What do you think?
Rate this book
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 4, 2020
943 people are currently reading
9634 people want to read
About the author
Fido Nesti
12 books23 followersFido Nesti was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1971. A self-taught artist, he has worked in illustration and comics for over twenty-five years. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and Americas Quarterly, among many other publications.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 963 reviews
![Profile Image for s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1735525095i%2F6431467._UX200_CR0%2C11%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 23, 2023
I often think that art is the closest thing we have to magic. Just words or images on a page can transport us to imaginative worlds, instill strong emotions that overcome us and make us laugh, cry, love and dream. While I tend to find graphic adaptations of “classic” novels to be rather hit or miss, Fido Nesti’s 1984 is a real success that brings Orwell’s beloved and eerie novel to life and truly immerses us in the frightening dystopia. This is an artistic journey that stays faithful to the story and delivers uneasy imagery that adds to the story instead of seems just an excuse to have a graphic novel as I sometimes feel these adaptations tend to go. This would be great for hesitant readers who still want to experience Orwell’s work but fans of the original novel (I won’t get into the plot much but I have reviewed it at length here) will find this a rewarding visual plunge into the darkness of the tale.
Fido Nesti has a really engaging style that is rather cartoonish in a way that doesn’t soften the blow but rather makes it almost more distressing through the grotesque caricatures. Much of the story is done in grey-scale that captures the grimness of the society with light uses of reds and yellows. It gives a very “cold war” vibe while also feeling futuristic and very very dystopian. I particularly liked the use of frames, having many small frames with tight angles on Winston to help express the small, fleeting and dangerous spaces the idea of individuality can occupy. Juxtapose this with the large panels of crowds, particularly the Two Minute Hate or other moments that show the masses as threatening.
This is a very eerie and unsettling rendition and for that I quite enjoyed it. There are long passages from the novel threated through the book, which was a bit jarring but does show much visual and visceral the actual text is without the need of images (though, then it almost seems to ask what is the point of a visual adaptation?) which is cool I guess. Though I had just read the book so it felt unnecessary to me. Still, Nesti manages to dazzle and really bring this story to life in a lovely hardbound edition that is quite large and lovely to hold. Worth the trip, but be careful because Big Brother is watching…
Fido Nesti has a really engaging style that is rather cartoonish in a way that doesn’t soften the blow but rather makes it almost more distressing through the grotesque caricatures. Much of the story is done in grey-scale that captures the grimness of the society with light uses of reds and yellows. It gives a very “cold war” vibe while also feeling futuristic and very very dystopian. I particularly liked the use of frames, having many small frames with tight angles on Winston to help express the small, fleeting and dangerous spaces the idea of individuality can occupy. Juxtapose this with the large panels of crowds, particularly the Two Minute Hate or other moments that show the masses as threatening.
This is a very eerie and unsettling rendition and for that I quite enjoyed it. There are long passages from the novel threated through the book, which was a bit jarring but does show much visual and visceral the actual text is without the need of images (though, then it almost seems to ask what is the point of a visual adaptation?) which is cool I guess. Though I had just read the book so it felt unnecessary to me. Still, Nesti manages to dazzle and really bring this story to life in a lovely hardbound edition that is quite large and lovely to hold. Worth the trip, but be careful because Big Brother is watching…
January 1, 2024
The Big Brother is watching you!
Another must-read classic 1984 that I have wanted to read for so long.
While I won't tell you all about the story or its ideas, I can say that 1984 made me really appreciate how precious freedom is.
It's not something we just get for free, we have to work to keep it!
That's why it's so important to stand up for our rights, all the time.
And when things are good, we shouldn't forget how lucky we are to live in a free world.
Another must-read classic 1984 that I have wanted to read for so long.
While I won't tell you all about the story or its ideas, I can say that 1984 made me really appreciate how precious freedom is.
It's not something we just get for free, we have to work to keep it!
That's why it's so important to stand up for our rights, all the time.
And when things are good, we shouldn't forget how lucky we are to live in a free world.
June 4, 2022
Im letzten Jahr durfte ich bereits "Farm der Tiere" und "1984" von George Orwell auf meinen Kanälen vorstellen, woraufhin ich viele Nachrichten von Lesern erhalten habe, die sich anschließend die Weltklassiker gekauft, gelesen und meine Gedanken geteilt haben.
"1984" ist meiner Meinung nach eine Pflichtlektüre und 2021 im Verlag Ullstein als Graphic Novel erschienen und von Fido Nesti adaptiert und illustriert worden.
Winston Smith ist Bewohner von Ozeanien und Mitarbeiter im Ministerium der Wahrheit, wo er für die Berichtigung der Vergangenheit zuständig ist. Ozeanien ist ein totalitärer Überwachungsstaat und wird von der Partei geleitet, dem sogenannten *Großen Bruder*. Auf Teleschirmen werden jegliches Verhalten und Äußerungen eines jeden Bewohners überwacht. Hinzu kommt die Einführung einer eigenen Sprache: Neusprech.
Winston beginnt an das System zu zweifeln und schreibt seine Gedanken in ein Tagebuch nieder. Des Weiteren verliebt er sich in Julia und trifft sich mit ihr heimlich. Beides Verstöße, die sofort geahndet werden.
Es kommt zu Gewalt und Folterung an Winston, die vor allem die extremen Schattenseiten einer Diktatur darstellen.
Diese Roman-Dystopie greift auf spannende und erschreckende Weise die Thematik der Manipulationen auch in Hinblick auf FakeNews, Überwachung und Indoktrination einer Gesellschaft auf.
Ein Buch, das vor allem zum Hinterfragen einlädt und hoffentlich dazu animiert, sich zu fragen, in was für einer Gesellschaft wir leben möchten.
Jede Illustration greift die beängstigende Dystopie auf und lässt deutlich den Leser die Wichtigkeit der Thematik spüren. Die Farben und das gesamte Layout auch in Bezug auf die Bindung passen perfekt zu der Graphic Novel. Aufgrund der Grausamkeit sind die Illustrationen nicht zum "einfach weglesen", sondern man entdeckt viele kleine stimmige Details.
Dieses Graphic Novel ist in meinen Augen eine gute Alternative, um sich mit dem Klassiker zu beschäftigen und erhält von mir eine absolute Leseempfehlung.
"1984" ist meiner Meinung nach eine Pflichtlektüre und 2021 im Verlag Ullstein als Graphic Novel erschienen und von Fido Nesti adaptiert und illustriert worden.
Winston Smith ist Bewohner von Ozeanien und Mitarbeiter im Ministerium der Wahrheit, wo er für die Berichtigung der Vergangenheit zuständig ist. Ozeanien ist ein totalitärer Überwachungsstaat und wird von der Partei geleitet, dem sogenannten *Großen Bruder*. Auf Teleschirmen werden jegliches Verhalten und Äußerungen eines jeden Bewohners überwacht. Hinzu kommt die Einführung einer eigenen Sprache: Neusprech.
Winston beginnt an das System zu zweifeln und schreibt seine Gedanken in ein Tagebuch nieder. Des Weiteren verliebt er sich in Julia und trifft sich mit ihr heimlich. Beides Verstöße, die sofort geahndet werden.
Es kommt zu Gewalt und Folterung an Winston, die vor allem die extremen Schattenseiten einer Diktatur darstellen.
Diese Roman-Dystopie greift auf spannende und erschreckende Weise die Thematik der Manipulationen auch in Hinblick auf FakeNews, Überwachung und Indoktrination einer Gesellschaft auf.
Ein Buch, das vor allem zum Hinterfragen einlädt und hoffentlich dazu animiert, sich zu fragen, in was für einer Gesellschaft wir leben möchten.
Jede Illustration greift die beängstigende Dystopie auf und lässt deutlich den Leser die Wichtigkeit der Thematik spüren. Die Farben und das gesamte Layout auch in Bezug auf die Bindung passen perfekt zu der Graphic Novel. Aufgrund der Grausamkeit sind die Illustrationen nicht zum "einfach weglesen", sondern man entdeckt viele kleine stimmige Details.
Dieses Graphic Novel ist in meinen Augen eine gute Alternative, um sich mit dem Klassiker zu beschäftigen und erhält von mir eine absolute Leseempfehlung.
January 22, 2022
In 1984, George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, the world has been split up into three super-states:
Oceania: Completed by the absorption of the British Empire by the United States of America. Comprised of the Americas, the Atlantic islands including the British Isles, Australasia, and the southern portion of Africa.
Eurasia: Completed by the absorption of Europe by Russia. Comprised of the entire northern part of the European and Asiatic land-mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait.
Eastasia: Smaller than the other two, comprised of China and the countries to the south of it, the Japanese islands, and a large but fluctuating portion of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet.
