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View our feature on George Orwell’s 1984.
Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia," that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world—so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions—a legacy that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.
Examines different aspects of Orwell's anti-utopian classic, with a biographical sketch of the author and critical essays on this work.
Jessi-21
Posted September 11, 2009
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So what can I say about this book that hasn't been said before? Having read it I can see how it has become regarded as classic fiction. Of course the year 1984 has come and gone and many folks say had it been titled "2009" it would have been much more accurate.
For those of you who haven't read it, it is a complex novel but with a fairly basic plot. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a functioning member of a society in the future who meets a woman he is attracted to. Much of the book surrounds their attempt to form a relationship in this society that just won't allow that sort of thing. Of course the real point and value of the novel is to illustrate where our current society may be headed if we don't change course, a sort of anti-utopian (dystopian?) novel. This book has brought us common terms such as "Big Brother", "doublethink", and "thought police." There are long sections where Winston reads to his girl friend from the official government manual detailing how the society came to be as well as the evolution of the government-speak ("Newspeak") language. I am glad that I've read this novel but at the same time I can't say that I would ever want to read it again. My political/societal views are already pretty much cemented in place and this book, while thought provoking, did not change my views. I do agree that it should be studied at the High School level though, not only for its value to the world of literature but also as a way to kick start young people's thinking on what a society should and shouldn't be.
Essentially 1984 presents a juggernaut state that has become unmoored from whatever benign ideals once berthed it and has drifted off beyond site of a reassuring oasis-like coastline. A state in which its inhabitants no longer strive to achieve their original goals be they based on economical, religious or political ideals and have allowed the state to become a living entity in itself with the destruction of the human spirit as its sole aim.
Be sure to watch the three different movies made from this book:
1984 (1954) Peter Cushing is Winston Smith
1984 (1956) Edmond O'Brien is Winston Smith
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) John Hurt is Winston Smith
36 out of 38 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 27, 1999
I am a high school student. This was not a required reading peice for me. I saw it sitting in Barnes and Noble on a shelf with suggeseted reading. When I first started reading the book it was BORING! I had to force myself to go on. After about the first hundred pages though, it started to get interesting. The story is ok, but this is a book you shouldn't be reading for just the plot. There is so much more to it than the plot. Every person who reads this book will get a different meaning from it. To me this book says that peoples minds can be molded very easily. Even the strong can be made weak after a certain amount of torture. Perhaps this is a negative thought, but it started me thinking on a much larger scale. I owe a lot of things to this book. I think more clearly since I read this book. I think about more important things, things most 16 yr olds wouldn't think of. This book has truely shown me the light towards literature so to speak. Whether you are required to read this or not, I think you should. If you have already read it, read it again. I'm sure 10 years from now the book will have a deeper meaning. I can't wait to read it again and find out what those meanings will be.
32 out of 32 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 15, 2008
I came to 1984 after reading a series of novels by Russian authors about life in Stalingrad during the onslaught by Hitler and then after the cruelty of Stalin. It's easy to see how Orwell extended the grim realities of the concentration camps of Germany and the labor camps of Russia into this dark prophecy. Of course, in many instances his vision has become realized. Big Brother seeks to invade our privacy at every turn via electronic media. Governments pose rhetoric immersed in 'doublespeak'. The Thought Police exist to bully our free expression. Power is exercised by imposing real human suffering upon multitudes. 'The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.' Oil comes to mind here. And munitions. And diverse other commodities. In 1984 the war is endless. 'Everywhere there is the same pyramidical structure, the same worship of a semi-divine leader, the same economy existing by and for continuous war.' Sound familiar? The High, or the 'priests of power' only fall when assaulted by the Middle and usually assisted by the Low classes. Then the Middle becomes the High and oppresses the Low for which change only means a new master. The protagonist, Winston, a 'minority of one' questions his own sanity but ultimately defends the 'spirit of man' as a force which cannot be overpowered. In the closing pages we see Orwell's true convictions about the infallible power of Big Brother and the triumph of the human spirit. This dark view has real overtones of Nietzsche and Machiavelli, who wrote with the view of realism based upon the inhumanity they witnessed in their heydays by 'princes' with the 'will to power'. But the 'spirit of man' is truly formidable and cannot be overcome, except temporarily, by totalitarian figures and corrupt democracies. The next US national election will be telling about down which road America will travel. 1984 is a cautionary, post-World War II tale but to say it's unrealistically dark and couldn't happen here and now is to overlook eons of history. And to be unconscious of the powers of orthodoxy infringing greedily and corporately upon the spirit of man in our time.
12 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This particular book was an essential read: speaking to the society that we live in, the world around us, and the politics we take for granted. The book speaks to the heart of the political ¿human condition,¿ writing a manifesto against the apathy of constituents. 1984 tells the story of a single character who lives in a futuristic England, know ruled by a totalitarian government that is designed to keep it¿s citizens uninformed and uninterested. We watch as the main character descends into the bowels of the government, and meets a political leader who speaks to the way the government is constructed, and why it is ¿designed¿ in this way.<BR/><BR/>1984 holds on, sweeping the reader into the plot, and holds on to the very end. A great read for those interested in politics, and even those who simply want to be thrilled by a great book.
