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1984 and Related Readings
Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell's narrative is timelier than ever. 1984 presents 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 multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time.
This special edtition with additional, related readings includes two poems, two short stories, a play, and three essays (one by Orwell himself).
This special edtition with additional, related readings includes two poems, two short stories, a play, and three essays (one by Orwell himself).
428 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2006
12 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
George Orwell
1,280 books50.6k followersEric 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 21, 2015
“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.
Wow, what a good book! Admitedly it got a bit slow at one point but it's the kind of book that makes you think. In away I feel it changed me.
Also this is the original dystopia.
October 19, 2014
I can see why people like it, but I could not find the same enthusiasm. Personally, I think this book is one of those books that should be thought of in one's mind. For example, what if Nazi Germany won WW2? It is one of those books better thought of then actually read.
February 12, 2021
Ουαου!!!
February 9, 2022
Horrifying.
July 27, 2017
We had to read 1984 for my senior year in high school, except that we never got a chance to finish it because of lack of time. Now it's my brother's turn to read it for HIS senior year and I'm reading it before him. Haha
Writing style wise, this book is not perfect. There's a few grammar mistakes and some sentences that just don't sound right.
BUT story-wise this book is haunting, thrilling, depressing, scary, and just sad. It's really interesting to read.
Orwell writes about a totalitarian dictatorship. Nothing like the world has seen before, but pure 100% totalitarianism. The citizens of Oceania are constantly being watched, they're being trained to soon use Newspeak, there is no longer a strong bond between parents and children, no one trusts anyone, history gets rewritten so the Party is ALWAYS right, and people are trained to go against their own instincts.
It's extremely dark and terrifying to think about a world where you're mentally trained to love Big Brother and to think that everything being done it okay. People are living in complete fear, but by the process of doublethink, they are able to believe two things at the same time. The believe what they know to be true, but they also believe what the Party says to be true. In the back of their minds they ignore their own beliefs, CHOOSING to believe the Party instead. It's very complicated, but Orwell does a great job at breaking it all down and explaining everything.
The main character Winston decides to rebel in his own small acts. He purchases a diary, he buys a paperweight, and he falls in love with Julia. All of these are acts that he knows will inevitably get him killed. He knows eventually he will die from the Party, so he continues to rebel anyways.
The relationship he had with Julia absolutely broke my heart because they could've been so much more if they weren't living in a society like that. They didn't understand what true love really is because they didn't get a chance to grow up surrounded by love. Their relationship survived only because they both wanted to rebel against the Party, and they both liked being with each other physically. Throughout the novel you do get to see Winston truly falling for Julia, although it's very very slow.
The most terrifying part in my opinion was how in the Ministry of Truth they altered and completely changed the past. One day Oceania could be a war with Eurasia and they have always been at war with Eurasia, only for the next day to be told that Oceania was not at war with Eurasia but with East Asia and that they had always been at war with East Asia. Even though Winston knows from his own memories that Oceania had not in fact always been at war with East Asia but it was at war with Eurasia only the day before, if he were to try and look for evidence of it, he wouldn't find anything. Any record of ever being at war with Eurasia would be nonexistent. This causes Winston to be at war with his own mind. Are his memories correct and Oceania is changing its enemies constantly, or is he just imagining it? When you have vivid memories of an event, or a person, or anything, but have no actual proof that it ever existed as well as "facts" proving otherwise, it could drive a person mad.
"Whoever controls the past controls the present."
That's how Big Brother is able to control Oceania. He makes them doubt themselves so much to where they have no choice but to believe him and worship him.
This book is just so complicated and so terrifying.
You'd like to believe that something like this could never happen here, but I'm afraid that it actually could. Especially with everything that's going on right now in politics. People are already ready to believe what their leader is saying when facts prove otherwise. It's truly frightening.
Now, I don't think a dictatorship quite like the one depicted in 1984 will ever happen during my lifetime, but I do believe that it could happen one day if we're not careful.
Down with Big Brother.
Writing style wise, this book is not perfect. There's a few grammar mistakes and some sentences that just don't sound right.
BUT story-wise this book is haunting, thrilling, depressing, scary, and just sad. It's really interesting to read.