Each of the three super-states is an oligarchy, set up with a single, all-powerful figurehead for the masses to blindly worship. The story takes place in Oceania, whose figurehead is known as Big Brother. No one has ever seen Big Brother; he may not even exist. And yet he is completely ubiquitous, present everywhere in posters bearing his moustached face and the ominous slogan "Big Brother Is Watching You". The iron rule of Big Brother is enforced by the Party, which is effectively the government of Oceania.
In Oceania, as there are today with the upper, middle, and lower classes, there are three classes in Oceanic society. These have direct parallels to the three classes of our current society, in that one can either be an Inner Party member (the upper class: the elites of the Party, who run everything from the shadows), an Outer Party member (the middle class: mind-controlled drones that do the Party's bidding), or what's known as a "prole". Proles are the lower class, and make up over 80% of the Oceanic population. They are not controlled by the Party at all, because they're so uneducated and poor that the Party does not see them as a threat. They see no need to control their thoughts, because they see them as incapable of thought.
Oceania is made up of provinces, one of which is "Airstrip One", formerly known as Britain. Within this province lives the main protagonist of the story, a closet free-thinker and Outer Party member named Winston Smith. Winston has been secretly keeping a diary, and, in a society where the past is deliberately and constantly rewritten to make it appear that Big Brother and the Party have never been wrong and have never told a lie, a society where no one remembers anything for longer than maybe a few months or a year, Winston remembers events going back several years.
His memory has put him in danger, as he recalls having seen proof, before it was destroyed years ago, of the Party having told a lie: a newspaper article, since re-written, proving that three Party members who had testified to betraying the Party, and who were later executed for it, were innocent. Memories like these cause Winston to constantly fear he will be found out by the Thought Police, that he will be captured and tortured into a confession, and subsequently killed.
Eventually, Winston starts to be followed at work, and after work on the streets, by a female Outer Party member, and believes he's finally been made, and that she is a spy. One day at work, she bumps into him in the hall and, as he's helping her up, she slips a note into his hand. Only later, outside the view of the telescreens stationed almost everywhere to watch his every move, can Winston read the three shocking words on the note, before quickly tossing it into a chute in his office leading directly to an incinerator, before anyone sees it:
I love you
In a world where emotions are limited, discouraged, and even eliminated, the note changes everything for Winston, and ultimately leads him down a wonderful, but ultimately dark and devastating path...
I last read 1984 the novel about eight years ago, but it has haunted me to this day. Orwell's world is masterfully and thoughtfully constructed, with a brilliance and prescience I've never seen in a work of literature before or since. It's a book with an unforgettable, shocking ending that stays with the reader forever, and is a work more relevant now than ever before, with democracy being at risk as it currently is.
Like the original novel, Fido Nesti's graphic novel interpretation is a masterpiece, retelling this powerful story in a way that is faithful, both in story and tone, to the original source material. The art is mostly pretty simple, almost cartoonish, and yet it is also incredibly inventive, with some panels bleeding into others in creative and ingenious ways, and some effects, like the fogginess of something in the background as seen through a dirty glass, being extremely well done.
When reading the original novel, I often thought of the world of the story as one colour: grey. This naturally occurs because of the oppressed nature of the society of the story. Oceania is constantly at war, constantly being bombed, constantly experiencing food shortages, people are mind-controlled, emotionless robots. It's a really depressing, bland, monochrome society, and that's the way I saw it in my head. Nesti does a good job of reproducing this. The graphic novel is in colour, but there are maybe only three or four colours used throughout this book: grey, black, white, and maybe orange in some places. That's it. It's a small thing, but the world of this story is mostly colourless and drab, and Nesti recreates that wonderfully.
There were a few things I didn't like. One was how Julia was drawn. Her lips were really big, protruding from her face, and it just looked really weird and incongruous with the rest of her face. Also her facial expressions themselves. She often had a pissed-off look on her face, even when it didn't really make any sense for her to bear such a look. Another thing I didn't like was that sometimes there would be dark grey portions of panels, and Nesti would put black text on those parts, which I found made some panels hard to read.
Overall, Fido Nesti has done an incredible job bringing George Orwell's 1984 to life. If you haven't read the original Orwell novel, I highly recommend you do so. I've read hundreds of novels across decades of reading, but I consider George Orwell's 1984 to be the greatest and most important novel ever written. And if you have read it, and are looking to experience it in a new light, do check out Fido Nesti's 1984: The Graphic Novel. It's an impressive achievement in its own right.
Highly recommended!
Oceania: Completed by the absorption of the British Empire by the United States of America. Comprised of the Americas, the Atlantic islands including the British Isles, Australasia, and the southern portion of Africa.
Eurasia: Completed by the absorption of Europe by Russia. Comprised of the entire northern part of the European and Asiatic land-mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait.
Eastasia: Smaller than the other two, comprised of China and the countries to the south of it, the Japanese islands, and a large but fluctuating portion of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet.
Each of the three super-states is an oligarchy, set up with a single, all-powerful figurehead for the masses to blindly worship. The story takes place in Oceania, whose figurehead is known as Big Brother. No one has ever seen Big Brother; he may not even exist. And yet he is completely ubiquitous, present everywhere in posters bearing his moustached face and the ominous slogan "Big Brother Is Watching You". The iron rule of Big Brother is enforced by the Party, which is effectively the government of Oceania.
In Oceania, as there are today with the upper, middle, and lower classes, there are three classes in Oceanic society. These have direct parallels to the three classes of our current society, in that one can either be an Inner Party member (the upper class: the elites of the Party, who run everything from the shadows), an Outer Party member (the middle class: mind-controlled drones that do the Party's bidding), or what's known as a "prole". Proles are the lower class, and make up over 80% of the Oceanic population. They are not controlled by the Party at all, because they're so uneducated and poor that the Party does not see them as a threat. They see no need to control their thoughts, because they see them as incapable of thought.
Oceania is made up of provinces, one of which is "Airstrip One", formerly known as Britain. Within this province lives the main protagonist of the story, a closet free-thinker and Outer Party member named Winston Smith. Winston has been secretly keeping a diary, and, in a society where the past is deliberately and constantly rewritten to make it appear that Big Brother and the Party have never been wrong and have never told a lie, a society where no one remembers anything for longer than maybe a few months or a year, Winston remembers events going back several years.
His memory has put him in danger, as he recalls having seen proof, before it was destroyed years ago, of the Party having told a lie: a newspaper article, since re-written, proving that three Party members who had testified to betraying the Party, and who were later executed for it, were innocent. Memories like these cause Winston to constantly fear he will be found out by the Thought Police, that he will be captured and tortured into a confession, and subsequently killed.
Eventually, Winston starts to be followed at work, and after work on the streets, by a female Outer Party member, and believes he's finally been made, and that she is a spy. One day at work, she bumps into him in the hall and, as he's helping her up, she slips a note into his hand. Only later, outside the view of the telescreens stationed almost everywhere to watch his every move, can Winston read the three shocking words on the note, before quickly tossing it into a chute in his office leading directly to an incinerator, before anyone sees it:
I love you
In a world where emotions are limited, discouraged, and even eliminated, the note changes everything for Winston, and ultimately leads him down a wonderful, but ultimately dark and devastating path...
I last read 1984 the novel about eight years ago, but it has haunted me to this day. Orwell's world is masterfully and thoughtfully constructed, with a brilliance and prescience I've never seen in a work of literature before or since. It's a book with an unforgettable, shocking ending that stays with the reader forever, and is a work more relevant now than ever before, with democracy being at risk as it currently is.
Like the original novel, Fido Nesti's graphic novel interpretation is a masterpiece, retelling this powerful story in a way that is faithful, both in story and tone, to the original source material. The art is mostly pretty simple, almost cartoonish, and yet it is also incredibly inventive, with some panels bleeding into others in creative and ingenious ways, and some effects, like the fogginess of something in the background as seen through a dirty glass, being extremely well done.
When reading the original novel, I often thought of the world of the story as one colour: grey. This naturally occurs because of the oppressed nature of the society of the story. Oceania is constantly at war, constantly being bombed, constantly experiencing food shortages, people are mind-controlled, emotionless robots. It's a really depressing, bland, monochrome society, and that's the way I saw it in my head. Nesti does a good job of reproducing this. The graphic novel is in colour, but there are maybe only three or four colours used throughout this book: grey, black, white, and maybe orange in some places. That's it. It's a small thing, but the world of this story is mostly colourless and drab, and Nesti recreates that wonderfully.
There were a few things I didn't like. One was how Julia was drawn. Her lips were really big, protruding from her face, and it just looked really weird and incongruous with the rest of her face. Also her facial expressions themselves. She often had a pissed-off look on her face, even when it didn't really make any sense for her to bear such a look. Another thing I didn't like was that sometimes there would be dark grey portions of panels, and Nesti would put black text on those parts, which I found made some panels hard to read.
