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Summary: "We are the dead."
Review: "We shall crush you down to the point from which there is no coming back. Things will happen to you from which you could not recover, if you lived a thousand years. Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then fill you with ourselves" (pp. 264-5). More relevant now than ever, George Orwell's (1903-1950) best-known novel, 1984, not only tells the profound story of man's search for love in a world devoid of truth ("IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"), freedom ("FREEDOM IS SLAVERY"), and individuality, it also demonstrates totalitarian government's power to break the human spirit. There is no "happily ever after" for lovers like Winston Smith and Julia in an Orwellian society of Thought Police and Big Brother, and where "WAR IS PEACE." Orwell's 1984 offers readers an important message about these times.
G. Merritt
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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: ironically assigned reading in many public schools
Review: 1984 is extremely influential on the way we as a society label each other and our government with names such as "Big Brother" Orwellian and such. These names like calling someone a Nazi allow us to appear to argue but actually allow us to dodge the real issues. This is fairly ironic considering the origin of such terms. Basically 1984 is set in London in the distopian future. Orwell wrote it in response to Stalin's corrupting the ideals of Socialism. He was a socialist and so was really bothered by that failure.
The plot to 1984 isn't so important as the setting. Basically the story follows Winston Smith. Smith harbors less than perfect views of his environment, for which he will one day be arrested regardless of his actions. Not loving the government (thought crime) is the only crime that is recognized. Hidden cameras and microphones are omnipresent in the city, included mandatory TVs which can't be turned off, only show a single government station and contain hidden cameras through which "thought police" may monitor what is in front of the TV at any time. Social interaction doesn't exist, since that would be considered weird and therefore criminal.
There are three classes of people in London: Inner Party members, Party members like Winston and the proletariate, who aren't watched so closely because they aren't considered human. In this world Winston goes from merely not liking the government to engaging in unusual behavior. He starts by buying decorative antiques at a proletariate shop and progresses to having a girl friend, who he can only meet with in remote country side settings on account of social interaction is not allowed by the government. It is obvious to him that he will one day be taken to the Ministry of Love, a windowless building which handles law enforcement, and never fails at getting thought criminals to love the government.
The novel is always dark. No happy beginning, no happy middle and no happy ending. Still it is important to read it before throwing around terms like "Orwellian" It has been so influential on society that it is required reading - if you want to pass your tenth grade English. Failing to read is a sign of insurgence against the government.
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Summary: An Important Warning for the present minds
Review: 1984 is one of the most important books ever written. Many people in the world think that Orwell was a hypocrite of everything, but in truth he was a genius who saw the numerous corruptions that go on every day and was able to predict what they would end up as.In the book he highlights many important factors of the human mind and shows why the one aspect of greed is the most dominant in all humans. Don't listen to what other people say about communism or how it's just another simple criticism of Stalinist society. The story takes place in Britain, not Russia! Orwell challenges the ability of humans to be good-natured and not become completely absorbed with power. 1984 highlights how the government can keep you blind to things that are going on all around you and can make you believe something that can't be proven without a doubt. You don't know for sure that the Civil War happened the way people say it happened, when it happened, why it happened, how it happened and where it happened, because you weren't there. Orwell shows this in the book very well.
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Summary: Classic story that is still relevant despite the date
Review: 1984 is such the classic that to this day people are referencing the story that haven't read the book. Talk of the Thoughtpolice, Political Totalitarianism and especially Big Brother have pervaded our everyday lives. It taps into our greatest fears more than any book about monsters and ghosts ever could, beacuse it deals with two things: the unknown that is the future and the loss of the privacy of even our own thoughts. Most people will find no more horrible an idea than your every thought being known and held against you--the ultimate loss of freedom more than even physical freedom or even political freedom. It is easy to read this book and say "that'll never happen" because it is just so extreme. Orwell wrote this idea in such an extreme fashion in order to get his point across, but the issue is a very real one that we are dealing with today. In Washington right now our political leaders are deliberating over social policies that the masses disagree with but will be good for the country, privacy bills that restrict, enhance, or otherwise control what is considered private. I am not about to suggest that we are on the verge of Airstrip One by any means, but Orwell's book is symbolic of issues that are going on right now--and anyone who says that 1984 is outdated or doesn't apply to us does not understand the deeper meaning behind what Orwell meant. He was not like mnay writers today to write stories purely for enjoyment because social commentary has gone out of style, every passage Orwell wrote exuded a socio-economic, political, or religious lesson. He made not have hit the mark on every point, being tempered by post WWII that sometimes throws an idea askew, but he does a good job at the most important point: This is what we should always keep in the forefront of our minds that we never want to have happen because ignorance will not steer us clearly away from it. Outside of that the book is actually a pretty interesting read. I think personally there is much more redeeming in reading it than listening to someone else read it, but it is definitely worth experiencing no matter how you choose to do so.
