NINTEEN EIGHTY FOUR, Text, Sources, Criticism

by George Orwell

Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written. This version evaluates the text with sources and criticism with David Levin, Professor of English at the University of Virginia as the Editor. Orwell dramatized the extreme possibilities of a totalitarian state going beyond the regimes of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. Orwell prophesied 1. The Ministry of Truth 2. Big Brother 3. Telescreen (ie..television) becomes the educator and behavior monitor 5. Psychological manipulation by the party (big brother) supersedes family and forces. This text includes early reviews from Symons, Schorer, Trilling and Sillen all from the 1950s. What's interesting is reading Orwell's critics, their criticism of his ideas, writing, and their own lack of foresight, then contrast that with today's political correctness which illustrates one example of how the critics were wrong.

Genres: Fiction, Literature

274 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1963

About the author

Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both fascism and stalinism), and support of democratic socialism.

Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.
Orwell's work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective "Orwellian"—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as "Big Brother", "Thought Police", "Room 101", "Newspeak", "memory hole", "doublethink", and "thoughtcrime". In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.

Reviews

[Fluffy Singler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago, in 1984, and I have an old dog-eared copy. It is really a great book for anyone who wants to dig a little more into Orwell and into 1984 itself. You can see the development of Orwell's writings and his work leading up to 1984 as well as read what various literary critics at the time had to say about the novel and about its politics. Irving Howe is a wonderful literary critic and this book turned me on to him as well. If you are an Orwell fan, I cannot recommend this enough!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a few discussions I have read recently, it seems this book is seldom read these days. I suppose it makes sense given the title of the book. For folks my age and older, this was required reading. I believe I had to read this thrice for school. I think I read it at least once on my own.

The scene where Winston had the cage of rats on is still an image I can't shake decades later. Interestingly, a lot of what Orwell warns us about here is coming to fruition without much opposition.

I recall very much enjoying this classic.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very thought provoking story. Makes me wish that more people would read it and realize how a world like that could come into being.