1984

Rating:
Summary: Nice try George
Review: 1984 is a fictional novel by George Orwell. The book is a story of Orwell's prediction of the world in the future (1984). In this story, we are taken to a society that is governed by an oppressive force known as "The Party," and an intangable ruler known only as "Big Brother." The main character, Winston Smith, spends his time throughout the novel trying to overthrow The Party and Big Brother, while running from the "Thought Police," a justice department that monitors the thoughts of citizens of Oceana, the predicted future state of London, England. Winston fails in his attempts. He is captured, set up by people whom he believed to be on his side, and is later brainwashed into loving and following Big Brother.
Great attitude George. I truly believe that Orwell's sole purpose for writing this novel was to encourage anarchy, and to convince his readers to be subordinate to authority. Though society and government are not perfect, they are not as evil and as oppressive as Orwell made them out to be. He creates a negative Utopia in hopes to make people hate their leaders and to disagree with any form of government. It is because of people like Orwell that our nation, as well as other nations, are so dramatically torn by the opinions of citizens towards their leaders, and their leader's decisions. Also, at the end of this novel, Orwell leaves readers with a sense of hopelessness, by allowing his main character to be manipulated, tortured, and brainwashed into following what Orwell inderectly refers to as government. Let's try to be a little more optomistic, and work on a happier ending, shall we?

Rating:
Summary: Nice try George.
Review: 1984 is a fictional novel by George Orwell. The story is his prediction of the world as he sees it to be in the future (1984). He creates a world in which the people are ruled and governed by "The Party," and an intangable force known as "Big Brother" rules everything and everyone. Winston Smith, the main character, struggles throughout the story to overthrow the Party and Big Brother, while he tries desperately to outsmart and outrun the "Thought Police," who monitor the minds of the people. Winston fails. In the end he is captured by people that he believed to be on his side, and is later brainwashed into loving Big Brother.
Nice attitude George. Society and Government are not perfect, but they aren't as bad and won't be as bad as Orwell made them out to be. The negative utopia known as "Oceana," is merely the authors way of expressing a plea for anarchy. This novel creates a negative image of authority and power, and essentially tells readers that we are all doomed to this horrible fate of Big Brother. It is because of men like Orwell that our nation, as well as other nations, are so divided in their opinions of leaders and their decisions. The ending of this story also leaves a hopeless attitude, as Winston is tortured and brainwashed into disregarding all of his beliefs. Let's try to be more optomistic, and let's have a happier ending, shall we?

Rating:
Summary: Devastating, but Worth the Trauma
Review: For as long as I live I will always remember the day I finished "1984," the first time I read it, while seated in the back of my high school trigonometry class. Inconsolable, I gazed over the last five words - completely devastated - and sobbed uncontrollably.

In the ten or more times I have reread it since, I was no less shocked and shattered by the book's conclusion. Ostensibly a cautionary tale about a midlevel bureaucrat assigned to help reduce the number of words in the dictionary, "1984" is the tragic story of Winston Smith, a freethinking, middle aged man, who through glimmers of a childhood memories and clandestine visits to "prole" neighborhoods (newspeak for poor), radically tries to reconcile life in a totalitarian nanny state.

With the omnipresent hum of the tele-screen always present, Winston is the perfect party patsy, saluting the authorities and seething with anger at the daily "two minutes hate" that secretly leave our hero wondering who is the Emmanuel M. Goldstein, the object of the government's loathing.

When despite medical problems too gruesome to recount and enough secret spies to fill a Le Carre novel, Winston Smith conjures up enough optimism to pursue a romantic relationship with Julia, "1984" takes on a frightening turn. A devoted (or maybe not)? member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, whose signature emblem is the form-fitting sash that hugs seductively around her waistline, Julia is perhaps not the refuge Winston seeks. Or is she?

Without destroying the truly devastating ending, I would wholeheartedly recommend 1984 to anyone who is interested in politics, language, romance and government.

Yes, you may be left devastated by the book's last five words, but you will certainly be left with more to think about than drying your tears. - Regina McMenamin

Rating:
Summary: One of the best and creepiest novels ever
Review: This book is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is in short the creepiest books I've ever read. 1984 is filled with all sorts of disturbing images and ideas that make you winder how stable the world really is and how easily it could fall apart. Although it does follow the story of one mans sufferings it is almost more interesting to think about the world that he lives in. This world full of riddles and lies is disturbing to say the least and what is even scarier fascinating.

What is even more interesting is all of the symbols and ideas that run through the book. Such as doublethink and that if you control the past you control the future. But doublethink is by far my favorite. I thought it was fascinating how the concept of proving a lie with a lie was evident even in the characters themselves. Like how Winston is a lover and a hater of the Party. These ideas make the book even more amazing. This book is a MUST read.

