Customer Reviews

Nineteen Eighty Four

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In the late 70's there was a movie that projected what the world would be like in 2001 and was way off. This book was first published in the late 1940's and predicted what life would be like when I was one year old, in 1984. It would be pretty rough if there actually was a thing called the Thought Police.

Orwell's most well-known novel may have changed the English language, but that doesn't save it from being a somewhat overrated work of fiction.

First, the positives: Orwell is an excellent writer as such - the prose is perfectly fine, transparent, and readable. His critique of Soviet language-terrorism (the "newspeak" of the novel) is dead-on. There are moments of great tension, and the atmosphere of terror is effectively maintained throughout.

However, the prose can also be pretty bland, and Orwell can't resist the urge to get overly didactic to make some of his points (take, for example, the interrogation, which sometimes reads more like a propoganda pamphlet than a novel). His characters are dull at best - and as his ironies get more sadistic, they lose all interest. He's so desperate to make his point that it becomes overkill.

But in the end, the major failing is that Orwell denies the novel any humanity, or any sense of human warmth. In a novel that is supposed to serve as a warning about the cold regimentation of society, we need an author who's not guilty of the same cold, formulaic approach as the society as he criticizes - otherwise the whole point is undermined. If mental, emotional, and physical freedom are really the powerful (and playful) forces Orwell claims they are, then we as readers need to feel this - but Orwell is incapable of cracking a smile. As D.H. Lawrence said of Melville: "One wearies of the grand serieux. There's something false about it... Oh dear, when the solemn ass brays! brays! brays!"

It's not simply a matter of form following fuction (bland prose for a bland society): I'd highly recommend reading Zamyatin's novel "We", which - let's face it - Orwell practically ripped off. The key difference is that Zamyatin allows those things like humor, love, and playfulness to sneak in through the cracks... before they're crushed by the totalitarian state around them. While Orwell delivers a "message," Zamyatin delivers a novel. You'll be surprised how much more effective, moving, infuriating, and clever Zamyatin's approach is, why Orwell borrowed so much from it, and why 1984 pales in comparison.

So: read it for entertainment, if you enjoy dystopian literature. Its influence has been enormous, and there are things to enjoy. But feel free to laugh at Orwell's pretentions: it's your right.

Orwell's classic 1984 is, very simply, true. Many believe that it was a prediction of what our world would be like in 1984 (it was written in 1951). It was not a prediction but rather an analogy to the world of Orwell's time. He was ALREADY LIVING IN 1984.

Most people cannot (or will not) see that our world is already controlled by BIG BROTHER. It is sad, scary but true. In 1984 Orwell shows the governments of the world scaring their own population. Well, America does the same thing! So does any country that wishes to extract huge taxes from its population to support "needed" war machines. Now that the Soviet "threat" is gone, America needed a new one. Enter: TERRORISM.

But if the reader cares to do a bit of research he or she will find that American militarists have been suggesting that the American military and CIA conduct terror against ITS OWN POPULATION for many years now. During the Cuban "threat" the pentagon asked Kennedy to allow it to blow up an American ship killing Americans! He declined.

Are we SURE who was responsible for 9/11? No one has taken credit for it. Why? All terror groups IMMEDIATELY TAKE CREDIT FOR THIER WORK when they pull something off. Why wouldn't the Taliban or Al Quaida jump at the chance of taking credit for the greatest example of terrorism in America? The only LOGICAL explanation is because they didn't do it!

I'm not saying that American militarists did it. Maybe it was a country that stood to gain from having America go after those "crazy Moslems." Israel? How about Israel and America? Who knows? But there is no EVIDENCE of who actually did it and more important WHY.

You can sit back and take the easy explanation spoon fed to you from corporate owned media with its own agenda. Or you can read and understand 1984 and start thinking beyond the "obvious." If you want to read a book that picks up where 1984 leaves off try HOW TO SAVE AMERICA AND THE WORLD. Yes, I wrote it but that is no reason not to read it. Everyone advertises his or her own books. I simply offer it because, like Orwell, I want people to know what is really going on and why.