Orwell writes about a totalitarian dictatorship. Nothing like the world has seen before, but pure 100% totalitarianism. The citizens of Oceania are constantly being watched, they're being trained to soon use Newspeak, there is no longer a strong bond between parents and children, no one trusts anyone, history gets rewritten so the Party is ALWAYS right, and people are trained to go against their own instincts.
It's extremely dark and terrifying to think about a world where you're mentally trained to love Big Brother and to think that everything being done it okay. People are living in complete fear, but by the process of doublethink, they are able to believe two things at the same time. The believe what they know to be true, but they also believe what the Party says to be true. In the back of their minds they ignore their own beliefs, CHOOSING to believe the Party instead. It's very complicated, but Orwell does a great job at breaking it all down and explaining everything.
The main character Winston decides to rebel in his own small acts. He purchases a diary, he buys a paperweight, and he falls in love with Julia. All of these are acts that he knows will inevitably get him killed. He knows eventually he will die from the Party, so he continues to rebel anyways.
The relationship he had with Julia absolutely broke my heart because they could've been so much more if they weren't living in a society like that. They didn't understand what true love really is because they didn't get a chance to grow up surrounded by love. Their relationship survived only because they both wanted to rebel against the Party, and they both liked being with each other physically. Throughout the novel you do get to see Winston truly falling for Julia, although it's very very slow.
The most terrifying part in my opinion was how in the Ministry of Truth they altered and completely changed the past. One day Oceania could be a war with Eurasia and they have always been at war with Eurasia, only for the next day to be told that Oceania was not at war with Eurasia but with East Asia and that they had always been at war with East Asia. Even though Winston knows from his own memories that Oceania had not in fact always been at war with East Asia but it was at war with Eurasia only the day before, if he were to try and look for evidence of it, he wouldn't find anything. Any record of ever being at war with Eurasia would be nonexistent. This causes Winston to be at war with his own mind. Are his memories correct and Oceania is changing its enemies constantly, or is he just imagining it? When you have vivid memories of an event, or a person, or anything, but have no actual proof that it ever existed as well as "facts" proving otherwise, it could drive a person mad.
"Whoever controls the past controls the present."
That's how Big Brother is able to control Oceania. He makes them doubt themselves so much to where they have no choice but to believe him and worship him.
This book is just so complicated and so terrifying.
You'd like to believe that something like this could never happen here, but I'm afraid that it actually could. Especially with everything that's going on right now in politics. People are already ready to believe what their leader is saying when facts prove otherwise. It's truly frightening.
Now, I don't think a dictatorship quite like the one depicted in 1984 will ever happen during my lifetime, but I do believe that it could happen one day if we're not careful.
Down with Big Brother.
May 24, 2012
Because they so neatly did my thinking for me, I'm selecting two popular user reviews to represent my opinions with a correlation above 90%:
Con:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
and Pro:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
The book is still relevant today, as the demonstrated by the pro review's advanced setting. The warnings are timeless; a free civil society is always at risk from a number of malignancies. Ideas and culture keep them in check, but what can happen if these mechanisms are subverted?
What do you do when you've drafted a brilliant essay on political theory and realize its only hope of having an impact is through the widest possible exposure? Novelize it, and cross your fingers. If it goes viral, you have an audience and now your work is immortal.
As described in the con review, this novel is pretty "meh", not poor, but not great. I found the ending thoroughly lacking in power, and wondered if something important had happened, or not. Like Winston, at the end I found myself questioning the reality of the novel's events. Was is comfortable endgame existence at his sinecure all just a simulation? What's really motivating his sudden love for BB at the victory announcement? To use a piece of Brit slang, the end seemed bodged on. I found it difficult to integrate the experiences from the moment Winston and Julia are raided, clear to the end of the book, with what had taken place in the book up to that point. At the moment of the raid, I see this novel as having many possible alternatives, some of which might have made it a superior work of fiction while leaving the underlying political message unaffected.
Perhaps I have just not thought things through completely (I am a rather concrete and pragmatic thinker, abstractions can sometimes escape me). Although in Winston's hands in the form of "Goldstein's" book, he never gets to read the part where central secret, the primary motivation for the construction of this pointless society was revealed. Society fell down a developmental cul-de-sac, and we're never shown how that happened, or why the power structure felt it was a great idea as they led the world toward it.