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Summary: 1984: An Intirely Impossible Future?
Review: A convincing tale of social oppression, forbidden emotions, and daring thoughts, Orwell pulls the reader into his fictitious futuristic world. His fantastic view on the year 1984 from his socialist based political opinion in 1949 is one of the most creative stories ever told. 1984 tells of the "utopian" society Oceana (present day England and the Americas), in which productivity is forbidden and intelligent thinking is dangerous. In this super-power dominated by the Party and held back from progression by continuous war, Oceana's leader Big Brother is always watching every move you make. The story follows the journey of Winston, a Party member that begins to have his own negative opinion on Ingsoc, or English socialism. The reader is absorbed in Winston's life of dangerous individual thought, his forbidden affair, and his ever-evolving view on the oppressions of Big Brother. Perhaps this tale is so alarming and effective because Orwell's ideas of this future society are not entirely impossible...
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Summary: History repeats itself
Review: George Orwell is right. He has always been right and will always be right. This novel, 1984, shows a scary, terror-filled world where everyone is a potential enemy. Before 9/11 this stood as an important piece of British 20th Century fiction; now it is a must read for all because it is hard to know where the fiction ends and the "true" narrative begins.
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Summary: HOPEFULLY NOT A LOOK AT THINGS TO COME
Review: I have read this book three or four times and it never gets old, IT STILL APPLIES TODAY. With the way the world is going with terroitist,wars,President Bush,weapons of mass destruction could the Thought Police,and living in Oceania be far behind. Most of us laugh at this idea,but some of else might find it easy 2 live in a society where they don't have to think for themselves or worry about fighting for the little pleasures in life because there won't be any.I how even would NEVER want this type of life.I feel this book was written as a Warning 2 WAKE UP BEFORE IT'S 2 LATE! I RECOMMEND EVERYONE READ THIS BOOK..IT WILL KEEP US ALL AWAKE!
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Summary: Oh my GOD, this book is finally becoming our reality
Review: It's been on my list for a couple of years so I finally broke down and just bought it. It's thick with philosophy and politics but these rarely overwhelm the gripping narrative and impressive characters. I've been around the spinoffs and derivations of this story all my life, so I thought the original might seem tame, but what was most compelling about the novel for me was just how terrifying and vivid Orwell's world is. I mean, I could TASTE it. Grim and relentless, yet thrilling and emotional. The some key parallels between Ingsoc and U.S. "democracy" today are pretty chilling. "Endless war for endless peace", anyone?
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Summary: The wages of dissident political consciousness
Review: It's kind of stupid and presumptive to even rate this book, since it would be like rating a natural phenomenon or fact of life. As the fantastic introduction by Thomas Pynchon makes clear, 1984 and its relevance cannot be overstated. If one takes nothing else away from Pynchon's introduction it should be the idea that as a tool to think about society, 1984 speaks just as much to the abuses of power and memory going on in our current society as it did to Stalinist Russia. In the world of 1984, the state fights an endless war (against whom it doesn't really matter) and this forms the basis of the economy. The population is controlled not in deed but in thought. Language is narrowed (Newspeak - Orwell's concept) to such an extent that rebellion as a concept looses currency, not among elites, where this has always been the case, but amongst the victims of society, who are so frightened, isolated and dehumanized as to be unable to even locate or concieve the crimes against them, forget challenging them. Indeed, to inwardly suggest that one is anything but always and forever deleriously happy with "Big Brother", the Party leader and symbol of authority in the world 1984 posits, is to commit the fatal sin of "thought crime". The novel begins, naturally enough, with the main character Winston Smith doing just this, and as he pathetically notes to himself, from then on it's only a matter of time. Orwell's body of dissident political writing is so valuble that it is easy to forget he was also simply a great writer. He places you in the nightmarish world of 1984 and suffocates you with its grit, cartoonish logic, and cruelty. Wholly concieved and perfectly executed.
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