1984 (Signet Classics)

This is the classic and the mould of the dystopian narrative. Clearly written to explore the plausibility of what would happen if the technocratic regime of the socialist state was allowed to take its course, it stretches beyond this very palpable social critique. The final part is the most disturbing and harrowing as one can almost feel Winston's physical and psychological torment in a world that forbids love and legitimates peace through fear.

I am amazed that this was written so long ago since these drives in social order seem so shockingly prevalent and the spectre of war as a lever to condition responses from the masses is clearly a vehicle even in the US. It does slowdown in the middle with the very transparent political commentary wrought by Goldstein's manual. Yet the impact of what abuse and harnessing of technical, psychological, social, and political power punches hard at the end.

I did not personally choose to read 1984 and at first had I no interest whatsoever, however that quickly changed when I got past the peculiar lingo of "newspeak" (annoyed me that I had to keep jumping to the back of the book for the meanings). Orwell intrigued me with his descriptive writing and caused me to hang on his every word as Wilson Smith, the main character, went about his life in a supposed Utopia. The fact that Big Brother, an unknown and possibly inexistent force, has so much control over this world. At first I was skeptic as to how on point Orwell would be predicting what may occur in the future but he was somewhat dead on. The entire movement of "The Party" seemed like modern day communism - everyone was referred to as comrade and no one had any say and couldn't even think negatively about anything that may have seemed wrong in society, for the thought police would get you. No one was treated better nor worse except if you were a traitor, then you were VAPORIZED!!!! As funny as it may sound, If Orwell had used actual countries, I would of thought it was factual, rather than some prophetic vision.

One of my favorite scenes in 1984 was when Julia, Wilson's lover, came back from a proletarian quarter of the town wearing make-up and speaking of wearing a womans frock. I reminded me of a scene out of Pleasantville. She was only person with rouge cheeks and deeply reddened lips and make-up dabbed here and there, she stood out like a sore thumb.

The importance of castes and war, erasing the past and replacing it with falsified information, hiding from the authorities, and only feeling safe when the lights are out; Orwell makes you wonder if theses rules still apply in modern time.

I suggest more people read this or any other by George Orwell, I plan on reading Animal Farm next.

The book itself is quite great. I'll spare you all the trouble of another plot synopsis or critique. My one problem is that the OCR for this edition looks like it was done by an infant. There are consistent errors that one sees in OCR, the becomes die, time becomes tune, periods are missed, etc. I paid money for this book, and I didn't expect it to have so may typographical errors.

Unlike a lot of people who were told to read this in High School, I didn't learn of it until a few brief years ago. I'd heard of it, but didn't really "get" why so many people were blown away by it. Then I read it and have since made it a point to get my hands on everything this man had ever written! George Orwell was no doubt a genius, visionary, prophet and a definite priceless gift to all of humanity. 1984 written in the late 1940's, (I see 1949 in my book, but I don't want to nail down a date as there have been reprints), someone else here has stated 1948 which if so, is still incredibly beyond remarkable because what he describes is something that sounds so much like the world we currently live in today, and the potential for it to be this world which he describes? Well, unfortunately the means are in fact all present now. We can be observed pretty much around the clock from when we leave our homes until we arrive. With what can be done with cell phones, GPS etc but I won't go into what should already be quite obvious to all. The fact of the matter is he foretold with pin point accuracy just how things could be and the frightening thing is many of these things are in my opinion in affect. New Speak, Thought Police, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, Big Brother and countless other things he writes about ring with such an eery realness one has to wonder if he time traveled into our present day and perhaps slightly beyond and then returned to his time to write about it to truly warn us what was at stake. I won't tell the story, as George does that exceptionally well to the point where you feel as if you are seeing this "World" he paints through the eyes of the main character "Winston".

So much so that even though it was written years ago, it reads as if in many cases it could have been written today, or yesterday. Like Gene Rodenbury's Star Trek, George Orwell's 1984 is definitely light years ahead of its time. I don't think this book can be recommended highly enough to those who have not yet read it. Nor do five stars even remotely come close to giving this Master Piece it's due credit. Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak

I have read Animal Farm before this one, and enjoyed it greatly. I was not disappointed by this book, despite my expectations being high. He presents quite an intriguing idea of a 1984 deprived of basic freedoms and livestyle that was very perceivable in the depths of 1948.
That being said, the Kindle edition needs to be checked for continuity errors and proofread for spelling, grammatical, and punctuational errors.