Overall, Fido Nesti has done an incredible job bringing George Orwell's 1984 to life. If you haven't read the original Orwell novel, I highly recommend you do so. I've read hundreds of novels across decades of reading, but I consider George Orwell's 1984 to be the greatest and most important novel ever written. And if you have read it, and are looking to experience it in a new light, do check out Fido Nesti's 1984: The Graphic Novel. It's an impressive achievement in its own right.
Highly recommended!
September 15, 2022
★★★★½
April 4th, 1984. This is where the story begins. A gloomy day of springtime where Mister Orwell takes us to the world of the dead; with machines waking up, working and going back to sleep, pretending to be humans. It’s a world of Totalitarianism; every single aspect of life is being controlled, seen and heard. Individualism is dead. Art and history do not exist and reality is simply a matter of opinion. Mister Orwell presents us with the world of three nations (Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia) in which the 20th century is one long tragedy. Humanity and moral principles are long decadent and the path of civilization and progression is entirely squandered. Referring to his time spent in Belgrade under Communist Rule, Lawrence Durrell wrote: “Reading 1984 in a Communist country is really an experience because you one can see it all around one.” Anyone living in an abnormal society in the 21st century, even for a while, can have a deeper understanding of what Mister Orwell tries to demonstrate; because as Mister Durrell said, it’s all around you and you can experience a slender shred of what the characters inside the book do.
Written in the late 1940s (1948) based on what he knew about the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, our story happens in Oceania, London (which is called Airstrip One) following the daily life of Winston Smith, our main character. Winston, 39 years old, is an employee of the Outer Party in the Record Department in the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue in Newspeak). Now, what this last sentence means, we’ll get into it in a minute! Winston is an indeterminate rebellion. He wonders whether life could possibly be different from the way it is; but how can he ever know when all the records of the past are changed and the history is rewritten? He is in a constant seeking of solitude, besides desiring love, companionship and freedom.
London in the story is a truly depressing, dilapidated place. Never enough to eat, and if there is any, the food is disgusting. Not enough clothes and necessary means of living, rocket bombs falling frequently over the city and exploding, leaving casualties no one cares about; and as mentioned before, the government is always watching people. “Big Brother Is Watching You.” Says the posters all over the city with a face of a moustachioed-man, supposedly the Big Brother himself, the leader of the government; waiting for you to wear an unpleasant expression on your face or say an unorthodox thing so that Thought Police come to get you. You can commit thoughtcrime, facecrime, sexcrime and so on. You have to save all your energy and emotions for the Party and in fact, it’s hard to even have time to think your own thoughts as they’re constantly filling your head with propaganda. Orwell represents some interesting yet twisted ideas like doublethink and Newspeak. The Party slogan is: War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.
As the Italian dictator, Mussolini, succinctly put it:
There are wars ongoing that no one knows what are they about. These perpetual wars seem to be the only relationship that abides among the nations. War is what runs this world. It’s what allows all three nations to survive. It’s a distraction, a constant overshadowing force Big Brother uses. What are they really fighting over? Resources? They have all the resources they need since they control so much territory. Power? No one can really overtake the other; this is already established. Then what? Nothing. They’re fighting over nothing. The equatorial front and polar front were never anybody’s territory. It’s simply a giant fighting arena where the economic waste from overloaded military build-up from all the countries is shipped to. Borders constantly shift countless soldiers died from the territory which nobody wants; the native people are enslaved and transferred between the three counties to work for the war machine which continues the cycle again. All the nations have nukes. They could easily destroy each other and invade Britain or Europe, but that disrupts everything. It destroys the balance of power and these heads of state like their power so they constantly fight over the jungle and desert to keep what they have to keep nationalistic forever up.
There are four ministries, he explains, that are associated with governing the nation.
1. Ministry of Truth, the enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete and 300 meters into the air with three thousand rooms above ground level, concerned itself with news, education and entertainment, that was said, but in fact, its main task was to rewrite history, so that it’d correspond with the present time and announce the news that was more likely to be false. What Winston does is edit the published newspapers in a way that Big Brother’s predictions are always retroactively correct. He also removed references to “unpersons”, or “vaporised” political dissidents and he rewrites history so that Oceania appears always to have been at war with Eastasia —or with Eurasia. It changes, depending on shifting allegiances.
2. Ministry of Peace concerned itself with war.
3. Ministry of Love, maintained law and order and was where torture and persecution would take place.
4. Ministry of Plenty was responsible for economical affairs —therefore, starvation.
There is a kind of duality shaped between the lines; whereas the past can be altered -or demolished- or not. The glass paperweight that Winston bought from the proles’ district symbolizes the past that can’t be altered by any force. On the other hand, the ending represents otherwise —after all. Winston attempts to make amends or reconnect with the past through the survived artefact; “It belongs to the vanished, romantic past.” The past, sure, is romantic and vanished. A deep longing rue, knocking on the aspiration of his heart. However, this magical tool of reviving the power the past holds is eventually destroyed by the Thought Police.
Where individualism is dead, there’s no intellectualism, no invention or creativity, therefore by eliminating the main elements of humanism, it will also extinguish with nothing left but shadows of animals pretending to be else wise.
The Three-Year Plan mentioned in the novel is principally similar to Stalin’s Five-year Plans, which was a process of increasing industrial production. However, it is doubtful if they actually ever expanded production. Giving a false sense of increasing the quality of life by announcing increasing the ration of food or certain items when they were actually decreased, they kept the population satisfied and oblivious to that and of course, celebrating the event.
Since the proles -the working class, in other words- are too uneducated to matter and easy to manipulate, the party only has to worry about its own stability to survive. Living in their own filthy and impoverished district, there are even not any telescreens among them, most of the houses and streets discharged of any tele-spies —since “they are animals and of no importance”, as been described by a Party member, numbering almost 85% of the population though. But, there’s hope... “if there is hope, it lies in the proles,” writes Winston in his diaries. They are the only ones, sufficient in number, who could rebel against the regime. However, the State does not care about what they think since they are unable of critical thought, and thus, unable to ever rebel. But they have the position of freedom (if you can call it that) to marry for love, work for family, have the privilege to live like a human. So they are somewhat more “free” than the rest, but too unintelligent to know that. We don’t blame them, though, for accepting the opposite of what is true. Their experiences have become so limited that they lack perspective and the language to differentiate between major concepts.
Only by making sure the population was loyal and too stupid to realize it, the real focus, therefore the pressure, is on the members of the Party itself —especially the Outer Party (the hands) controlled by the members of the Inner Party (the brains); who work for the Big Brother on the head.
In Stalinist Russia, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn noted that one could never be sure whether one’s neighbours, friends, coworkers, the postman, or even in some cases one’s own family, would report to the secret police a slip of the tongue, a criticism of Stalin or of Communism. For if one was reported their date was usually sealed: the police would knock at the door in the middle of the night and soon after one would be given the standard sentence of a “tenner” —that is, 10 years in the slave labour gulag prison camps. This form of surveillance created social conditions wherein most citizens adopted hypocrisy and lying as a way of life, or as Solzhenitsyn explains in the Gulag Archipelago:
Shortly after 1984 was published, Orwell explained:
Seems like Orwell himself was frightened by the ending his novel had, worrying for posterity and warning them to not pass by easily.
— THE REST OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS IMPORTANT SPOILERS —
After being deprived of all his morality by betraying Julia, in the very last chapter, Winston is totally surrendered to the party, losing his ability to love and his faith in his own humanity. He slips his days away by sitting in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, where political criminals gather and wait for their execution. He is psychologically broken, so he finally starts to think in Newspeak. He doesn’t feel the same towards himself or Julia anymore; nor does she. Winston whispers he loves big brother. And that, is the last state of self-regulating. He ceases to be an individual and becomes part of the collective mass of the cult, being proof of true power is power over human beings, over the body, but above all, over the mind —to the point that you believe, with your whole heart, that two plus two makes five.
The style of ending reminded me of the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.
The spontaneous end like some neo-noir suspense, is truly hunting, terrifying. They go more disturbing the more you think about it. It’s the destruction of “cogito, ergo sum” and resurrection of “Gott ist tot”. The hunting nightmare of the ending is benevolence to the literature. A gift of torture, black beauty.
