillin.

Then at the end of the book is a completely unnecessary "Afterword". Or call it what it really is: Left Wing Damage Control. This little essay was the absolute most sickening form of literary parasitism. It was so unfathomably pompous I flipped to the end paragraphs to get message. Predictably it ends by saying 1984 is far more relevant to the US (and west) than it is to Russia. "1984 can not be dismissed as Stalinist barbarism, for we in the West are equally guilty." Brilliant, even more so when you consider the worthless professor wrote this masterpiece in what was probably the American golden age.

There is no excuse for such misleading "features". Seriously, was this published by an ivy league lobotomy tank? This is the version that would probably end up in the hands of students. What an abomination.

With this edition as the standard its less tragic that 1984 is on a fraction of the reading lists as say (insert any black author's name here). The greatest censorship of this book is that it is more difficult than most required readings. Maybe that's why the so called experts seem to have not even read 1984. So until Hollywood makes the movie (HA!) [staring the great Anthony Hopkins as Winston, Liam Neeson as O'Brien and a mustached Ronald Reagan as Big Brother] students can get excellent marks by reading these two "features" and reciting the university intellectual sanctioned message. Such a doctrine would probably be much more wordy, grand and self glorifying than what appears to be their underlying message... IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

Rating:
Summary: Connecting the 1984 dots, to American Politics, and "race"
Review: The starting point and first dot is Orwell's 1984 how language is used to control large populations. The second dot connects Big Brothers tactics to modern politics and business. Hmm, Big Brother could have written the American 2001Patriot act himself. The Last but not lease dot is connecting the 1984 dots to Americas "race" problem.

Do you know who and what land area they were fighting over in 1984? Most experts think that Orwell was writing about totalitarian government. He was, but that was not all he was writing about. Big Brother and Oceania were trying to get control of a particular land, and its people, and resources. Where was this land? If you read the book, I bet you do not remember. You read the answer, it was at the end of the book. When you read it, your bio-computer (Brain) had a Brain Crash. Because what Orwell reveals in the end is so well connected to modern times and what is actually happening, today it is too scary to contemplate for most Americans.

Yes and today we have the Patriot Act, and Neighbors who become part of the "disappeared". Hmmmm!

You need these particular dots, You need to reread these classics, Orwell is not as theoretical as you think.

For more details, get DoubleSpeak in Black and White here on Amazon

Rating:
Summary: A Must
Review: Orwell's 1984 is one of the sharpest, cruelest and smartest books ever written. It critisezes the communist idiology, the way it was practiced in the former USSR. Although in those days few people outside Russia knew the horrors of life under Stalin's regume, Orwell draws the most correct picture of this life. Once a communist himself, he is not afraid to talk harshly of the ideas he once supported.
But the book isn't about the Soviet regime in particulare, it's about dictatorships of any kind, that's what makes him very relevant today. An interesting plot and a tasteful touch of sarcasm.