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Summary: George Orwell's classic 1984
Review: I can't say anything that probably hasn't been said already. Orwell's most famous novel warns us against the power of propaganda. "Big Brother" has become common to our language and culture. This isn't Blair's best work, however. This and ANIMAL FARM are only really read because they warn against Communist propaganda. As mentioned in the beginning, Orwell was a social democrat (although, I would say libertarian socialist). He greatly sympathized with the anarchist movement in Spain (Homage to Catalonia). In fact, the communist attack against the anarchists is probably what inspired him to write stories like ANIMAl FARM and 1984. I was disturbed to see a previous reviewer say something like, "If this book is properly read and understood, you will become a Libertarian." Blair's best stuff is actually against propaganda systems found in so-called democracies like the United States and Britian. The Soviets had an extensive system, but it wasn't very effective. They kept people in line through violence, mostly. When the ability to coerece decreases (like in relatively free societies eg The United States) the need to propagandanize increases. This has really become apart of mainstream doctrine. To take a quote from someone not so mainstream, "Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship." -- Noam Chomsky It should come as no surprise why Orwell's most popular works are anti-communist...
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Summary: Pretty good.
Review: I wonder what people in the early 50s thought of Orwell's view of the future. They must have thought it unimaginable, but to the current reader it appears to be less and less bizarre. I thought the book was well written and exciting for the most part, but it started to really drag when Winston started reading "the book". Overall I give 1984 three stars primarily because of the dragging toward end (I had to speed read some of it just to keep the pages turning), but also because the ending wasn't what I wanted--I can't fault him for that though. Good book.
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Summary: One of the Few Greatest Literary Achievements
Review: Twenty years after having read "1984", I can still feel its visceral and intellectual impact. IMO, it stands with "Lord of the Flies", "Age of Innocence", and "Name of the Rose" as the very best of the hundreds of fictions that I've read in my lifetime thus far. It's a testament to the power of Orwell's masterpiece that, after the title of the book has been relegated to the past, its message of warning is still more relevant today than ever - just look at Iraq, North Korea, Bosnia, Congo, just to name a few. A must-read for those who fight to preserve freedom of ideas, and also for those who seek to repress it.
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Summary: Nineteen Eighty-four is a good entertainer.
Review: Nineteen Eighty-four is one of those slow starters, but this does not mean it is not enjoyable. This novel takes place in 1984 when the whole western hemisphere (Oceania) is over-taken by Communism. Everything you say and do is monitored by the thought police through telescreens (television screens that have cameras built into them that monitor the place where they are placed). Winston, a man in his thirties who is against Big Brother, decides to secretly do small actions that go against the law, trying to avoid getting caught. One of these things he does is write a journal for the future describing the life now and his thoughts about the situations. During his out-lawful actions, he meets a girl named Julia. Together they commit small crimes and avoid the law. After the first part of the book, the author really gets you into the story and the environment. You feel like you have to be as quiet as possible so is not to get caught by the thought police as Winston and Julia avoid the law. I give this book three stars because though it has a slow start, it is very interesting and fun to read.
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Summary: 1984 - A Great Book for All.
Review: I feel 1984 is a great book. One of the best books I have ever read. A constant mind game that toyed with my senses. I loved the book start to finish, except for the excerpt from Emanuel Goldstein's book. I felt the passage was long winded and demeaned the excitement of the book dramatically. 1984 is a great book for people interested in politics, world domination, and totalitarian "negative utopias." Winston, the main character, is a wonderful figurehead for the hoplessness of freedom in the INGSOC reality. I personally loved this book, and I think many others will find it equally enjoyable and satisfying. 1984 was a fairly graphic book, not as graphic as others, but graphic still. Some parts of the novel were silly, others very serious, it is a roller coaster of emotions, events, and politics. Julia, a great supporting character who really moved the story along and forced Winston to take chances, without which the story would not be possible. INGSOC is a lot like the Russian communists and the German Nazis in their beliefs, but not in their actions. INGSOC plays a sinister role as a world super power that stomps out competition, except for its fellow super powers. In this colossal struggle of power and espionage, one thing stands true...Love, but in the end even that dies.
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Summary: It's coming!
Review: Winston Smith is a normal person in 1984. Constantly being monotored by a telescreen, he cannot do anything against the government, or the thought police will arrest him. His little hidden betrayals to the Party soon transform into a conspiracy. He knows inside him some day he will be caught and killed. Winston knows the Party is wrong, but cannot prove it. Maybe he is wrong, and the Party is right? The book is wonderful, and could very well open your eyes to what the government could be doing behind our backs. Winston is led to believe that he has a memory disorder that causes him to believe events that never happened have happened. The reader is led to believe that Winston is right, and is perfectly sane. Some slogans that seem to be oxymorons make perfect sense. "WAR IS PEACE" "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY" and "IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" are a few. This book will have a very big impact on you, and your view of the world.
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Summary: 1984 In a way, funny
Review: The book 1984 by George Orwell was in a way funny. It was somewhat odd and mysterious, but it was funny. It was funny because of how George Orwell viewed the future. He described secret organizations. I believe that this book was very good literature, but it gave a weird outlook on the year 1984. As an example George Orwell writes,"Winston feared for his life that the thought police would track him down if he dared keep writing in the diary." Even so for a person who loves reading about what could have been and the odd ways history could have happened, this George Orwell classic is all for you, and I recommend it. For those that prefer a more realistic novel, like me, aim for another author and book of your choice.
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Summary: Poignant and disturbing
Review: The scene in the upper room above the junk shop where Winston and Julia lie on a threadbare blanket-as a man and woman must have done before, free to be together, to feel and to love. Then the arrest, the voice commanding them to not move, brainwashed into unquestioning obedience, they stand at attention, naked, waiting for the mind police to come take them away. Never a thought to run, to resist, to escape somehow. Abject despairing surrender before the absolute power and authority of the State/Big Brother. I never quite got over that scene. The supine, complacent citizens of Oceania were even less prepared to rebell than Winston. Now I have recently read Jerry Furland's "Transfer-the end of the beginning" and I see a new Oceania, infinitely more subtle, and with fewer doubts as to it's potential. I would like to see a movie done of "Transfer". Maybe some independent film company will see the same promise. Like 1984, it is a novel about the future-no less terrifying than Orwell's long loved classic, it needs mass market exposure too.
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Summary: A book that gives me a new outlook on life
Review: This book has changed my vision of natural human nature. I have found many events and characteristics of the Party to be preshadowings of organizations I see everyday. It also showed me how an evil administration can distroy a love that was so strong. This book is scary and too real.
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Summary: Like eating brussel sprouts,
Review: reading this book wasn't a lot of fun, but it was good for me. It's a classic for a reason, and should be required reading not necessarily for high school students, but at least for frosh/soph college students. The scenario is extreme and highly unlikely, but serves as a good and fair warning from an age when totalitarianism was a frighteningly real threat to humanity. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy - it's cheap, and it'll do you good.
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