Read between the lines when you read American "news." Better yet listen to news broadcasts from other counties. It's not a matter of writing outright lies as much as OMITTING details and SKEWING various parts of stories.

Orwell gives you the tools to begin to think for yourself. If it's too much work or too scary, then just put your faith in your president. He would never lie to you, would he? Like his Daddy said, just "read my lips." Oh, that's right. What he was referring to turned out to be a lie and he DID RAISE TAXES after all! Oh, well. At least you can trust Orwell.

Joseph Francione [author of HOW TO SAVE AMERICA AND THE WORLD]

Attempt to conjure up the idea of a society where the government is always watching, like a spy. You brush your teeth, you go to work, you eat, you talk to your spouse, you water your plants ...and they are watching. Not only is every activity monitored, but also your deepest inner thoughts are screened, picked and prodded through for the smallest indication of rebellious thoughts. Telescreens constantly feed propaganda from the government into unsuspecting minds. War is just a normal incidence. A neighbor or even a friend might turn you in to the thought police at any moment. The government is in total and complete control. You can trust no one. George Orwell created this enslaved world in the book, 1984 and put an ordinary middle class man, named Wilson, in the position of the protagonist.
Wilson, an average member of this controlling society, begins to have an itch for rebellion as the novel, 1984 commences. He has an underlying craving for freedom, of thought and expression. He has a job that includes activities considered inappropriate by most of today's standards. Basically, Wilson edits history to fit the beliefs and preaching of Big Brother for the populace. Wilson finds a forbidden love. He searches for a sympathizer, someone who shares his same beliefs and values. But above all, he searches for clues about the past and the truth. Suspense, Deceit, and Passion are foremost components in this novel.
For many students and adults alike the thickness as well as the font size of the novel sends them running. Others find the genre that the paperback is placed in - Science Fiction - to be discouraging. And many of those who do actually start reading are quickly bored. Some, who are required to read it, hurriedly skim the pages and discontinue comprehending and processing the book.
The story doesn't begin to pick up steam until about thirty pages into it. However these first pages are essential to have a complete understanding of the book. After that, Orwell adds depth and dimension to the plot that is unlike many stories. Orwell also adroitly applies high-level vocabulary and sentence structure to his tale. 1984 is exciting and gripping with a distinctive and unforeseen ending. It is a chilling tale of what could happen to the human race in the midst of the race for technology and an unattainable utopia. Encrusted with many essential and important themes, every student should read it, so they can reflect on their individual lives and prevent possible future atrocities from coming to fruition.
This novel is well worth anyone's time and thought. It is not just your average run-of-the-mill science fiction story that will captivate only the Trekkies among us. 1984 is thought provoking as well as emotionally stimulating. This narrative, written more than half a century ago, still applies today. It ends in a unique and unpredictable way.

This novel is an amazing read! Orwell starts off by introducing the reader into the terribly grim dark world of Big Brother. The state controls everything and everybody. Orwell has written a fictional story, but you soon realize almost everything Orwell writes about, has happened somewhere in the World. I feel this was Orwell`s message, to warn people that Big Brother can and will spring up anywhere, and at any time. In the past one can look to the Stalin and Hitler regimes, for examples of what Orwell is talking about. In the present, North Korea is an almost perfect example of Orwell`s 1984 novel. And sometimes bits of Big Brother, pops up right in your own backyard. In the 2008- 2009 school year, Queens University introduced a "conversation police force" to monitor students living on Campus. This was done to prevent anything happening in the student living quarters, that was not deemed "politically correct". The controversial policy was later dropped by the University. This is the sort of thing that Orwell is trying to warn the reader about. Big Brother can suddenly appear, even in a place of higher learning. Orwell is trying to tell us, that state control is not just something that happens in far away places, such as North Korea.
There are also many smaller examples of state manipulation, such as control of the media, that are explained in the novel. The modern reader will have no trouble relating to media manipulation.
1984 is a novel that everyone living in a free society should read, at least once.