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 29, 2008
If before you read 1984 you never saw how government intrudes in our daily lives and how things are so easily controlled, you will after reading it. Orwell's Dystopian classic lays out how easily we, the masses can so eaisly be decieved by political rehtoric, mind control and constant fear and brutality. How we can be misled to think the wrong thing is the right thing... and how we could be made to feel greatful for it. After reading this book, I can't look at our world the same ever again. So many shades of 1984 are apparent in everyday life and everything we do, political bills that have been passed, an economy spiraling out of control. You have to remind yourself that 1984 was written way back in 1949! It is a frightening prophecy of a world that is only a mere nudge from becoming our own. 1984 is a warning of letting anyone have too much control. Of how through deception, freedom is made into slavery without us even knowing the difference. If you ever thought that there was something wrong with our world, that their was something more than what we can see or hear going on, read this book, it's simply amazing. But beware, once you see 1984 through Orwell's eyes, you may never see our own world ever the same through your own eyes. You will be awakend, and may never go back to sleep.
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.After reading Animal Farm I decided to move onto 1984. It is one of my favorite books, better then Brave New World in my opinion. The scene that Orwell creates is amazing yet the ideas and situations he presents seem extremly feasible in society today. I highly recommend this book.
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 9, 2000
Literature is the ability to make the reader think. It spawns thought of the plot, the setting, and the subject matter. 1984 achieves this. I had to force myself to read this book because it attacked my view of the world, and I found the basis improbable. But as I read, the development amazed me. Everything about this book is brilliant especially how it unfolds. If you enjoy literature and not entertainment fiction, then this is a book for you to read. If you enjoy to think, purchase it.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I loved this book, and would recommend it to anyone, especially people who are interested in politics and current affairs. 1984 is mostly symbolic and highly philosophical; I think Orwell's goal in writing 1984 was to explain his thoughts on Totalitarianism, and the power of [big] government; this book was written around the time of the spread of communism, a time when Orwell wanted to warn Western nations about why communism is ultimately bad. It's highly effective, and chilling to the core when you start to make parallels between Orwell's society and our own. <BR/> This book made me see the world, and governments in general, in a different light. Once you read this book, you will see allusions to "Big Brother" everywhere, mostly on cable news stations and radio talk shows. When bored, I often think about the concept of "doublethink", "proles", and constant surveillance; thinking about it never gets old. I still crack open my copy to read an excerpt or two from time to time. I would recommend that anyone else should do the same.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 12, 2007
This book presents, from the start, a gloomy outlook on the future. It is clear that Orwell has no real confidence in the good nature of mankind. It is not only this that ruined the book for me, though - I found the writing dry and boring. The plot dragged on, and the ending was a disappointment.
6 out of 56 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 26, 2004
Reading the book was a boring struggle for me, but i absolutley loved the entire idea of the book.
6 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 21, 2009
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Orwell is brilliant. Enough said.
5 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I first read this book as a teen, it was a class assignment. I recently read it again and I'm still blown away by it. I don't know many people that have not read this masterpiece. It was first published about sixty years ago. In today's times it is definitely a profound and visionary book to read again. I assume that it is still recommended reading to students. It certainly should be.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 1, 2008
So much depth! What a cool world Orwell has created here! What interesting characters! What a relevant story! Help me, God, I never thought a book this great was possible. This book transcends all thoughts that it is "just a book"; it feels so real!
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 17, 2013
This book is so good.... i couldn't put it down when i was reading it ... The only thing was the ending was pretty sad and it was kind of generic(no element of suprise)
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 16, 2011
The story is a frightening tale of how socialism and loss of privacy can result in the destruction of life as we know it. On the surface it is an interesting story, yet beneath is so much more about humanity and the quest for absolute power.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 16, 2007
I read 1984 over the summer. Until now, I have never read a book I truly disliked. This novel is grim, overly complicated, and, to but it bluntly, unbelievably boring. The plot drags. The characters are utterly unrelatable. There is not a single speck of light or hope to be found. If you are not forced to read this title as I was, I highly recommend that you avoid it at all costs.
3 out of 33 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 5, 2003
I enjoyed parts of the book but it was soooo confusing. I found myself re-reading parts to understand them.
2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 30, 2001
Isaac Deutscher said it best in his justifiably hostile critique of this book: 'Orwell borrowed the idea of '1984', the plot, the chief characters, the symbols, and the whole climate of his story' from Russian writer Evgeny Zamyatin's 'We'. Orwell's true genius was not his spinning of this 'literary masterpiece', but his interpretation and subsequent modification of Zamyatin's novel. I do believe that on its own '1984' could merit some positive criticism, but when it is held up next to the original the cracks begin to show through. Do yourself a favour, don't get caught up in the 'pop culture' of Big Brother, Newspeak and Doublethink. Read 'We' instead.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 13, 2013
This book is sooooooo good!!!! Although some parts were confusing, overall it was great!!!! It almost changes the way you think about society as a whole and if you think about it, some of the content is coming true!!! I highly recomend reading this book!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 30, 2012
i recommend for everyone to read this book.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
View our feature on George Orwell’s 1984.
Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is more timely that ever. 1984 presents a "negative utopia," that is at once a startling and haunting vision of the world—so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the power of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of entire generations of readers, or the resiliency...