April 4th, 1984. This is where the story begins. A gloomy day of springtime where Mister Orwell takes us to the world of the dead; with machines waking up, working and going back to sleep, pretending to be humans. It’s a world of Totalitarianism; every single aspect of life is being controlled, seen and heard. Individualism is dead. Art and history do not exist and reality is simply a matter of opinion. Mister Orwell presents us with the world of three nations (Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia) in which the 20th century is one long tragedy. Humanity and moral principles are long decadent and the path of civilization and progression is entirely squandered. Referring to his time spent in Belgrade under Communist Rule, Lawrence Durrell wrote: “Reading 1984 in a Communist country is really an experience because you one can see it all around one.” Anyone living in an abnormal society in the 21st century, even for a while, can have a deeper understanding of what Mister Orwell tries to demonstrate; because as Mister Durrell said, it’s all around you and you can experience a slender shred of what the characters inside the book do.
Written in the late 1940s (1948) based on what he knew about the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, our story happens in Oceania, London (which is called Airstrip One) following the daily life of Winston Smith, our main character. Winston, 39 years old, is an employee of the Outer Party in the Record Department in the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue in Newspeak). Now, what this last sentence means, we’ll get into it in a minute! Winston is an indeterminate rebellion. He wonders whether life could possibly be different from the way it is; but how can he ever know when all the records of the past are changed and the history is rewritten? He is in a constant seeking of solitude, besides desiring love, companionship and freedom.
London in the story is a truly depressing, dilapidated place. Never enough to eat, and if there is any, the food is disgusting. Not enough clothes and necessary means of living, rocket bombs falling frequently over the city and exploding, leaving casualties no one cares about; and as mentioned before, the government is always watching people. “Big Brother Is Watching You.” Says the posters all over the city with a face of a moustachioed-man, supposedly the Big Brother himself, the leader of the government; waiting for you to wear an unpleasant expression on your face or say an unorthodox thing so that Thought Police come to get you. You can commit thoughtcrime, facecrime, sexcrime and so on. You have to save all your energy and emotions for the Party and in fact, it’s hard to even have time to think your own thoughts as they’re constantly filling your head with propaganda. Orwell represents some interesting yet twisted ideas like doublethink and Newspeak. The Party slogan is: War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.
As the Italian dictator, Mussolini, succinctly put it:
“Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.”
There are wars ongoing that no one knows what are they about. These perpetual wars seem to be the only relationship that abides among the nations. War is what runs this world. It’s what allows all three nations to survive. It’s a distraction, a constant overshadowing force Big Brother uses. What are they really fighting over? Resources? They have all the resources they need since they control so much territory. Power? No one can really overtake the other; this is already established. Then what? Nothing. They’re fighting over nothing. The equatorial front and polar front were never anybody’s territory. It’s simply a giant fighting arena where the economic waste from overloaded military build-up from all the countries is shipped to. Borders constantly shift countless soldiers died from the territory which nobody wants; the native people are enslaved and transferred between the three counties to work for the war machine which continues the cycle again. All the nations have nukes. They could easily destroy each other and invade Britain or Europe, but that disrupts everything. It destroys the balance of power and these heads of state like their power so they constantly fight over the jungle and desert to keep what they have to keep nationalistic forever up.
"Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed - no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull."
There are four ministries, he explains, that are associated with governing the nation.
1. Ministry of Truth, the enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete and 300 meters into the air with three thousand rooms above ground level, concerned itself with news, education and entertainment, that was said, but in fact, its main task was to rewrite history, so that it’d correspond with the present time and announce the news that was more likely to be false. What Winston does is edit the published newspapers in a way that Big Brother’s predictions are always retroactively correct. He also removed references to “unpersons”, or “vaporised” political dissidents and he rewrites history so that Oceania appears always to have been at war with Eastasia —or with Eurasia. It changes, depending on shifting allegiances.
2. Ministry of Peace concerned itself with war.
3. Ministry of Love, maintained law and order and was where torture and persecution would take place.
4. Ministry of Plenty was responsible for economical affairs —therefore, starvation.
“Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime IS death.”
There is a kind of duality shaped between the lines; whereas the past can be altered -or demolished- or not. The glass paperweight that Winston bought from the proles’ district symbolizes the past that can’t be altered by any force. On the other hand, the ending represents otherwise —after all. Winston attempts to make amends or reconnect with the past through the survived artefact; “It belongs to the vanished, romantic past.” The past, sure, is romantic and vanished. A deep longing rue, knocking on the aspiration of his heart. However, this magical tool of reviving the power the past holds is eventually destroyed by the Thought Police.
Where individualism is dead, there’s no intellectualism, no invention or creativity, therefore by eliminating the main elements of humanism, it will also extinguish with nothing left but shadows of animals pretending to be else wise.
The Three-Year Plan mentioned in the novel is principally similar to Stalin’s Five-year Plans, which was a process of increasing industrial production. However, it is doubtful if they actually ever expanded production. Giving a false sense of increasing the quality of life by announcing increasing the ration of food or certain items when they were actually decreased, they kept the population satisfied and oblivious to that and of course, celebrating the event.
Since the proles -the working class, in other words- are too uneducated to matter and easy to manipulate, the party only has to worry about its own stability to survive. Living in their own filthy and impoverished district, there are even not any telescreens among them, most of the houses and streets discharged of any tele-spies —since “they are animals and of no importance”, as been described by a Party member, numbering almost 85% of the population though. But, there’s hope... “if there is hope, it lies in the proles,” writes Winston in his diaries. They are the only ones, sufficient in number, who could rebel against the regime. However, the State does not care about what they think since they are unable of critical thought, and thus, unable to ever rebel. But they have the position of freedom (if you can call it that) to marry for love, work for family, have the privilege to live like a human. So they are somewhat more “free” than the rest, but too unintelligent to know that. We don’t blame them, though, for accepting the opposite of what is true. Their experiences have become so limited that they lack perspective and the language to differentiate between major concepts.
Only by making sure the population was loyal and too stupid to realize it, the real focus, therefore the pressure, is on the members of the Party itself —especially the Outer Party (the hands) controlled by the members of the Inner Party (the brains); who work for the Big Brother on the head.
In Stalinist Russia, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn noted that one could never be sure whether one’s neighbours, friends, coworkers, the postman, or even in some cases one’s own family, would report to the secret police a slip of the tongue, a criticism of Stalin or of Communism. For if one was reported their date was usually sealed: the police would knock at the door in the middle of the night and soon after one would be given the standard sentence of a “tenner” —that is, 10 years in the slave labour gulag prison camps. This form of surveillance created social conditions wherein most citizens adopted hypocrisy and lying as a way of life, or as Solzhenitsyn explains in the Gulag Archipelago:
“The permanent lie becomes the only safe form of existence….Every wag of the tongue can be overheard by someone, every facial expression observed by someone. Therefore every word, if it does not have to be a direct lie, is nonetheless obliged not to contradict the general, common lie. There exists a collection of ready-made phrases, of labels, a selection of ready-made lies.”
Shortly after 1984 was published, Orwell explained:
“The moral to be drawn from this dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one. Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.”
Seems like Orwell himself was frightened by the ending his novel had, worrying for posterity and warning them to not pass by easily.
— THE REST OF THE REVIEW CONTAINS IMPORTANT SPOILERS —
After being deprived of all his morality by betraying Julia, in the very last chapter, Winston is totally surrendered to the party, losing his ability to love and his faith in his own humanity. He slips his days away by sitting in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, where political criminals gather and wait for their execution. He is psychologically broken, so he finally starts to think in Newspeak. He doesn’t feel the same towards himself or Julia anymore; nor does she. Winston whispers he loves big brother. And that, is the last state of self-regulating. He ceases to be an individual and becomes part of the collective mass of the cult, being proof of true power is power over human beings, over the body, but above all, over the mind —to the point that you believe, with your whole heart, that two plus two makes five.
“He could not fight against the Party any longer. Besides, the Party was in the right…It was merely a question of learning to think as they thought…The pencil felt thick and awkward in [Winston’s] fingers. He began to write down the thoughts that came into his head. He wrote first in large clumsy capitals: FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. Then almost without a pause he wrote beneath it: TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE…the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
The style of ending reminded me of the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.
“and then they were upon her.”
"He loved Big Brother."
The spontaneous end like some neo-noir suspense, is truly hunting, terrifying. They go more disturbing the more you think about it. It’s the destruction of “cogito, ergo sum” and resurrection of “Gott ist tot”. The hunting nightmare of the ending is benevolence to the literature. A gift of torture, black beauty.
January 7, 2025
Den Roman zur Graphic Novell las ich bereits , daher werde ich hierzu nicht mehr groß auf den Inhalt eingehen. Den meisten ist er sicherlich ohnehin schon bekannt ☺️.
Die Zeichnungen waren bedrückend, und in 2-3 Farbtönen gehalten. Zumeist wurden hier schwarz und rot verwandt. Manchmal auch beige.
Wenn es gewaltsam wurde, dann wurde dies mit der Farbe rot herausgestellt.