Even though there are no burning buildings and nuclear bombs this is an post apocalyptic novel if i have ever read one. This book is dark and disturbing and doesn't let up even at the end. This is now one of my all time favorite books. This is not for the faint of heart. I would suggest this to anyone who likes the following genres zombie, post apocalyptic, science fiction. Even though it is none of those things i think it had a strong basis in there creation.

George Orwell's "1984" is such a powerful read, and a fascinating look into the world where one is under control of the State through the "Big Brother."

There is one quote that stood out for me from this book:

"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."

What if this "Big Brother" is true? Now that would be a terrifying thought...

Forget about the actual date and/or title of the book. You have to take into consideration when this was written and what Orwell thought 1984 was going to be like. Okay, so he missed it by twenty years or so. The point is, 1984 is more relevant now than it was back in the actual 1984.

Harrowing, like "Brave New World" it pretty much hits the nail on the head. Aren't you wonderful WHY this book is so successful and on the bestseller list after all these years---once again?

Just look around at the world and what's happening. Sure, parts of this book are depressing, but it makes us look at ourselves and what we've become (or not) thereby showing us where we should go (or not).

I have to recommend one other Amazon pick, which just totally knocked my socks off with its humor, look at human nature, and take on corporate greed and human problems: Jackson McCrae's "Katzenjammer" which should not be missed. Totally first rate with a surprise ending, short chapters, and great characters. Highly recommended for those who like good fast-paced reading.

This is a story that, unfortunately, seems to be slowly coming true. Many science fiction titles are escapist literature that either imagine a very different world(s) from our own, or at the very least, hold out some hopeful message - in other words, the good guys usually manage to win. This is neither kind of book. And it is science fiction because the sinister use of technology is what allows Big Brother to invade everyone's privacy and dictate what the characters can do or say, with severe, nightmarish punishment for "disobedience." There have other novels that have seized upon this idea of an anti-utopia, but Orwell was one of the first to place it in a realistic future, and in a chilling this-is-all-too-possible way.

And the parallels with our modern world are especially profound, parallels that are obvious all around us. The growing number of surveillance cameras on street corners, the ironic (but deliberately) named Patriot Act in the U.S., the rise of political and religious intolerance in the world...all of it does not bode well for the future of our basic liberties. Orwell got in right back in 1948, and although he was primarily referring to the "red menace" of his era, the tactics used by suppressive governments are tempting for any government because of the control such tactics provide, liberties be damned. Your agenda- whatever it is- can more easily be achieved if you can identify your enemies early on and thwart their every move. The problem is, when your enemies are law-abiding citizens whose political (or religious) views don't match your own- and that's the only "crime"- you've stepped over the boundary of national security and entered the realm of repression. And to stop open criticism of these tactics, these governments (including the repressive one in 1984) invariable claim that the critics are "unpatriotic," "traitors," maybe even "terrorists." Sound familiar? Repressive governments have been using these tactics for centuries; only now, modern technology makes it a whole lot easier- and yes, unfortunately, a lot more tempting.

Of course we don't want real terrorists. The problem is, a "quick fix" of sweeping powers put into the hands of a relatively few like-minded individuals- with checks and balances muted if not totally brushed aside- can, will, and has lead to abuse of those powers, primarily for political and personal gains. That was the real message of 1984, and it's one we should never forget. And if the citizens of a repressive government either don't recognize the danger- or worse yet, vigorously defend it under some mistaken notion of being "patriotic" themselves, surrendering their own liberties in the process- that just makes it all the easier for the incumbents to remain in power, with little chance for genuine reform or change.

It's all there in this great book, 1984, which deserves to be widely read forever and amen.

