Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
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Book Reviews of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Book Review: Yes, do read this 1948 book
Summary: 5 Stars
A confession from this reviewer: 1984 was first read in the early 1960s as a high school junior. Too young to really catch on. The readers of this review can be assured, though, that 1984 got just re-read before recommending now.
This personal sequence turned out to be a good and lucky order of things. Reading 1984 as an older teen served as a good "memory bookmark" for the work about how wildly different was the storyline, especially having been written in the late 1940s. Reading it again much later let the whole ugliness of the theme sink in. Thus the realization grew during the years from awe ("cool"?), through bleak horror, to appreciation of the comprehensiveness of its scientific terror or at least the understanding thereof.
The "naughty" parts of 1984 - the reader will be on his/her own finding these - are few and rather tame by today's averages. The truly overwhelming and blunt description of the terror-managed society-continent of Oceania (along with its equal counterparts, Eurasia and Eastasia) creates a fascination which is hard to stop reading about. Part II describes how Oceania (and the other two) came about in the 50s and 60s and its development, told ingeniously through a "smuggled" anti-Oceania revolutionary handbook. The reader will not be able to put the book down here, nor fall asleep during its reading as did Julia, the main girlfriend in the book. Part III takes the reader through the imprisonment and interrogation of Winston Smith, the main character and victim. Further description here will only serve to ruin the story. The reader will almost certainly be infuriated at various places! Yes, the very recent - 1st half 2010 - unfortunate remark by a US government executive about a "boot on the neck" of a certain oil company will find the phrase said much earlier by Winston Smith's interrogator, "... imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever." In the paperback version, page 267.
The reader will find little problem coming up with possible flaws with the functioning of Oceania. Some events and outcomes may not look likely. These do not matter. The governing "inner party," a sharply-defined and merit-selected upper 2% of society, formed the most illiberal government imaginable, with the future destined to become more repressive even as the resistance becomes weaker, and stretching out forever. Further, this inner party had to believe in the party philosophy more rabidly, more thoroughly than the other 98% in order to remain in power. You will finish the book and ponder!
Book Review: A review from the classroom of Mr. Jolley
Summary: 5 Stars
Step into a time not too far into the future-a time of hatred, lies, pain, conformity, and secrets. Let this new and horrifying reality encompass and draw in your imagination. This is no ordinary story. There are no heroes, no friends, or family. Only power, enemies, and fading hope exist. War is a continuous part of life. It never ends and never changes. The past can, even, be changed or erased. They call it a perfect world. "It's never been this good," they say. No one objects. No one ever rebels, or at least, those that do are never heard of again. They just disappear. They are wiped out of existence and forgotten. Don't dare think of rebellion, for eyes and ears are always watching and listening. They are waiting for you to make a mistake and give yourself away. The smallest blink of an eye or twitch of a muscle could make you a suspect of a thought crime. Yet, there are rumors of a group of rebels that still fight back. Is it only false hope, or do they really exist? There is no way of knowing. No one can be certain of anything here. Just do and believe what you are told. It is the only way to stay alive. This depiction of the future is revealed in George Orwell's shocking novel, 1984. The book is about an ordinary man named Winston Smith who is lost in the twisted world in which he lives. Nothing is extraordinary about him. He follows the rules and never questions his instructions. Yet, something inside him begins to stir. Deep within the hollows of his mind, it awakes. It haunts his every move, thought, and dream. The yearnings become too much for him, and he can no longer ignore them. Determination, soon, overcomes fear, and he decides to pursue the insane desires. However, one cannot forget that there are always sacrifices to be made in return for decisions. The question is whether or not you are willing to make them. This is what Winston must face. Will he discover what is calling him, or will he turn away in fear? Will he return to the conformity, hatred, and lies of the world? Well, that is for you to discover.
Orwell's amazing novel is thought-provoking and terrifying. This book is definitely worth your time. From the very first word to the very last words of the book, your imagination is captured and inspired. Powerful imagery and symbols give unmistakable meaning to the story. The effects of this book still stay with you long after the book is read. If the chance is ever given, take the opportunity to get lost in Orwell's breathtaking novel.
Book Review: Fiction or Prophecy?
Summary: 5 Stars
Winston Smith, member of the Outer Party, a small, petty cog in the great machination of "Big Brother", tries to step out from the shadow of his life in George Orwell's now masterpiece, "1984". Written over 50 years ago, this book was to serve several purposes, one being a warning to the present that a future like this, however fantastic and unbelievable, could be in the making should we allow for it to happen. Winston leads the dull life of a worker, not encouraged to think, or dream, for feel for himself. His whole life must be driven to support the Party, which promulgates an apparent non-entity Big Brother as the supreme one. Winston early on shows the spark of individuality that the Party so wants to extinguish; by daring to write a journal on his own, he seals his fate early in the story. Soon he meets Julia, another worker, who charms and dares him even further to enocurage having an affair. Together they make a lethal pair, and some lethal decisions, which leads to the great climax in the Ministry of Love.
What lies in the story is an amazing prophecy of government gone mad. The Party believes in creating present truths by writing and rewriting the past on its whim. The Party understands in order to control the people, it must control the language, thereby, creating "Newspeak". The Party makes people simply vanish, eradicating them from existance. The Party realizes the people who follow are merely plebians in society, and therefore, should be encouraged to not think for themselves. In fact, the Party is able to directly lie to the people, using "doublethink", where they say one thing but mean the other.
How much of Orwell's nightmare is something that can be true today? Do we have a government out of control, one that manipulates information for its own benefit, to justify war, ensure fear and terror reigns over the country; one that illegally detains people without trial, right to counsel, or even being charged with a crime; one that wants to extensively monitor our personal phone calls, e-mails, the books we check out of the library, the things we buy in stores. The dots are there to connect them; the challenge is, will you dare to do it, like Winston Smith dared?
I believe 1984 is ultimately a hopeful book. Orwell wants to challenge humanity, that during times of crisis, we are able to rise up and change things, so the fateful prophecy so nobly and horrifyingly espoused in 1984 , will only stay between the covers of the book. The choice is up to us.
Book Review: Apocalypse Now and Then
Summary: 5 Stars
"1984"--or "Nineteen Eighty-Four" in the Oldspeak--is one of those books prophecizing doom that has remained relevant enough to generate a famous Macintosh commercial, a "Simpsons" parody, and a reality television series named for it among other things. What allows "1984" to remain in our consciousness and not a relic of the post-World War II, Cold War, Atomic Age era is that like the book of Revelations, "1984"'s dire predictions can be adapted for each new generation.
"1984"'s epic battle of good versus evil doesn't take place on any plain of Armageddon, but rather within the mind of one man: Winston Smith. Winston is a 39-year-old man who works for the Party at the Ministry of Truth, which has an ironic name because Winston's job is actually to doctor reality so that the Party always appears infallible. Winston sees that while the Party, under the leadership of Big Brother, claims surpluses of everything, no one can buy simple items like razor blades or shoelaces. As he becomes disillusioned by the Party's rule, he and a young woman named Julia begin a torrid secret affair. Then he is contacted by a man high up in the Party named O'Brien who works for a resistance group known as the Brotherhood. But before he can help the Brotherhood, Winston is betrayed, arrested, and taken to the dungeons of the Ministry of Love, where he endures physical and psychological torment that threatens to break him and strip him of all humanity.
As it is written, Big Brother and his Party would seem to represent the fascist or Communist movements of the 1940s. Taken literally it would be easy to dismiss the book as an archaic remnant of Cold War hysteria. But the beauty of "1984" is that because it focuses on the internal struggle for Winston Smith's soul, it can transcend all that. For the warning in "1984" isn't about communism or fascism, but the threat of letting anyone crush the human spirit through overbearing dogma.
Much like faithful Christians of every generation have painted everyone from the Pope to Hitler as the Antichrist, every generation looks for its Big Brother. From communists to corporations to churches, individual readers can read "1984" and make their own interpretations of who or what Big Brother and the Party represent. But no matter how each of us sees it, the general warning should be clear: the human spirit is our most precious possession and must be retained at all costs.
That is all.
Book Review: ironically assigned reading in many public schools
Summary: 5 Stars
1984 is extremely influential on the way we as a society label each other and our government with names such as "Big Brother" Orwellian and such. These names like calling someone a Nazi allow us to appear to argue but actually allow us to dodge the real issues. This is fairly ironic considering the origin of such terms. Basically 1984 is set in London in the distopian future. Orwell wrote it in response to Stalin's corrupting the ideals of Socialism. He was a socialist and so was really bothered by that failure.
The plot to 1984 isn't so important as the setting. Basically the story follows Winston Smith. Smith harbors less than perfect views of his environment, for which he will one day be arrested regardless of his actions. Not loving the government (thought crime) is the only crime that is recognized. Hidden cameras and microphones are omnipresent in the city, included mandatory TVs which can't be turned off, only show a single government station and contain hidden cameras through which "thought police" may monitor what is in front of the TV at any time. Social interaction doesn't exist, since that would be considered weird and therefore criminal.
There are three classes of people in London: Inner Party members, Party members like Winston and the proletariate, who aren't watched so closely because they aren't considered human. In this world Winston goes from merely not liking the government to engaging in unusual behavior. He starts by buying decorative antiques at a proletariate shop and progresses to having a girl friend, who he can only meet with in remote country side settings on account of social interaction is not allowed by the government. It is obvious to him that he will one day be taken to the Ministry of Love, a windowless building which handles law enforcement, and never fails at getting thought criminals to love the government.
The novel is always dark. No happy beginning, no happy middle and no happy ending. Still it is important to read it before throwing around terms like "Orwellian" It has been so influential on society that it is required reading - if you want to pass your tenth grade English. Failing to read is a sign of insurgence against the government.