Ich mochte die Graphic Novell. Text und Illustrationen passten gut zusammen und waren passend gewählt. Die Eintönigkeit, die Tristheit und Hoffnungslosigkeit wurde durch die Zeichnungen besonders hervorgehoben. Aber ebenso die Gewalt und das Eingesperrt sein -sowohl in physischer als auch in psychischer Form - wurde in den Bildabfolgen super dargestellt.
Besonders deutlich wurde durch Kombination von Text und Bild der wortwörtliche Terror, mit dem Winston und seine Mitmenschen in 1984 “leben“ müssen……. Sehr gelungene Umsetzung des Klassikers.
Die Zeichnungen waren bedrückend, und in 2-3 Farbtönen gehalten. Zumeist wurden hier schwarz und rot verwandt. Manchmal auch beige.
Wenn es gewaltsam wurde, dann wurde dies mit der Farbe rot herausgestellt.
Ich mochte die Graphic Novell. Text und Illustrationen passten gut zusammen und waren passend gewählt. Die Eintönigkeit, die Tristheit und Hoffnungslosigkeit wurde durch die Zeichnungen besonders hervorgehoben. Aber ebenso die Gewalt und das Eingesperrt sein -sowohl in physischer als auch in psychischer Form - wurde in den Bildabfolgen super dargestellt.
Besonders deutlich wurde durch Kombination von Text und Bild der wortwörtliche Terror, mit dem Winston und seine Mitmenschen in 1984 “leben“ müssen……. Sehr gelungene Umsetzung des Klassikers.
November 14, 2021
1984 is one of those books that is stuffed full of important concepts but is so dreary and dull to read. This adaptation captures that perfectly, packing in all the important stuff through giant captions and 14 pages of straight text (talk about giving up!) and draping it all over drab art colored only in murky shades of gray and burnt orange. It's all so bleak, but necessary to revisit regularly.
Winston's government job of literally rewriting history does pair nicely with a book I read recently, The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia, that shows the results of Stalin executing his real and imagined enemies and having them scribbled, airbrushed, and cropped out of photos in the official archives.
Side note: This adaptation was originally published in Brazil with a translated text but has been republished in English drawing directly from Orwell's original text.
Winston's government job of literally rewriting history does pair nicely with a book I read recently, The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia, that shows the results of Stalin executing his real and imagined enemies and having them scribbled, airbrushed, and cropped out of photos in the official archives.
Side note: This adaptation was originally published in Brazil with a translated text but has been republished in English drawing directly from Orwell's original text.
September 23, 2021
Estoy a punto de terminar Cisnes salvajes y me ha impactado leerlos en paralelo y apreciar las similitudes de la tiranía de Mao con el mundo que se plantea en 1984, especialmente en lo referido a fomentar la incultura (“la ignorancia es la fuerza”) con la “Revolución cultural” que sucedió en China. Pone los pelos de punta.
Ojalá aprendamos de nuestros errores y la evolución nos lleve realmente a no caer de nuevo en ellos.
Ojalá aprendamos de nuestros errores y la evolución nos lleve realmente a no caer de nuevo en ellos.
August 6, 2025
Aug 4 ~~ Review asap.
Aug 6 ~~ When I ordered some Orwell titles recently I saw this one and had to have it, since I was doing a leisurely buddy read of 1984 and was curious about how the book would have been adapted to graphic novel form.
I went ahead and began reading this before I was completely finished with the original book. I wanted to have the story still flowing in my mind.
This adaptation is impressive. The text is sometimes taken word for word from Orwell's writing, and the artwork captures the grim mood of the book perfectly. Mostly everything is gray, black, or somewhere in between, with red used in a creepily effective way throughout. The rats nearly gave me nightmares.
Nesti includes the text from the book which Winston reads aloud in the novel; also Orwell's appendix that explains Newspeak. And even though by the time I got to the end of this book I knew the outcome, I was still gut punched by the final chapter. The formatting of the last drawing was incredibly effective.
This graphic novel helps a reader visualize and fear the world Orwell created. A world that seems even closer than it was in his day. I wonder how many of us will end up like Winston in this cowardly new world we are sliding into?
Aug 6 ~~ When I ordered some Orwell titles recently I saw this one and had to have it, since I was doing a leisurely buddy read of 1984 and was curious about how the book would have been adapted to graphic novel form.
I went ahead and began reading this before I was completely finished with the original book. I wanted to have the story still flowing in my mind.
This adaptation is impressive. The text is sometimes taken word for word from Orwell's writing, and the artwork captures the grim mood of the book perfectly. Mostly everything is gray, black, or somewhere in between, with red used in a creepily effective way throughout. The rats nearly gave me nightmares.
Nesti includes the text from the book which Winston reads aloud in the novel; also Orwell's appendix that explains Newspeak. And even though by the time I got to the end of this book I knew the outcome, I was still gut punched by the final chapter. The formatting of the last drawing was incredibly effective.
This graphic novel helps a reader visualize and fear the world Orwell created. A world that seems even closer than it was in his day. I wonder how many of us will end up like Winston in this cowardly new world we are sliding into?
October 30, 2020
Foi tão bom voltar a relembrar tudo!
September 18, 2021
Achei as ilustrações pertinentes e em sintonia com a história e, sendo esta uma quase releitura do romance (uma vez que o texto são trechos originais do livro de Orwell), gostei mais da experiência. Na primeira leitura, ou seja, a do romance, não consegui ultrapassar as dificuldades com a forma como a história é contada, pelo que desta vez isso não foi uma barreira. No entanto, não foi desta que fiquei fã, há qualquer coisa na narrativa do autor, e que nem o ilustrador consegue apagar, que me impede de conectar com a história e me leva a ganhar sono (literalmente). Portanto, reconheço a qualidade e a genialidade, uma história que ainda hoje é relevante e assustadora na sua probabilidade de se tornar real, mas não é das minhas distopias preferidas. Enquanto BD, nenhuma falha há a apontar, bem pelo contrário, a capacidade de manter o texto original é de louvar.
November 26, 2020
I’ve been wanting to read 1984 for years now, but haven’t picked it up yet... so I decided to try this version instead and... although the illustrations were on point, the story wasn't for me...
April 18, 2021
Si la obra original me parece genial, la novela gráfica lo ratifica. De 1984 ya está todo dicho, creo, y si me decidí por la novela gráfica es por pasárselo a un par de personas a las que con el texto original no hay forma, con dibujinos... veremos.
Muy buena adaptación, pero es que la base es muy buena.
Muy buena adaptación, pero es que la base es muy buena.
January 2, 2022
The graphic novel, a gift my older daughter gave to herself for Christmas, 2021.
Which she handed to me and said you can read it first. So I did.
I've read the original, twice, but this was interesting, to see the take a talented illustrator had on this horrible, yet great book. (How many books are both horrible and great?) The story of Winston, living in the dystopia-of-all-dystopias. Complete with Big Brother, the thought police and the total control of a population by an elite upper class. Or is it? I always wondered about the proles, the proletariat, the lowest classes of people and Winston's abiding faith that some day they will overturn the societal order...
But then you read to the end and think, well a sequel would certainly ruin everything, wouldn't it?
A classic. Probably one of many those in a certain southern state would rather their children not read? All I can say is good luck to that. From what I know and saw as a teacher, the quickest way to make a young person read something...
...is to say they can't.
Five stars.
Which she handed to me and said you can read it first. So I did.
I've read the original, twice, but this was interesting, to see the take a talented illustrator had on this horrible, yet great book. (How many books are both horrible and great?) The story of Winston, living in the dystopia-of-all-dystopias. Complete with Big Brother, the thought police and the total control of a population by an elite upper class. Or is it? I always wondered about the proles, the proletariat, the lowest classes of people and Winston's abiding faith that some day they will overturn the societal order...
But then you read to the end and think, well a sequel would certainly ruin everything, wouldn't it?
A classic. Probably one of many those in a certain southern state would rather their children not read? All I can say is good luck to that. From what I know and saw as a teacher, the quickest way to make a young person read something...
...is to say they can't.
Five stars.
October 30, 2021
Impresionante historia. Excelente adaptación.
June 22, 2024
من هنوز ۱۹۸۴ رو نخوندم. در واقع همیشه یه ترسی داشتم که برم سمتش. حس میکردم سختخوانه و قراره اذیتم کنه. این کتاب رو که دیدم بلافاصله شروعش کردم تا یهمقدار اون اجتناب رو از بین ببره و ذهنم رو برای خوندن نسخهی کاملش آماده کنه.
پ.ن: فکر نمیکردم داستان اینقدر به وضعیت امروزمون نزدیک باشه، غافلگیر شدم جدی :)))
پ.ن: فکر نمیکردم داستان اینقدر به وضعیت امروزمون نزدیک باشه، غافلگیر شدم جدی :)))
March 27, 2022
Pewnie wstyd się przyznać, ale nie czytałam jeszcze "Roku 1984". Zatem kiedy tylko zobaczyłam wersję tej historii w formie graficznej, wiedziałam, że muszę ją mieć. Wychodzę z założenia, iż pewne książki należy znać, a przynajmniej ich okrojoną wersję.