For all I understand, the whole shebang happened inside the Matrix. How else do you explain "agent" O'Brien?
Con:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
and Pro:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
The book is still relevant today, as the demonstrated by the pro review's advanced setting. The warnings are timeless; a free civil society is always at risk from a number of malignancies. Ideas and culture keep them in check, but what can happen if these mechanisms are subverted?
What do you do when you've drafted a brilliant essay on political theory and realize its only hope of having an impact is through the widest possible exposure? Novelize it, and cross your fingers. If it goes viral, you have an audience and now your work is immortal.
As described in the con review, this novel is pretty "meh", not poor, but not great. I found the ending thoroughly lacking in power, and wondered if something important had happened, or not. Like Winston, at the end I found myself questioning the reality of the novel's events. Was is comfortable endgame existence at his sinecure all just a simulation? What's really motivating his sudden love for BB at the victory announcement? To use a piece of Brit slang, the end seemed bodged on. I found it difficult to integrate the experiences from the moment Winston and Julia are raided, clear to the end of the book, with what had taken place in the book up to that point. At the moment of the raid, I see this novel as having many possible alternatives, some of which might have made it a superior work of fiction while leaving the underlying political message unaffected.
Perhaps I have just not thought things through completely (I am a rather concrete and pragmatic thinker, abstractions can sometimes escape me). Although in Winston's hands in the form of "Goldstein's" book, he never gets to read the part where central secret, the primary motivation for the construction of this pointless society was revealed. Society fell down a developmental cul-de-sac, and we're never shown how that happened, or why the power structure felt it was a great idea as they led the world toward it.
For all I understand, the whole shebang happened inside the Matrix. How else do you explain "agent" O'Brien?
February 27, 2010
This book is basically about a dictatorship and how there will always be some kind of rebellion. The gist of the book got me interested in discovering the result. The main character, Winston, believes the Party (government) is hiding information. The events that Winston goes through reveal many interesting things. I did come across difficult words and found myself re-reading some pages. Other than that, I would highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading books about dictatorships. George Orwell was also the author of Animal Farm. I believe many of you have read it before, and recommend you read this as well.
December 11, 2012
Overall, I found the main character, Winston Smith, to be difficult to really care about. Further, the situation of Big Brother controlling all aspects of life is a but tenuous, and the distinction between members of the Party and the pitiless seems a little too neat and contrived. That being said, the novel does provide some moments of entertainment, so might be worth reading as you look for something a little more provocative.
Currently reading
February 8, 2021Kadin Smith
Ms. Cole
English Honors 2 First Block
28 Jan. 2021
25% Summary
1984 by George Orwell is so far a good book in my opinion. It starts off with Winston Smith telling us about how he thinks the government watches everything the people do. I chose this book because it seemed to fit my style of reading with action and all that. So far it has fulfilled my expectations and has made any unexpected turns.
Ms. Cole
English Honors 2 First Block
28 Jan. 2021
25% Summary
1984 by George Orwell is so far a good book in my opinion. It starts off with Winston Smith telling us about how he thinks the government watches everything the people do. I chose this book because it seemed to fit my style of reading with action and all that. So far it has fulfilled my expectations and has made any unexpected turns.
May 21, 2020
Perfect time to read this book again! Big Brother, the Thought Police, the strategies used to break the individual into a thoughtless follower of an ideology.. Truly a remarkable book. Rewriting history, revising language to control minds -- brilliant, dynamic, and still timely. 1984 is literature at tis best.
October 20, 2012
I loved the book! I really have nothing to say, yet I do feel that the book could have ended with more of a pow. Other than that a really good book.
January 4, 2013
I loved it, I couldn't put it down.
November 13, 2015
It probably would have been better if I wasn't on a schedule and had to do homework assignments for it.
November 11, 2016
Superb! Fascinating world that Orwell creates. Great social commentary on control, war, freedom. A work of art. Written so deliberately. The additional readings are interesting as well.
December 2, 2016
This book was okay. Very hard to read because its language is very complex. The story itself was not very likable but rather a little dull.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews