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Summary: Timeless Future Fiction
Review: As gripping and wrenching now as it was on my first reading in 1972. For old film buffs there is a black and white production with Richard Burton and Fred Hurt. Also excellent. A modern dystopian tale available on Amazon, "Transfer", by Jerry Furland, portrays a new tyranny not unlike Orwell's in it's ubiquity. "Transfer" is stunninglyfrsh and topical. Like Orwell, Furland's impact is a mirror of the reader, hated or loved, but never hohum. Check it out. But hit Animal Farm before you leave Orwell:)
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Summary: Prophetic, Scary, Whitty... A Classic!
Review: This book has, quite literally, changed my life. After reading it, my outlook on life is completely different. This book opened up my mind to the importance of the individual in society and the true evils of totalitarianism (when done incorrectly). This is scarier than any "horror" book ever written, because almost all of it is possible (and much of it has already happened). A true masterpiece, this should be required reading for every human being on the planet.
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Summary: Dark Utopia
Review: Fantastic book... definitely on my favorite list. Orwell's allegorical vision of the ultimate totalitarian government and the twisted utopia that it creates is amazing in its unapologetic realism. Dark and absorbing, it's a simply beautiful piece and a definite must-read.
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Summary: Big Brother
Review: I realy loved this book. It was eventive and had good ending (which surprised me)The charecters were well thought out and had recognizable (for lack of better words) emotions.THis is one of my favourite books.
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Summary: Another book to ruin peoples minds!
Review: This book only plays with our mind.
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Summary: The review of a lifetime
Review: The novel is written beautifully, and it makes a bold statement about humanity... The government has developed its own language, is at constant war with the other two superstates, and watches its citizens at all times. Each superstate has an identical government, one that is at perpetual war in order to gain complete power over its citizens. The process used to gain absolute power is one used by past, present, and future dictators, such as Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler. The nation manipulates its citizens into convenient modes of thinking. However, instead of only using propaganda techniques, they also use Newspeak and telescreens. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania, and has its sole purpose in abolishing all independent thought. This is done by drastic reduction of vocabulary, by getting rid of unnecessary words and synonyms. (Example: the word bad is replaced by the word 'ungood.') The telescreens monitor each citizen at all times, watching for any action, word, or possible thought that could be unorthodox. These two Orwell inventions were foretelling, we see the equivalent of Newspeak every day in present society when we are "politically correct." Telescreens are present in nearly every business, and sometimes in our own homes. Orwell was obviously warning America and all other countries about the control of totalitarian governments. The reader is introduced to the metaphysical philosophy behind 1984. A government not unlike present ones is at the head of Oceania, and that is where the reality of 1984 becomes evident. The sole manipulative technique used by Big Brother is one that is virtually unrecognizable, mental manipulation. Metaphysics, or the belief that there is existence beyond our comprehension, is represented by Big Brother when the reader learns about doublethink, the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and fully accepting both. Doublethink and metaphysics are the engines behind the three world governments, and is defined by O'Brien. "Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else," says O'Brien. " In the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth." The book reminds us of what has gone wrong, what can go wrong, and what will go wrong when government becomes all-powerful. It is because of this political and social insight that 1984 is one of the best books of all time.
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Summary: Brilliant philosopher, terrifying dystopia
Review: George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four creates a nightmarish regime of totalitarian terror in which the protagonist, Winston Smith, lives an uncomfortable and fearful existence under the watchful eye of a seemingly benevolent despot known as 'Big Brother' and his infamously brutal 'Thought Police'. The novel conveys its themes and ideas by providing an insight into the life and mind of Smith, a secret rebel working in the propaganda department of Big Brother's omnipotent 'Party' - a tyrannical political organisation that also encompasses the middle and upper classes of the entire society. It is a story in the genre of classic science fiction novels that delineate the plight of individuals who seek freedom from the oppression of futuristic authoritarian dystopias; most notably Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451", and Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange". Like the authors of these other famous books George Orwell was influenced by the physical and ideological struggles that characterised the two World Wars of the 20th Century; inspiring his rational philosophies and views on the political concepts of nationalism, socialism, communism and fascism. As a result the totalitarian terror and intense ideological debate invoked by the text does not make for light reading, but the novel is an acknowledged literary masterpiece that is recommended to all mature readers.
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Summary: Not so much prophetical, but more the way things are...
Review: Yes, this book is, indeed, prophetical, but I beleive Orwell was also trying to show us that we are already blinded by our society and government. He chose to have Winston have the same way of thinking that your average, modern American Joe Blow would have, and then show you at the end how the rest of society thinks. Look deep within yourself and you will see that you are caught up in the materialistic madness. Orwell isn't a pessimist; he is a realist. Beautifully poetic, classical, and polital read. If you have not read this book, then buy it. Now. It is ABSOLUTELY, ABSOLUTELY a must read.
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Summary: A Marxist on '1984'
Review: '1984' is not about the evils of communism (communism isn't evil but the only truth). Orwell was a socialist himself and therefore despised totalitarianism... it is this which '1984' warns against. Fascism inevitably leads to totalitarianism - communism is diammetrically opposed to it. The totalitarian regimes of Russia and China are/were NOT communistic, but are/were failed and illegitimate radical governments. Orwell does not advocate anything but freedom in '1984'. Capitalism does not equal freedom. It is the greatest book ever written.
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Summary: A Chilling Prophecy of things to come
Review: I live in the UK, a place where the world depicted in 1984 are slowly turning from fiction to fact. Newspeak is being introduced by the government. And in the aftermath of a recent inquiry, children are being encouraged to grass on their parents for untoward language. 1984 was not just a novel but a prophecy of a totalitarian society facist or communist, we don't know exactly what, but both are as bad as each other, this book is a warning of extremism turning into barbarity an an assault on the basic liberties of man, that is freedom of thought, speech and activity, if any of those are compromised, even in the pursuit of a "better" society, then there has been a breach of liberty. As Vladimir Putin said last week, "It is your right and a duty to dream".
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