Czuję satysfakcję spowodowaną poznaniem orwellowskiej wizji świata, która przeraża, bo wydaje się dużo bardziej prawdopodobna niż jeszcze kilka lat wcześniej. Niemniej wiem już, że po książkę nie sięgnę, bo wszelkie geopolityczne wątki, których jest tu mnóstwo, są dla mnie dość przytłaczające i momentami nużące, więc nie przebrnęłabym przez nie w kilkusetstronicowej lekturze. W takich przypadkach dużo lepiej sprawdza się dla mnie powieść graficzna, ponieważ zawiera to, co najistotniejsze.
Co do samych walorów estetycznych - nie jest to najpiękniejsza kreska, jaką widziałam. Zdaję sobie sprawę z tego, iż dopasowana jest ona do treści, ale jest zbyt dusząco i mrocznie (niejednokrotnie musiałam mocno wysilać oczy, aby odczytać czarną czcionkę na ciemnoszarym tle), a postaci są tak podobni nakreślone, że niekiedy nie potrafiłam ich rozróżnić. Ponadto jest to komiks z dużą ilością tekstu, więc prawdopodobnie nie trafi do każdego.
Sama opowieść jest bardzo ważna i warta poznania, ale brnięcie przez nią było dość męczące.
Czuję satysfakcję spowodowaną poznaniem orwellowskiej wizji świata, która przeraża, bo wydaje się dużo bardziej prawdopodobna niż jeszcze kilka lat wcześniej. Niemniej wiem już, że po książkę nie sięgnę, bo wszelkie geopolityczne wątki, których jest tu mnóstwo, są dla mnie dość przytłaczające i momentami nużące, więc nie przebrnęłabym przez nie w kilkusetstronicowej lekturze. W takich przypadkach dużo lepiej sprawdza się dla mnie powieść graficzna, ponieważ zawiera to, co najistotniejsze.
Co do samych walorów estetycznych - nie jest to najpiękniejsza kreska, jaką widziałam. Zdaję sobie sprawę z tego, iż dopasowana jest ona do treści, ale jest zbyt dusząco i mrocznie (niejednokrotnie musiałam mocno wysilać oczy, aby odczytać czarną czcionkę na ciemnoszarym tle), a postaci są tak podobni nakreślone, że niekiedy nie potrafiłam ich rozróżnić. Ponadto jest to komiks z dużą ilością tekstu, więc prawdopodobnie nie trafi do każdego.
Sama opowieść jest bardzo ważna i warta poznania, ale brnięcie przez nią było dość męczące.
June 4, 2022
I wish the artworks would picture the phychological pressure on the people better🤦♀️
Some of my mental image were similar to the ones in this book...
Anywayyy, I like the original book more than this novel 🤷♀️
Some of my mental image were similar to the ones in this book...
Anywayyy, I like the original book more than this novel 🤷♀️
August 2, 2024
If anyone read this first you don't have to read the original unless you want more details at some point otherwise this one have everything you want to know about the book. The illustration is fantastic. But I suggest to read the original first then this one to have a good experience.
August 15, 2022
It's the 75th year of Independence for the world's largest democracy 'Happy Independence Day'; and Ironically I'm reading the graphical adaptation of 1984. The titular year has come and gone, and the world is moving towards more freedoms & progress. But in some ways you could say we have less freedom & progress. We are seemingly headed towards an amalgamation of 1984 7 Aldous Huxley's Brave New World; with some Fahrenheit 451 added to the mix.
Then again the ccp & the North Korean regime are still a thing, perfectly embodying the Orwellian themes of doublespeak, doublethink and 'Big Brother is always watching'. Which comprises of a fifth of the world populace under some totalitarian regime, so I suppose there is still ways for us to go.
Few others works have had such a profound effect on the collective psyche of mankind; and painted a plausible future, which is equal parts realistic and horrifying.
Even in this information age, or perhaps especially in the information age, Mass surveillance, invasion of privacy, indoctrination of the populace, information suppression, directing the national party, and absolute loyalty to the party are terms which are being thrown around in increased frequency. Sadly not just due to media hype, and because there is a kernel of truth behind them.
The only consolation we have is that, unlike INGSOC, the totalitarian regimes of today, still have to skulk in the shadows and at least pretend to present a veneer of legitimacy, lest they be condemned by the majority. Still sucks for their own populace as well as the ethnic & political minorities which they have oppressed. But, be grateful for small favors I suppose.
_____________________
Onto the book itself; 1984 is written to be dreary, depressing and mind numbing read, by design. Life under the watchful eyes of Big Brother is not a pleasant thing. It's a world of war, scarcity, lies, deceit where every aspect of life of controlled. Even the few scant inches of space inside your noggin is not free from interference from the man.
Your life is worthless, forfeit, crushed. You are the dead; and the only future you can look forwards to is the underside of das boot, forever crushing down on your head.
But hope springs anew, even in the most barren land. Even if your existence is written of, you can hold hope; for the future generations. Who, in time might develop enough ideological and emotional critical mass to break the shackles of tyranny and establish a better world.
And at the end of the day, hope is all that you are entitled to possess; everything else, belongs to the party.
_________________________
About this edition:
Fido Nesti has faithfully adapted the oppressive, hopeless feeling which was generated by the Book. The visuals are simple, but hauntingly beautiful, possessing a rustic, psychedelic quality, and giving you the ever pervading feeling of the walls closing in on you.
There is a stunning use of blacks, greys & red, with lot of pastel like soot & dust particles sprinkled around, to give the feeling of broken down dilapidation & decay. Having spent a good portion of the book inside Winston's mind we are treated to all manner of dreamscapes and torture induced hallucinagenic visions, all of which all to the depressive hopelessness of the character's predicament.
They also communicate on point, the ever pervasive mass surveillance and mass indoctrination which makes Big Brother & INGSOC such a terror to be beholden to. I happened to see a physical copy at a bookstore near me; the price tag is steep, but I'm considering buying it. Great work Mr. Nesti.
Then again the ccp & the North Korean regime are still a thing, perfectly embodying the Orwellian themes of doublespeak, doublethink and 'Big Brother is always watching'. Which comprises of a fifth of the world populace under some totalitarian regime, so I suppose there is still ways for us to go.
Few others works have had such a profound effect on the collective psyche of mankind; and painted a plausible future, which is equal parts realistic and horrifying.
Even in this information age, or perhaps especially in the information age, Mass surveillance, invasion of privacy, indoctrination of the populace, information suppression, directing the national party, and absolute loyalty to the party are terms which are being thrown around in increased frequency. Sadly not just due to media hype, and because there is a kernel of truth behind them.
The only consolation we have is that, unlike INGSOC, the totalitarian regimes of today, still have to skulk in the shadows and at least pretend to present a veneer of legitimacy, lest they be condemned by the majority. Still sucks for their own populace as well as the ethnic & political minorities which they have oppressed. But, be grateful for small favors I suppose.
_____________________
Onto the book itself; 1984 is written to be dreary, depressing and mind numbing read, by design. Life under the watchful eyes of Big Brother is not a pleasant thing. It's a world of war, scarcity, lies, deceit where every aspect of life of controlled. Even the few scant inches of space inside your noggin is not free from interference from the man.
Your life is worthless, forfeit, crushed. You are the dead; and the only future you can look forwards to is the underside of das boot, forever crushing down on your head.
But hope springs anew, even in the most barren land. Even if your existence is written of, you can hold hope; for the future generations. Who, in time might develop enough ideological and emotional critical mass to break the shackles of tyranny and establish a better world.
And at the end of the day, hope is all that you are entitled to possess; everything else, belongs to the party.
_________________________
About this edition:
Fido Nesti has faithfully adapted the oppressive, hopeless feeling which was generated by the Book. The visuals are simple, but hauntingly beautiful, possessing a rustic, psychedelic quality, and giving you the ever pervading feeling of the walls closing in on you.
There is a stunning use of blacks, greys & red, with lot of pastel like soot & dust particles sprinkled around, to give the feeling of broken down dilapidation & decay. Having spent a good portion of the book inside Winston's mind we are treated to all manner of dreamscapes and torture induced hallucinagenic visions, all of which all to the depressive hopelessness of the character's predicament.
They also communicate on point, the ever pervasive mass surveillance and mass indoctrination which makes Big Brother & INGSOC such a terror to be beholden to. I happened to see a physical copy at a bookstore near me; the price tag is steep, but I'm considering buying it. Great work Mr. Nesti.