Rating:
Summary: 1984 - Well worth your time
Review: Attempt to conjure up the idea of a society where the government is always watching, like a spy. You brush your teeth, you go to work, you eat, you talk to your spouse, you water your plants ...and they are watching. Not only is every activity monitored, but also your deepest inner thoughts are screened, picked and prodded through for the smallest indication of rebellious thoughts. Telescreens constantly feed propaganda from the government into unsuspecting minds. War is just a normal incidence. A neighbor or even a friend might turn you in to the thought police at any moment. The government is in total and complete control. You can trust no one. George Orwell created this enslaved world in the book, 1984 and put an ordinary middle class man, named Wilson, in the position of the protagonist.
Wilson, an average member of this controlling society, begins to have an itch for rebellion as the novel, 1984 commences. He has an underlying craving for freedom, of thought and expression. He has a job that includes activities considered inappropriate by most of today's standards. Basically, Wilson edits history to fit the beliefs and preaching of Big Brother for the populace. Wilson finds a forbidden love. He searches for a sympathizer, someone who shares his same beliefs and values. But above all, he searches for clues about the past and the truth. Suspense, Deceit, and Passion are foremost components in this novel.
For many students and adults alike the thickness as well as the font size of the novel sends them running. Others find the genre that the paperback is placed in - Science Fiction - to be discouraging. And many of those who do actually start reading are quickly bored. Some, who are required to read it, hurriedly skim the pages and discontinue comprehending and processing the book.
The story doesn't begin to pick up steam until about thirty pages into it. However these first pages are essential to have a complete understanding of the book. After that, Orwell adds depth and dimension to the plot that is unlike many stories. Orwell also adroitly applies high-level vocabulary and sentence structure to his tale. 1984 is exciting and gripping with a distinctive and unforeseen ending. It is a chilling tale of what could happen to the human race in the midst of the race for technology and an unattainable utopia. Encrusted with many essential and important themes, every student should read it, so they can reflect on their individual lives and prevent possible future atrocities from coming to fruition.
This novel is well worth anyone's time and thought. It is not just your average run-of-the-mill science fiction story that will captivate only the Trekkies among us. 1984 is thought provoking as well as emotionally stimulating. This narrative, written more than half a century ago, still applies today. It ends in a unique and unpredictable way.

Rating:
Summary: This is where we're at folks! Lies are Truth!
Review: This 1949 classic has lost none of its punch. With his descriptive depiction of the future, Orwell really puts the fear into the reader's heart. With his description of a totalitarian socialist regime, Orwell's masterpiece stimulates a fear that is reminiscent and matched only by The Red Scare of the late 1950s.

The most amazing feature of this book is that it still holds relevance today. With America's War on Terrorism, the Bush Administration has started restricting American's basic civil liberties, such as a right to trial. This action almost seems to be a precursor to the restricted socialist atmosphere described so well by Orwell. Still if this book has one message, it is that the individual mind is stronger than any government and that humanity and freewill are things to cherish, not taken for granted. This book is a crystal ball into our country's future and deserves to be read. The founders of our Constitution would be appalled at the current state of the USA and what the Bush cabal is doing to it/us.

The ideas in this book are ones that are as appropriate now as when Orwell first wrote them. In this time (2001), we have our "Two Minutes Hate" with Osama bin Laden. Newspeak, the language created by the ruling party in 1984, is amazingly detailed and seems feasible in light of our dyslexic Bushisms.

It is based on the English language, and its vocabulary grows smaller instead of larger every year. An appendix, included in the book, enumerates some of the terminology and syntax of the language, and explains how the language is designed to control the thoughts of those who utilize it. To bad it can't be updated with all the words our low IQ president has created.

Many of the principles that Orwell writes about (e.g., thought control) are done in a quite blatant way in the book. In the real world of the 20th/21st century they're done, only much more subtly. That way, we don't know they being perpetrated on us. But with the Patriot Act, the boldness is destroying our Constitution.

Here's how 1984 applies to current events:

WAR IS PEACE
The new "War on Terrorism" is being sold as a guarantor or our safety. While this war is being waged, we're to accept permanent war as a fact of life. As the unavoidable slaughter of innocents unfolds overseas, we are told to go back to "living our lives."

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
"Freedom itself was attacked," Bush said. He's right, though here's the twist: Americans are losing many of their most cherished freedoms in a frenzy of paranoid legislation. The government wants to tap our phones, read our email and seize our credit card records without court order. Further, it wants authority to detain and deport immigrants without cause or trial. To save freedom, we have to destroy it.

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
America's "new war" against terrorism will be fought with unprecedented secrecy, including press restrictions not seen for years, the Pentagon has advised.

When you read this book, you'll be better able to see the signs around you. The world portrayed by Orwell is 'HERE AND NOW."

If you think it's all a conspiracy... then check out these books also: I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program 'insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban, and always read the Amazon reviews.

Rating:
Summary: 1984 the review
Review: I did not really enjoy this book, it was way to far feched. I give it a three because George Orwell has a great emajination<(spell?).
This is a good book if you want to read about a guy and his mission for un protected sex.That is all, I guess it just wasnt my cup o' tea.

Rating:
Summary: A Warning For Society
Review: George Orwell's classic novel, 1984 is one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. It deals with a totalitarian government that has complete control over the populace, right down to their thoughts! The government even has the Thought Police, which make sure everyone is doing everything solely for the benefit of the government. Telescreens constantly monitor them to make sure they are doing everything for the good of the "Party."

