1984

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Summary: I wrote this review for a book project in my English class.
Review: 1984 by George Orwell was brilliant, disturbing, excellently written, depressing and most of all eerily predicting of the future. I enjoyed reading it very much. Orwell's writing is phenomenal. The way he describes things is incredible and beautiful. I admired his bold statement against socialism. His book was extremely persuasive and should be read by all that have not yet read it. It is a classic, yet it holds all the contemporary aspects of a newer book. No part of this novel was unsatisfying for me. There were no parts of the novel that did not keep me waiting for what would happen next. This could quite possibly be my favorite book that I have read yet.

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Summary: Orwell a genius?
Review: I think anyone who creates a language (even if it's only been partially created) for his/her writing, is an absolute genius. George Orwell is no exception. The vision and ideas that he brought forth in 1984 is something that can never be copied without disastrous results. This is one of the most enjoyable books that I've ever had to read for English class.

While reading this story, I have to keep telling myself that the book was written in the 1940's. It's amazing what Orwell predicted for our future and how our much better, and how much worse, the present really is. The creation of Newspeak is a message to the deterioration of the English language, which is not so far fetched. Orwell wasn't so successful in his other predictions, but the book is fiction right? Every page of new developments and plot lines engrossed me more and more. It's a great book that can evoke so much emotion in its reader. That's what happened to me. It's wasn't happiness, either, mind you. I put so much confidence and hope into Winston, that I was crying for his failure and my disappointment, by the end of the book. Truly a must read book. Even if you hate the book after reading it, it's still a book that should be read by everybody. It's sheds light on corruption, power, and rebellion. The only part I didn't enjoy was select portions of Goldstein's "book", such as the repeated chapters. If Orwell lost any readers of 1984, it was probably during that part of the book.

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Summary: George Orwell Was An Optimist
Review: USA Today = George Orwell's 1984
Perma War for Perma Peace
Police State = Freedom
Corporate Owned Government = "Democracy"
Virulent Lockstep Gasbags of the Corporate Media Cartel Propaganda Outlet$ = Free Press
Constant Terrorist Alerts due to Government funded "terrorists". Dissenters and not the Government Provacateurs = the only ones rounded up however.
9/11 Reichstag Fire = Divine Godly Mandate to Murder anyone who interferes with the Plute's Unearned Profits.

Fascist Dystopia. I recommend you read the book "The F-Word: American Fascism and the Politics of Illusion" by David McGowan.

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Summary: 1984, 2004, 2084?
Review: Ok, Ok, I know . . . 1984 came and went and we are living in the 21st century. Orwell's book is certainly dated and that does affect the reading. However, any good work of literature does not rise and fall on the culture of the day, but on the inner struggle. This book is well written and the dangers printed are always on the horizon for us all. This book is still powerful enough to make your insides twist and cause you to watch the news in a new way.

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Summary: Pay Attention... this is important
Review: As with Animal Farm (by the same author), there is much to learn from this book.

What makes this book scary is how easily it could become reality. As you read this book, you must realize that in order to avoid becoming what this book portrays, we need to fight the system now. Because, as Winston learns, once the system is in place it is practically impossible to destroy it. Keep this book in mind while our government makes specific policies... especially while we lose our freedoms and rights of privacy in the name of safety, fairness, and prosperity.

And what amazes me (but wouldn't surprise me) is how much the people love what they have; not knowing what they have lost. It is amazing how government can set your mind at ease with the right propaganda. A perfect example was how the government was saying how it had exceeded its prediction in the production of boots (which was actually a lie) and one of its citizens commented on how well they had done in supplying the needs of the people. In the same breath he asked if Winston had any razorblades, which had become very scarce in the recent weeks.

And even scarier, it shows how easy it is for the government to twist (spin) our language and use it against us. For instance, in the book we see the Ministry of Love, which is used to torture free thinkers and those who would disagree with Big Brother. We see the Ministry of Truth, which is nothing more than spreading lies on the wealth of the nation and its citizens. So on and so forth. What is especially incredible about this book is the detail of the language that George Orwell went into, while creating a new language called Ensoc (English Socialism).

This book shows all of this... and more. It is the model of what any country should NOT become. There is a lot to learn from this visionary book. You can instantly take a lot out of this book. Read it and take a look around you and you will be surprised and how quickly our society is heading in this direction. Fight this trend before you, yes you, fall in love with Big Brother.

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Summary: The Future is Now
Review: Take a deep futuristic look into the mind of author George Orwell in his intense novel, 1984. Orwell's ideas of what our world will be like in his future, is a pessimistic outlook on his new world. The "Big Brother" controls all, and the civilians of Oceania are powerless. People lack many of the simple freedoms that we are associated with today, and the government runs everything. Oceania is one of the three main super states that are battling for power. The city has a system of monitoring that will keep all residents from rebelling or from even thinking about it. The plot includes all the things that many great books do, including: love, lust, crime, and deception. This great novel shows how the creative mind of Orwell can bring us to the world he thought was to become in the year, 1984
As the story begins we meet our main character Winston Smith walking through the corridors of a large building. We quickly learn of the many new things to his world including the "Big Brother." Seeing sings posted and messages spread across the walls, Winston can not escape the watchful eye of the "Big Brother." Telescreens are everywhere and he is unable to escape their watchful eye. Winston eventually buys a journal and writes in it. From the first stroke of his pen, he is overwhelmed with the fear that he is going to be caught and go to jail. As he writes the words, "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" he knows that even if he had only thought it, it would be just as much of a crime. In fact, the thought crimes were known as the worst.
Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, here he alters historical records to fit the needs of the party. He meets a beautiful woman at work, with dark hair, Julia. He is worried that she is an informant who will turn him in for his thought crimes; however she turns out to be an admirer and is in love with him. They are in the same thought the party, and become lovers. They begin a covert affair to see if anyone is monitoring them, and eventually move into the second floor of the store where he purchased the journal. They continue on together for a long time, and Winston is sure that they will be caught and punished, while Julia is much more optimistic.
Winston becomes fixated with a party member named O'Brien, who Winston believes is a secret member of the Brotherhood (a mysterious group trying to overthrow the party.) Finally one day, Winston's dream comes true, and he is called on by O'Brien. This is what the couple thinks is the beginnings of something great. At O'Brien's luxurious apartment, he reveals that he is also against the party and all that it stands for. Then he asks for Winston to join the Brotherhood and help to stop the party and hands him the manifesto of the Brotherhood to read to Julia. Then something goes wrong, and our characters are caught up in a tricky web of lies and deception.
The way the Orwell is able to set up the characters makes you read faster and deeper into the story. He is able to draw you in using a very simple technique of being instinctively vague. My mind would race as I read the pages of this spell binding novel, and I know how Orwell was able to turn such an ordinary event like the birth of a new year, into what would seem like a hellish nightmare. The "Big Brother" makes you think how a totalitarian government would be run. What if the world had turned into this place, what if there were people watching us and recording our every move thought, it makes me glad that I am a citizen here in the free country of the United States of America.

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Summary: Nineteen Eighty-Four
Review: George Orwell depicts a horrible totalitarian state that suppresses all opposition. In 1984 the world is divided into three parts, Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. These three parts are constantly at war. The charismatic figure of Big Brother stands in the forefront of the Party. It is a figure of mythical power. Winston Smith struggles against the Party, he rebels against Big Brother and the totalitarian regime. But his rebellion will result in his own destruction. We should bare in mind that this novel was published in 1949 and we so realise that Orwell's imaginary future world is a brilliant creation, his vision of brutalised and manipulated humanity is gripping and unfortunately still supremely relevant.