September 30, 2024
una lectura sensacional, tremendamente imaginativa y avanzada a su tiempo y, a su vez, asombrosamente parecida a la realidad. todas las premisas políticas y sociales que se plantean se podrían resumir en una sola: la suma importancia del control de la información.
para mí la guinda del pastel ha sido la exploración del concepto de la manipulación —de la información, de la población, de la realidad— a través del lenguaje; la nuevalengua es la epítome de la censura, dando voz a una cantidad estrictamente necesaria de palabras (limitando así el conocimiento y la capacidad para tomar consciencia) y borrando del diccionario y de la historia, como si nunca hubieran existido, aquellos términos que puedan perturbar la estabilidad de la sociedad de clases. ¿cómo se puede estar en guerra si no se conoce el concepto de «paz»?
sencillamente brutal. 100 % leeré la obra original
para mí la guinda del pastel ha sido la exploración del concepto de la manipulación —de la información, de la población, de la realidad— a través del lenguaje; la nuevalengua es la epítome de la censura, dando voz a una cantidad estrictamente necesaria de palabras (limitando así el conocimiento y la capacidad para tomar consciencia) y borrando del diccionario y de la historia, como si nunca hubieran existido, aquellos términos que puedan perturbar la estabilidad de la sociedad de clases. ¿cómo se puede estar en guerra si no se conoce el concepto de «paz»?
sencillamente brutal. 100 % leeré la obra original
November 24, 2024
Paņēmu no bibliotēkas, lai pašķirstītu un paskatītos uz bildēm, jo tikko piebeidzu Dž. Orvela orģinālo 1984, bet beigās tomēr izlasīju visu šo grāmatu.
Daudzas lietas no orģinālās grāmatas bija izņemtas, līdz ar to šī bija kā tāds konspekts no orģinālās 1984. Ilustrācijas ir fantastiskas, krāsu sajaukums ar pelēko un sarkano, paspilgtina depresīvo un bezcerīgo noskaņu visā darbā.
Daudzas lietas no orģinālās grāmatas bija izņemtas, līdz ar to šī bija kā tāds konspekts no orģinālās 1984. Ilustrācijas ir fantastiskas, krāsu sajaukums ar pelēko un sarkano, paspilgtina depresīvo un bezcerīgo noskaņu visā darbā.
January 28, 2024
Excelente adaptação para BD do clássico 1984 de George Orwell. Fido Nesti capta na perfeição o espírito perturbador desta distopia. Gostei muito!
October 27, 2023
I read 1984, the original George Orwell novel, twice: once in 2010 and again in 2017 as we were preparing to film our Literary Gladiators discussion about it during our 6th season. Charlie brought the graphic novel to my attention and nominated it for our channel's Roundtable Read. It won the main vote and became the graphic text that we would read and either review or discuss. Here is my written review, where as the video review will be released with the other contributors.
The story is the same as the original book and adapted very faithfully, which I appreciate. 1984 is set in a dystopian society that reflects the direction that the Soviet Union was heading in the late 1940s in what is known as "Oceania." Stalin's Soviet Union is applied to the United Kingdom, as the world has become tyrannical and overseen by a figure known as Big Brother, meant to reflect Stalin himself. The central character is Winston Smith, who works for the Records Department in the Ministry of Truth, which is Newspeak is known as "Minitrue." In this society, the authorities control everything and everyone is expected to do as their told. If they are obedient, it is going to be a lovely society and a great state of mind from their perspective, but we all know that this is a dystopian society that no one in their right mind wants to live. This is a society where wars are declared and are revered and hanging traitors is viewed as an event as prominent as The Super Bowl or The World Cup. George Orwell made this a terrible world for a reason!
Anyhow, Winston Smith connects with a female from the Fiction Department named Julia in a way that we may view as strange, but this society is abnormal. They join the Brotherhood that revolts against the tyrannical establishment, but we soon learn what happens when residents of this society go against this tyrannical establishment and what the ultimately punishment happens to be.
1984: The Graphic Novel does do the book justice in how it makes understanding the original text easier. However, the graphic novel should not be a substitute for reading the original book. This is arguably the most haunting dystopian novel for this day and age and should be viewed as a warning about what we can do to prevent this catastrophe rather than a forecast about what is to come. I felt the illustration was pretty good. It does fit the tone, but sometimes did not tackle the complexities of what it was trying to explain. I felt the Emmanuel Goldstein's book could have been illustrated a bit better, while I felt Big Brother should have looked a bit more intimidating, just as Stalin wanted to come off. Goldstein's appearance is clearly reflective of Leon Trotsky.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to read the graphic novel edition of this book, adapted and illustrated by Fido Nesti using the George Orwell storyline.
The story is the same as the original book and adapted very faithfully, which I appreciate. 1984 is set in a dystopian society that reflects the direction that the Soviet Union was heading in the late 1940s in what is known as "Oceania." Stalin's Soviet Union is applied to the United Kingdom, as the world has become tyrannical and overseen by a figure known as Big Brother, meant to reflect Stalin himself. The central character is Winston Smith, who works for the Records Department in the Ministry of Truth, which is Newspeak is known as "Minitrue." In this society, the authorities control everything and everyone is expected to do as their told. If they are obedient, it is going to be a lovely society and a great state of mind from their perspective, but we all know that this is a dystopian society that no one in their right mind wants to live. This is a society where wars are declared and are revered and hanging traitors is viewed as an event as prominent as The Super Bowl or The World Cup. George Orwell made this a terrible world for a reason!
Anyhow, Winston Smith connects with a female from the Fiction Department named Julia in a way that we may view as strange, but this society is abnormal. They join the Brotherhood that revolts against the tyrannical establishment, but we soon learn what happens when residents of this society go against this tyrannical establishment and what the ultimately punishment happens to be.
1984: The Graphic Novel does do the book justice in how it makes understanding the original text easier. However, the graphic novel should not be a substitute for reading the original book. This is arguably the most haunting dystopian novel for this day and age and should be viewed as a warning about what we can do to prevent this catastrophe rather than a forecast about what is to come. I felt the illustration was pretty good. It does fit the tone, but sometimes did not tackle the complexities of what it was trying to explain. I felt the Emmanuel Goldstein's book could have been illustrated a bit better, while I felt Big Brother should have looked a bit more intimidating, just as Stalin wanted to come off. Goldstein's appearance is clearly reflective of Leon Trotsky.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to read the graphic novel edition of this book, adapted and illustrated by Fido Nesti using the George Orwell storyline.
April 8, 2021
Excelente adaptación a novela gráfica de la obra cumbre de George Orwell, pseudónimo del escritor Eric A. Blair.
Hacía tiempo que había leído esta distopía, con unos veintipocos años, junto a la de Aldous Huxley, "Un mundo feliz".
Tocaba volver a leerla, pero en otro formato y en una nueva edición, con dibujos del artista autodidacta Fido Nesti.
Entre lo que olvidé (el ambiente deprimente del Londres de 1984, la nuevalengua y el término Socing), encontré pasajes y términos que todavía recordaba: el concepto de Hermano Mayor (Gran Hermano en la actualidad); el libro de la hermandad cuyos títulos son los lemas del partido, "la guerra es paz, la libertad es esclavitud, la ignorancia es fuerza" (que yo estaba convencida que era más como "la ignorancia es el poder"); el prota que tiene la certeza de que los proletarios se rebelarán en un futuro contra el partido se me quedó grabado a fuego desde la primera lectura, así como la escena de la tortura con ratas, o el reencuentro del protagonista con su antigua amante.
La verdad que de mi lectura conjunta distópica Orwell-Huxley, creía que no dejaba tanto poso de desesperanza Orwell, y sí más Huxley, pero releído el primero desde luego no lo calificaría de una lectura optimista y agradable, aunque sí muy instructiva, pues te muestra cómo se sustenta un régimen totalitario, y lo que se cuece dentro de éste.
Ahora tengo ganas de releer "Un mundo feliz". Para ello me hice con una nueva edición de la colección Letras populares de Cátedra, con una estupenda introducción de 165 páginas a cargo del traductor de la antología poética de Huxley, Jesús Isaías Gómez López.
Sin embargo, primero me terminaré esa otra distopía de Ray Bradbury, "Fahrenheit 451", que publicó el mes pasado Reservoir Books con ilustraciones bien originales de figuras geométricas de la catalana María Corte.
Ains, tanto por leer y tan poco tiempo... Suerte que solo trabajo 37'5 horas a la semana y no las 60 horas que hace el protagonista de "1984" en el Ministerio de la Verdad. Al menos yo sí tengo mis mañanas y findes libres. De hecho, afortunadamente, lo único que tengo en común con Winston Smith es la edad: 39.
Hacía tiempo que había leído esta distopía, con unos veintipocos años, junto a la de Aldous Huxley, "Un mundo feliz".
