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Summary: Disturbing, a warning for us all
Review: 1984 is perhaps one of the best books i have read- Not for It's literature. Although it is fantastically written, it resounds with warning. Anyone who sees this book as simply "a book about communism" may as well set the book ablaze, for he has already destroyed it's message. The book tells of humankinds self-enslavement, where people are nothing more than machines doomed to produce and consume endlessly for the sake of further production and consumption. The only prevailing human emotions are greed, hate, distrust, sorrow, and loyalty to invisible characters. Any word, thought, action, or a mere facial expression that might make other Party Members nervous results in instant termination. History is nonexistant in the sense as we know it. The Party controlls all records-as the slogan goes "who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." There is no escape. The book does not give a solution to the enslavement, but in its bold and frightening forecast, gives the reader the means to prevent it. Never let yourself be silenced. I highly reccomend this book.
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Summary: Essential and still vibrant
Review: Orwell understood the why, the what, and most importantly, the who of post modern tyranny. He is a conflicted and tortured man. A man who exposed his own deepest beliefs in "progressive" politics and plumbed the depth of the consequences. In the year 2000 Orwell is joined by Jerry Furland, Claire Wolfe, Vin Supranowizc, Neal Boortz, David Horowitz and many others in warning us of the dangers of blindly following the newspeak of the Utopian Left. They are with us today. Just as deadly and just as implacable.The Clintons are, in essence, the quintessential inner party dictators. Gore is a bland understudy. This is still, half a century later, political dynamite.
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Summary: THEY SHOULD MAKE KIDS READ THIS IN SCHOOL!
Review: At first I didn't appreciate this book, but after the secondhalf, I realized its importance. This book forshadows what will happenif people merely lay dormant and don't take responsibility for themselves and their government. Like a reviewer before me, I agree that this is scarier than any horror book. Vampires will never exist, a world ruled by totalitarian communists can easily exist. Overall, the message of this story is both important and relevant to our times....
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Summary: 1984 defines our distrust for government
Review: The book is a fantastic read of Orwell's projection of a future in which three totalitarian governments (all equivalent) rule the earth. I would say the book has two sections, the story, which follows an Outer Party member's struggle to rebel, and philosophy, which is Big Brother's Manifesto (or, one could say, Goldstein's but really they are one and the same). The book puts the story on hold when Winston, the protagonist, reads the manifesto; I would say that there is flow problem with the abrupt nature of this switch. Certainly the Manifesto is endemic to the book and provides another perspective and history of the rise of Oceania, the state in which Winston lives.
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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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