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Summary: Manipulation to read 1984
Review: George Orwell's 1984 is a book about control in the reality of his world to the connection it has to ours; it's fascinating and shocking how Orwell was able to see a world such as the one in his book. The book is a prediction and shadow of our world today. Ever since Orwell published his book, it has been like a bible to people everywhere. This book is fascinating not because of the feeling put into it, but because of how it shows and gives the reader a sense of how humanity is and can become like the world in Orwell's book.
The only freedom shown in the world of 1984 is the self-thought of what the word actually means. Winston Smith is the man who experiences this and leads us through this horrible world. He doubts the righteousness of the totalitarian government (Big Brother) that rules Oceania, (one of three superstates in the world of 1984). The book starts with Winston and then shows how Big Brother (the government) is unreal. The government made its own language, is at constant war with the other two superstates, and watches its citizens at all times. As Winston's rebellion develops, we see how Big Brother is not as unreal as we think, he seems real, and to all the citizens he is real, this is what helps control Oceania the belief of Big Brother.
Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia are the three battling superstates. All want control, have the same kind of government, and are at constant war to obtain what they want. The process used to get absolute power is one used by past, present, and future dictators, like Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler. Big Brother manipulates its citizens psychologically into suitable ways of thinking. Instead of only using propaganda techniques, Big Brother also uses something called Newspeak and telescreens. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania, and it is used to control the citizens' unorthodox thinking. Winston works at the base of Newspeak; he changes words, news, stories, and information for the government. The telescreens monitor each citizen and stop them of their privacy, revolt, or un-orderly behavior.
Winston meets a girl named Julia who also feels the same as Winston does about Big Brother. They become lovers and their relationship leads them to what gives the reader the true sense of what the book is truly about. The backbone of Big Brother (the government) is revealed. When Orwell shows what really is Big Brother, gives the reader the true sense of the masterpiece of George Orwell's book.
The manipulative technique used by Big Brother to control their citizens is unrecognizable; it is all about mind control. The secret for Big Brother's success is doublethink, the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and fully accepting both. Big Brother is supposedly a person, the head leader of the government in the book 1984, but he doesn't exist. The government controls people by creating a false leader with a system of mind control.
The book shows us how a government can become powerful and how it is possible in our world today. The thought of the possibility actually happening is frightening because our world now can become the world of greed for control, violence, mystery, and slavery that is shown in the book 1984. That is what makes this book so good; it truly pulls us into the reading because the reality in the book and our life, is paralleled by the possibility that can exist.

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Summary: A Glimpse in the Future
Review: Big Brother sees everything you do. Nothing you do is private. You must live according to how Big Brother sees fit for you to live. Anyone with even a hint of rebellion or disobedience disappears. Everything is carefully rationed. Information is carefully distributed. That information can also be changed if it needs to be. Everything is secretive. Nobody really knows what is going on in Oceania, except those in the "Inner Circle", but do they even know?

Winston Smith is living in this time. He vaguely remembers a time before this, but goes on with the present world just the same. His monotonous life of work for "the Party" is changed when two unlikely events occur. He buys a forbidden diary, and he falls in love. His life soon spirals out of his control at the hands of Big Brother, and he soon discovers what it is all about.

This book was required reading for English class. I started it with slight optimism based on what I heard it was about. I also was anticipating a less than pleasing novel, since we previously read Lord of the Flies and Catcher in the Rye, both of which I was very displeased. My doubts soon disappeared, as I became mesmerized with George Orwell's novel. It was so wonderfully written that I could barely take my eyes off of it (much to the annoyance of several of my teachers). Even though I had to reread the last page a few times, the message therein was powerful. This book is definitely one of my favorites that I have read in school, and maybe my life. Please read it if you ever get the chance!

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Summary: On 1984, A Brave New World, and A Clockwork Orange
Review: The 20th Century has brought forth dystopia, and a plethora of dystopia literature. Some of the books, such as The Giver, are very good. Others, like Fahrenheit 451, are excellent. Of them, two are genius - A Brave New World (Huxley) - A Clockwork Orange (Burgess) - and one is supreme: 1984 (Orwell).

1984 is comprehensive. Not in explaining the machinery and origin of the nightmare state, but in the experience of the individual within. Huxley is much more scientifically aware than Orwell, and his replacement of the party structure with a caste structure is profound and dark. Burgess, better than both these, understands the dependence of creativity upon destruction and destruction upon creativity, within the individual and the state. Neither Orwell nor Huxley offers their hero the alternative of 'coming alive' through violence, which Alex so beautifully illustrates.

Also, I believe Burgess, of the three, to be the best storyteller. His prose is high art; musical, rhythmic, and perfect in its strangeness and familiarity. Huxley's book is somewhat like a puzzle with 8 big pieces, which fit exactly and predictably. His strength is not the flow of his story, but the brilliance of his images. Orwell is much too engrossed in his political message to be purely an artist. He is, of course, an artist, but firstly he is a political theorist.

Still, it may seem unfair to compare these three; they are written for different purposes and theorize from different experience. This is indubitably true. But it is also true for us to want to organize, sort, and place books into a logical whole. And placement, for most of us, is related to importance.

These three books are of the 20 most beautiful written in English in the last century - it is only my opinion that 1984 is the best. The knowledge and medium of 1984 is diverse. In part it is a theory on the meaning of history - it offers definitions of impersonal experience - it is an account of the individual, his will, passion, and perspective - it is about love and sex and their relation to the state - it is an attack upon intellectuals - it is about the nature of fear and courage - but, first of all, it is literature, written as a story...because it belongs to the individual, the private reader, not to academics or institutions.