Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
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Book Reviews of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Book Review: Science fiction or science fact?
Summary: 5 Stars
Whether you enjoy science fiction or not, Orwell's 1984 is a must read. Orwell writes like Monet paints, in that his description of 1984 is opaque yet colorful, mysterious, and beautiful.
Throughout 1984, the reader follows Winston Smith, who lives in Airstrip One. The world is subdivided into three major super powers. Winston lives in Oceana, which is run by Big Brother. Three ministries govern Oceana: The Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Love, and Ministry of Peace. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, and it is there he meets Julia.
Much like Orwell's description of the scenes themselves, he creates a world in which the reader feels they are looking at Oceana through a sheet. Orwell never describes Oceana or 1984 in too much detail; though, in his descriptions of Winston's relationships to the world he lives in, Julia, and Big Brother, he writes with enough description that Orwell's vision of the future becomes more apparent with each page.
The most striking scene is when a poet is thrown into prison because he refused to take out the word, "God" from a poem he transcribed because no other word fit. No matter a person's spiritual background, the critical person should find it uncanny that in 1949 Orwell imagined a world in which the name `God' would become illegal.
Though, we do not live in a world in which three empirical superpowers govern us, the critical person should wonder if we are closer to Orwell's 1984 than we realize. Or, perhaps, ideologically, we are there and realize it; though, we have become so accustomed to living in Orwell's 1984 that we willingly give up our rights and personal identity in the name of government sanctioned security and equality.
Book Review: Big impact literature
Summary: 5 Stars
So what can I say about this book that hasn't been said before? Having read it I can see how it has become regarded as classic fiction. Of course the year 1984 has come and gone and many folks say had it been titled "2009" it would have been much more accurate. I chose this book because my son had to read it for school (I was never assigned this one myself) but I always felt I "should" read it. So I have now.
For those of you who haven't read it, it is a complex novel but with a fairly basic plot. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a functioning member of a society in the future who meets a woman he is attracted to. Much of the book surrounds their attempt to form a relationship in this society that just won't allow that sort of thing. Of course the real point and value of the novel is to illustrate where our current society may be headed if we don't change course, a sort of anti-utopian (dystopian?) novel. This book has brought us common terms such as "Big Brother", "doublethink", and "thought police." There are long sections where Winston reads to his girl friend from the official government manual detailing how the society came to be as well as the evolution of the government-speak ("Newspeak")language. I am glad that I've read this novel but at the same time I can't say that I would ever want to read it again. My political/societal views are already pretty much cemented in place and this book, while thought provoking, did not change my views. I do agree that it should be studied at the High School level though, not only for its value to the world of literature but also as a way to kick start young people's thinking on what a society should and shouldn't be.
Book Review: A little late but its finally here.
Summary: 5 Stars
It isn't happening exactly the way Orwell thought it would but close enough for "government work" as they say. The few differences are covered in "Brave New World" (I always tell my associates to take 1984 and Brave New World, toss them in a blender and then pour out the situation that exists today) as far as the covert aspects of a government controlled society (although the government didn't have to take over the media; the media is going along willingly without government control and the "feelies" (to keep people occupied doing ANYTHING other than contemplating the government)are being provided by I-pod, X-box and a host of other distractions provided to preclude the population from observing much of anything outside the immediate sphere of their own existence.
I purchase copies of this book whenever I spot them in a used book store and then hand them out like candy to co-workers and friends - just to get them to start thinking about what's going on now. After reading the Federalist Papers, Letters from Jefferson and other "Founding Father's Documents" it apparent that where we are today is nothing akin to where they would have envisioned us to be - it was "Promote the general welfare" not "give out welfare", "pursuit of happiness" not "make sure everyone is happy". We are where we are today by ignoring what's going on and allowing a government similar to the one's that Orwell and Huxley predicted would develop. If you have yet to read this book then grab a copy and contemplate a further projection of the predictions; where is the control by the government over the "citizens" [subjects?] going to be in another ten years?
Book Review: Cherish your thoughts
Summary: 5 Stars
Orwell's 1984 is a novel that is truly frightening for those who cherish free expression and the power of individual thought. Dystopia literature owes it all to this classic of the genre. I managed to get through all my formal education without having read this text. However, picking it up now I am glad that I waited until I was a little older to read it.
The first thing one must marvel at is the brilliant construction of the novel. Orwell as an artist is at the top of his form and the structure of the novel is wound so tightly that readers would be wise to annotate the text as there is an almost cyclical nature to many of the themes and ideas presented. Orwell weaves the same ideas throughout the text, and each time he revisits them he shows them through the lenses of a different ideology or character and thus emphasizes for the reader how precarious (and precious) are the mores and ideals of the individual mind.
The idea of governments who yearn for power for power's sake is not so foreign to our early 21st century world, and although the text ends on a nihilistic note, the reader walks away from 1984 with the renewed impetus to revere and respect our individual thoughts, as these, and these alone, give us unique value. Read this text, not so you can fear "big brother", but rather so you can be reminded to respect yourself enough to think and form intellectual thoughts. It is Winston's loss of the self that should frighten the readers of 1984, not the dreary world that Orwell creates. We don't need totalitarian governments to become Winston Smiths. We can do it to ourselves if we are not careful!
Book Review: One of the defining novels of the 20th Century
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a history teacher and always recommend this novel to my class when we embark on the 20th Century single party states IB paper. Orwell lived during the era of the great dictatorships of the 20th Century and was acutely aware of the brainwashing techniques such regimes used to control their populations. The concepts are clearly and horrifically articulated so they rattle the brain - ideas such as Thoughtcrime, the scrutiny of our innermost mental processes, and newspeak - the rewriting of the language to prevent any freedom of expression.
Yet, more than this, Big Brother can also be read as a piece of English pastoral - scenes where Winston Smith conducts his love affair with Julia in the countryside, and his dreams and memories of the 'rabbit bitten pasture' evoke a lament for a pastoral Britain in danger of being submerged by out of town shopping centres and motorway culture. George Orwell, changing his name from Eric Blair to encompass both England's patron saint and one of its main rivers, was a true patriot in the best sense. His writing holds moral clarity towards the best of British freedom, and encourages us to think for ourselves as to how to carve out our own independence.
No, we are not currently living in a dictatorial regime, and whatever the shortcomings of the present parliamentary system it would be intellectually lazy and insulting to those who are living under such regimes to claim that we are. but Orwell's novel alerts us to the preciousness of the human mind, and its vulnerability to systemic outside forces that destabilise us. Which makes 1984 compelling literature.