Orwell's novel illustrates the basic human need for freedom through the main character, Winston Smith who begins the dangerous practice of questioning the government and trying to find one of the main rebels of the government, Goldstein. The book tells of his struggle to overthrow the government and how he tries to rebel against it.

Orwell dives deep into the logic of how to control a populace under wartime conditions by constantly keeping them active for the cause of having their country win the war and not being able to think of any ulterior motives. He also shows how perpetually being at war helps to waste resources, so people have just enough to survive and won't become too comfortable. If they became too comfortable they might start thinking and thinking is dangerous to a totalitarian government. An example of how resources are wasted is any extra metal is used for ships or any extra rubber for raincoats, therefore making luxury obsolete.

He also writes about different totalitarian governments like Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and where their mistakes were in attaining absolute power. He points out that both these regimes started off tough, but as time went on got laxer and laxer until the people revolted. Orwell also dives deep into government propaganda and how that shapes the attitude of humans by constantly bombarding them with one thing over and over until it becomes fact or reality. Through exploring the propaganda in 1984, he shows us the need to trust our government, but verify what it says in order that we won't get taken advantage of.

He also explores how, in his book, humans can be taught one thing, but when the government says so, switch to believing something totally opposite. He does this under a principle called doublethink. Two examples of this from the book are that people are taught 2+2=4 but then can switch to knowing 2+2=5, completely denying that it ever equaled 4. He also shows the importance of keeping accurate and undoctored records so that if an event occurred, the facts cannot be changed to hide blame or recognition or tossed down the memory hole, simply to be forgotten. This is done often in 1984 so that the government will always look right and infallible and people will always believe that they are.

In conclusion, this novel will profoundly change how you view government and will also make you realize how important your civil rights are. I would not recommend this book to anyone under 13 or 14 because it has some sexual content.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the most important political novel of all time.
Review: 1984 is very likely the most important political novel of all time. George Orwell's classic essentially seeks to portray life in what amounts to the ultimate totalitarian state. The most terrifying thing about the novel is that nothing in it is at all far-fetched. Other totalitarian states have approached Orwell's "Oceania" in the thoroughness of their oppression and the ruthlessness of their grip on power. Soviet Russia, Maoist China, and Nazi Germany all come to mind, and all shared many traits with Orwell's fictional tyranny. In 1984 Orwell describes precisely how the ultimate totalitarian state would operate, what life under it would be like, and why it might never be possible for human beings to overthrow it.

The novel shows life through the eyes of one individual, Winston Smith, a citizen of Oceania, living in Britain, now renamed "Airstrip One." Life in Oceania is unspeakably bleak, with even most of the elite living at or near the poverty line. Shortages of everything are the norm, as the government controls all aspects of the economy with no free market even dreamed of. Love is forbidden other than love of the "Party" and "Big Brother," the Party's leader. Loyalty to the Party is enforced by the Thought Police, whose job is to ferret out anyone who does not conform to the requirements of fealty and single-minded devotedness to the Party. Since Winston is such a one, in the novel he is in trouble. By the way, despite being a political novel intended to make a point, 1984 is also a very readable story in its own right. Orwell's prose is excellent, and the storyline moves along briskly. This is a very dark story, however, with suffering characters and an unspeakably bleak outlook. Part of this is said to be reflective of the fact that Orwell himself was in failing health when he wrote the novel. In any case, this is not an uplifting novel, for all its importance. The theme of the novel is more or less summarized when a Party leader explains to Winston that the image of the world for the rest of all time, may be summarized as a booted foot stomping on a human face.

1984 has had a powerful effect on Western political thought, as a warning about the effects of giving government too much power. Concepts such as the "Thought Police," "Doublethink" and other artifacts of the novel have passed into common usage and political discussion. This is a very important novel that shows what could happen to mankind if we fail to nurture and cherish liberty and freedom, and instead allow government to dominate our lives.

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Summary: Goldstein's "The Book"
Review: More or less, most things that could be said about this book, have been. So, I'm going to limit it to an interesting coincedence that I found between 1984 and current day America. The coincedence is that between Goldstein's "The Book"(a "history" & sociology text on the party systems/countries in 1984) and modern political books. I'm referring to the glut of books on the market these days like Franken's and Coulter's and Savage's and on and on. The scary thing to me about The Book is Winston's reaction to it. He reads it, finds his views validated, and then, ego sated, he goes to sleep and thusly delivers himself into the hands of the Thought Police. Modern political rantings seem to have a similar soporific effect on many people. They buy a book that they know they will agree to a high degree with, read it, congratulate themselves on being active, and then fall to even greater passivity. All one has to do is compare the sales figures of political books to voter turnout on both ends of the spectrum, and you'll see what I mean. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that everyone is this way, but I've seen enough of it to catch my attention. This seems to be the real lesson to me, that most people will become sheep if their basic needs are met while they are simultaneously kept under a wet blanket of fear & suspicion. Most people in the world of 1984 simply needed security and food, while Winston and Julia required varying degrees of manufactured rebellion and love/sex before they were comfortable enough to surrender.