Tocaba volver a leerla, pero en otro formato y en una nueva edición, con dibujos del artista autodidacta Fido Nesti.
Entre lo que olvidé (el ambiente deprimente del Londres de 1984, la nuevalengua y el término Socing), encontré pasajes y términos que todavía recordaba: el concepto de Hermano Mayor (Gran Hermano en la actualidad); el libro de la hermandad cuyos títulos son los lemas del partido, "la guerra es paz, la libertad es esclavitud, la ignorancia es fuerza" (que yo estaba convencida que era más como "la ignorancia es el poder"); el prota que tiene la certeza de que los proletarios se rebelarán en un futuro contra el partido se me quedó grabado a fuego desde la primera lectura, así como la escena de la tortura con ratas, o el reencuentro del protagonista con su antigua amante.
La verdad que de mi lectura conjunta distópica Orwell-Huxley, creía que no dejaba tanto poso de desesperanza Orwell, y sí más Huxley, pero releído el primero desde luego no lo calificaría de una lectura optimista y agradable, aunque sí muy instructiva, pues te muestra cómo se sustenta un régimen totalitario, y lo que se cuece dentro de éste.
Ahora tengo ganas de releer "Un mundo feliz". Para ello me hice con una nueva edición de la colección Letras populares de Cátedra, con una estupenda introducción de 165 páginas a cargo del traductor de la antología poética de Huxley, Jesús Isaías Gómez López.
Sin embargo, primero me terminaré esa otra distopía de Ray Bradbury, "Fahrenheit 451", que publicó el mes pasado Reservoir Books con ilustraciones bien originales de figuras geométricas de la catalana María Corte.
Ains, tanto por leer y tan poco tiempo... Suerte que solo trabajo 37'5 horas a la semana y no las 60 horas que hace el protagonista de "1984" en el Ministerio de la Verdad. Al menos yo sí tengo mis mañanas y findes libres. De hecho, afortunadamente, lo único que tengo en común con Winston Smith es la edad: 39.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2020
Winston Smith mieszka w Oceanii. W kraju zniewolonym, w którym swoboda myśli jest przestępstwem, kłamstwo jedyną prawdą, a wojna czymś normlanym. Winston nie zawsze myśli tak, jak tego od niego oczekują - popełnia myślozbrodnie - tym samym skazując się na śmierć. Kolejnym przestępstwem jest zakochanie się w Julii. Podejmuje walkę z systemem i obecną władzą. A Wielki Brat cały czas patrzy.
Powieść stworzona w 1949 roku jest jedną z najważniejszych i najbardziej aktualnych historii. Jest przerażająca i prawdziwa. Przerażająco prawdziwa. Ta dystopijna opowieść do bólu trafiła w to, co się dzieje, działo i prawdopodobnie będzie się dziać, już po jej wydaniu.
Lektura obowiązkowa dla każdego, bez wyjątku.
Teraz dzięki wydawnictwu Jaguar możecie przeczytać ją w formie powieści graficznej. Przez to jest jeszcze bardziej dosadna, trafia do czytelnika i oddaje niesamowicie jej mroczny klimat . Rysunki oprócz tego, że straszne, są również pięknie narysowane. Jednak mimo tego wcale nie czytało mi się jej szybko. Była po prostu zbyt ciężka, poważna i straszna, żeby przeczytać ją na raz.
Rok 1984 to moja pierwsza powieść graficzna. I na pewno nie ostatnia.
Niestety nie czytałam jeszcze oryginału, ale po jej przeczytaniu wiem, że koniecznie muszę to nadrobić.
Powieść stworzona w 1949 roku jest jedną z najważniejszych i najbardziej aktualnych historii. Jest przerażająca i prawdziwa. Przerażająco prawdziwa. Ta dystopijna opowieść do bólu trafiła w to, co się dzieje, działo i prawdopodobnie będzie się dziać, już po jej wydaniu.
Lektura obowiązkowa dla każdego, bez wyjątku.
Teraz dzięki wydawnictwu Jaguar możecie przeczytać ją w formie powieści graficznej. Przez to jest jeszcze bardziej dosadna, trafia do czytelnika i oddaje niesamowicie jej mroczny klimat . Rysunki oprócz tego, że straszne, są również pięknie narysowane. Jednak mimo tego wcale nie czytało mi się jej szybko. Była po prostu zbyt ciężka, poważna i straszna, żeby przeczytać ją na raz.
Rok 1984 to moja pierwsza powieść graficzna. I na pewno nie ostatnia.
Niestety nie czytałam jeszcze oryginału, ale po jej przeczytaniu wiem, że koniecznie muszę to nadrobić.
April 16, 2021
Myśle, że każdy z nas w swoim życiu słyszał o książce Orwell’a „Rok 1984”. Uważam też że w życiu każdego z nas musi nadejść moment w którym sami zapoznamy się z tą historia.
Powieść graficzna która dane było mi przeczytać niesamowicie oddaje klimat i charakter książki. Dzięki niej możemy jeszcze bardziej rozwinąć swoją wyobraźnie i za pomocą niesamowitej grafiki jeszcze lepiej ułożyć obraz tej historii w naszej głowie. Uważam również, że jeśli ktoś chciałby poznać tą opowieść ale nie czytać całej książki to powieść graficzna da nam naprawdę wiele i śmiało można ja przeczytać wcześniej.
„Rok 1984” chwyta każdego czytelnika i pozostawia go z ogromnymi refleksjami na temat świata. Naprawdę jest to tzw. „must have” każdego czytelnika i zachęcam do czytania.
Powieść graficzna która dane było mi przeczytać niesamowicie oddaje klimat i charakter książki. Dzięki niej możemy jeszcze bardziej rozwinąć swoją wyobraźnie i za pomocą niesamowitej grafiki jeszcze lepiej ułożyć obraz tej historii w naszej głowie. Uważam również, że jeśli ktoś chciałby poznać tą opowieść ale nie czytać całej książki to powieść graficzna da nam naprawdę wiele i śmiało można ja przeczytać wcześniej.
„Rok 1984” chwyta każdego czytelnika i pozostawia go z ogromnymi refleksjami na temat świata. Naprawdę jest to tzw. „must have” każdego czytelnika i zachęcam do czytania.
April 12, 2024
Boa adaptação gráfica do romance de George Orwell. Li 1984 há já bastante tempo, por isso foi bom recordar. Esta é a história de como um Estado totalitário que pela manutenção do poder, consegue alienar os indivíduos que o compõem, destroçando o seu pensamento.
October 21, 2024
Já li o "1984" há quase 20 anos e na altura marcou-me profundamente, de tal forma que continua a ser um dos meus favoritos da vida. Nunca o reli, e por isso achei que pegar nesta novela gráfica seria uma boa ideia, quiçá para lançar uma hipotética releitura.
Toda a novela gráfica é pintada em tons de cinzento, castanho e vermelho, o que ajuda a acentuar o caráter opressivo da história, tal como o aspeto feio e desconsolado das figuras humanas, mas acaba aí o espírito da história transmitido através das imagens. Porque acompanhamos o enredo através das palavras de Orwell, aqui incluídas de forma demasiado exaustiva, na minha opinião. Espero de uma novela gráfica mais imagens que palavras, e tratando-se de uma adaptação que seja uma nova forma de trazer a história até mim. Na maior parte do tempo, senti que a forma era a mesma.
Toda a novela gráfica é pintada em tons de cinzento, castanho e vermelho, o que ajuda a acentuar o caráter opressivo da história, tal como o aspeto feio e desconsolado das figuras humanas, mas acaba aí o espírito da história transmitido através das imagens. Porque acompanhamos o enredo através das palavras de Orwell, aqui incluídas de forma demasiado exaustiva, na minha opinião. Espero de uma novela gráfica mais imagens que palavras, e tratando-se de uma adaptação que seja uma nova forma de trazer a história até mim. Na maior parte do tempo, senti que a forma era a mesma.
October 6, 2020
„Rok 1984” w wersji powieści graficznej mogę z czystym sumieniem polecić tym, którzy znają już historię, a także tym, którzy dopiero mają zamiar się z nią zapoznać. Kreska idealnie i wiernie oddaje klimat tej powieści. Jest to imponująca, przerażająca i szokująca opowieść o utracie wartości, dostępu do prawdy i niezależności. W trakcie czytania tej powieści graficznej towarzyszyły mi takie same emocje, w tym ogromne poczucie niepokoju, jak podczas czytania książki w normalnej formie. Fido Nesti świetnie wykonał swoje zadanie i myślę, że nawet wielcy fani powieści nie będą rozczarowani. Jest to znakomity komiks i szczerze przyznaje, że nie mogłabym wyobrazić sobie lepszej adaptacji.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 963 reviews