1984

Rating:
Summary: Still a very good story
Review: 1984 was for me the most interesting book I've read in 2000. Though the book is written in a time in which the political spectrum in the world was totally different, this book still has a high warning rate for everybody who is thinking that freedom, or better said, being free, is something that is well assured nowadays. The treath of being dominated by 'things', and not , is with the continuing rise of the technological influence in modern society still a great treath. Besides, we already have a Big Brother. The TV-program with the same name, which started in my home country, is now conquering the world. As if this program doesn't demonstrate the fact that we are about to loose our knowledge for making ethical decisions. 1984 is still a warning for everybody, and therefore highly recommendable.

Rating:
Summary: 1984 - Frighteningly Realistic
Review: George Orwell's horrific representation of Oceania, a world power and dominating force throughout the story, is a frighteningly realistic presentation of how governments work. Orwell displays the common theme of disinformation (called "doublethink")used by government powers. Although 1984 has come and passed, the idea that governments can gain totalitarian control through complacent, uniterested citizens is not far from present conditions. 1984 is an excellent read, filled with wondrous insight for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Orwell's 1984
Review: Nineteen Eighty Four

The book nineteen eighty-four is a novel of fiction written by George Orwell in 1948. Orwell's book is set in the year 1984 and is an account given by the main character Winston smith. In the book we find the world is broken into three different governments (Oceania,Eastasia,and Euraisa), and that Smith is a citizen of Oceania. Oceania is ruled by a tyrannical form of government known as the Party, which is controlled by a dictator referred to as Big Brother. The Party is broken-up into several branches called ministry's, and Smith is employed at the Ministry of Truth, which falsifies any records that would hurt the reputation of the Party. So the society in which Smith is accompanied essentially believes everything they are told, what to do, say, believe, and so on. Smith however gains a conception that this is not right an that freedom is better than tyranny. This however is constituted as one of the most serious crimes in Oceania; it is referred to as thought crime. In this society people are punished for not believing what the government tells them even if what they proclaim is absolutely ridicules. For instance, that 2+2=5, and if there is no evidence either supporting or conflicting that, what they have said must be true. At the end of the book Smith is tortured for committing thought crime and eventually released virtually unable to think for himself. I believe, if there is anything we can take from Orwell's novel,it is that freedom is precious, and should not be taken lightly or for granted, and that we as Americans should never forget the price that our fore fathers paid to receive it.

Rating:
Summary: Good Read as Both Sci-Fi and Analysis of Society
Review: This is one of those books that you here so much about before you have a chance to read it. It makes you seem to think that you know what to expect from cover to cover. You are flat out wrong. Yes, with an overbearing government and a subversive hero this work had me riveted and unable to put it down until I had read it twice. The book can also be likened to a modern day example of Machiacelli's "Prince" and had definite anarcho/commune supporting undertones. One of the members of the Inner Party takes the time to explain in detail how a political group can stay in power. The surreptitious "Book" explains all there is to know about class struggle and how to eliminate it. Fantastic as both a political and as a literary work.

Rating:
Summary: A near miss as the best book ever written
Review: I found "1984" to be Orwell's finest novel as many others have. The problem that most readers have with the book is that they consider it "too boring" and "lacking in action". What they are missing is that the main point of this book isn't to provide violence and action, of which it has it's fair share, but instead to entice us to think about the human mind, our existance, the way we govern ourselves, the power struggle, and most of all our limitations as human beings. When one really examines this book and ponders its philosphies, to me, makes it exciting and interesting. This is my second favorite book after "A Clockwork Orange" by Burgess, which I also highly recommend. No piece of literature is for everyone but I do suggest "1984" as a book that will appeal to the masses and help people change their attitude and feelings towards the world in hopes that they might change this planet and prevent any such scenario provided in this book from actually happening.

Rating:
Summary: Striking thirteen ...
Review: One of the great books of the 20th century - it is amazing how much of Orwell has entered the language : Big Brother, Thought Police etc. The story is a bleak one - "Imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever!". Orwell intended it as a warning, not as a prophecy. As a warning, it worked - 1984 was read by every Russian dissident, about the only English book (besides Animal Farm) that can make that claim. Yet, the abuse of language described by Orwell, the way thought can be controlled by inculcating poverty of language, in a certain sense describes much of today's media - "dumbing down" actually limits the possible human response - look at the jeers and cheers on 'the Jerry Springer' as pathetic subjects explode their inarticulate rage. The nearest thing to the '5 Minute Hate' that I have ever seen. Yet, Orwell possibly made the warning too bleak (he was dying of TB as he wrote, it was his last book). You feel that while Julia and Winston Smith do ultimately betray each other, yet it was done under duress of torture, and there could possibly be forgiveness in their hearts afterwards, not the disillusion of the book. The power of human love could defeat the Party, perhaps. A book that repays several readings.

Rating:
Summary: Very Provoking
Review: To some up this book, it is a novel written about the future (1984) written in 1949. It is based on a fictional new world order that arose from the history of the world and especially world war I & II. It is a deep look into what could happen if government gains too much control of our everyday lives. The suprising thing is that you can draw parrallels with many of the features of our modern lives. If youve heard the terms "big brother" and "thought police", this is where they came from. I recommend this one it'll make you think twice about our lives of emails, cameras, political correctness...etc.

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Summary: 1984 (Summer Reading - Period 3 - Miss Bobertz - English 3)
Review: 1984 is a book about a controlling government taking too much power over it's people. This book totally reminds me of my favorite movie series, Star Wars. The dictatorship is close to the communism in present-day Cuba where the people have no say in any matter. The government known as Big Brother has developed a language, Newspeak, for the people of Oceania. The language prohibits people from acting against Big Brother. All citizens are under intensive constant watch including the main character Winston Smith. All thoughts, actions, and words are recorded by telescreens at all times. These telescreens are watching for anything out of the ordinary. Winston is constantly thinking rebellious thoughts while knowing the government is "ungood". The common English word "bad" translates into Newspeak as "ungood". The setting holds three superstates Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia who all have simmilar governments looking to gain ultimate power over the other two.

As the book goes on Winston finds a co-worker and future lover Julia who thinks the same way as him. The two share thoughts and present them to O'Brien, a third worker who is believed to be in charge of "Brotherhood". Brotherhood is the rebel group who disagrees with Big Brother. Two weeks later we find out the secrets of Big Brother. Doublethink is the known method used by Big Brother to have a single person think to opposite thoughts and believe both. O'Brien tells us about doublethink with "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."

Orwell obviously was a strong believer in the warnings of a "controlling American government"

The book makes me think to myself could this all happen if the government became everything it has become throughout 1984.

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: Set in the imaginary totalitarian state of Oceania, whose population is controlled in word, deed and thought of the Party, the menacing but unseen Big Brother, the Thought Police and all - pervading propaganda. The main character Winston Smith, tries to stand up for the truth and humanity but is broken by the system. 1984 is an anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule and the loss of individual freedom, which is arguably a satire on Stalin's USSR. It seems that governments will never learn the lessons from history...

Rating:
Summary: A must read!!!
Review: As a sophomore in highschool, I read this book as a requirement as outside reading. I couldn't put it down! The concepts it talked about kept me thinking for hours, and I still think about them now! Since then, I have read the book two more times, and still find new topics to discuss about government, privacy, and social orders. If you like literature, history, and society, you must read this book!