-Mark Wakely, author of An Audience for Einstein

The vision of the Party's rule, its inhumanity and utter ruthlessness and mendacity frighten us and we hope it will never come to pass here. But we have no clue how to prevent it, and just like the people in Orwell's fictional world, we are perpetually caught off guard when it comes to pass in our own lives. One day we wake up and realize we are living in a nightmare, and we have been for a long time. "It'll never happen here" and "We've taken every precaution" become "When did it happen" and "How did we get to this point?" This perennial sickness takes hold of a nation and we are at its mercy.

Like any good novelist, Orwell tells a story and he makes it real. For that sheltered portion of humankind who have had the fortune of growing up without the threat of being arrested and tortured for daring to disagree with their inept leaders, the book provides a vicarious experience without which we are left vulnerable to a disease we know nothing about. But while the creation of a literary world can teach us many things, it cannot provide a way out. For that we need accurate knowledge.

1984 is a fictionalized account of pathocracy, as defined in Political Ponerology, and the reason it scares us is because it is completely outside our normal frame of reference. We have the same reaction to news accounts of senseless violence. Parents murdered by their 14-year-old son because they asked him to do his chores, after which he played video games. An 18-year-old woman disappears and is later found dead, beaten to death and wrapped in plastic. A trucker and his son admit to torturing a 20-year-old man in their basement, suffocating him and wrapping wire around his neck. A young boy is kidnapped, tortured, executed, and his organs harvested by forces of occupation before his body is returned to his parents.

The common theme, of course, is psychopathy. Psychopaths lack conscience and hunger for the darkness. They are sadistic in a way which, for us, is near impossible to fathom. The evil which they bring is not unintended, as when we realize only after the fact that our actions have caused another harm. Instead, their lives are spent feeding on the misery that they inflict on others. Whether the sexual sadism of serial rapist-torturer, or the subtle draining of a "toxic co-worker" who uses you, abuses you, and wears you down until you lose all grip on reality. We may even ask in desperation, "What are you doing this to me?" The psychopath simply smirks. And in a world ruled by psychopaths we ask, "Why are you doing this to us?"

1984 frightens us because psychopathy frightens us. The key feature of a pathocracy is that psychopaths influence the economic, military, political, and cultural agenda of a nation. Like chameleons, they mask themselves in the features of their surroundings. Within those parameters they stage dramas, creating a new reality according to their desires. And this reality is one of deception, terror, ruthless expansion and complete heartlessness.

In the corporate world a psychopath gets ahead by destroying the careers of those who stand in his way, exploiting the work of others, starting rumors, creating conflicts. He always benefits from these, of course. A competitor falls out of favor. The psychopath is credited with the work of another. The bosses take his word over another who sees that he is a snake. An "enemy" finds herself without a job, blamed for something she didn't do. All the while the psychopath stage-manages. The man behind the curtain.

In politics, the pawns are the people, the chessboard is the world stage. Strategic countries are invaded because of the "threat" they pose. This threat is 0f course created by the psychopaths in charge using the vast resources of intelligence services. "Terrorist threats" are fabricated. Atrocities are committed and then pinned on imaginary "terrorist groups". Orwell had it right. Emmanuel Goldstein was a creation of the Party. The bombings blamed on him and his followers committed by the Party itself for the purpose of keeping the population afraid and compliant.

Today, torture photos are "leaked" not to expose State brutality, but to show the people what happens to those who oppose the system. After all, you're either "with us" or you're "with the terrorists". That's some option. Dissent is conflated with terrorism. Terrorists are tortured and assassinated. The President of the United States even sanctions the assassination of U.S. citizens labeled "terrorists". "They are part of they enemy", after all. Some respond with shock that a country could willingly kill its own citizens, as if killing another country's citizens is any more human. Of course, the two options are equally atrocious, but to a psychopath, what's the difference? If you have a conscience, you are a threat. Your leaders hold you in as much disdain as any other "bleeding heart".

So what can be done? The first step is awareness of the reality of what goes on behind the scenes of political power: the workings of intelligence agencies, counterterrorism, foreign policy groups, etc. This can only be understood by applying ponerology, which identifies the source of the problem, and the exact social and psychological processes which push along the global pathocratic agenda. Psychopaths have been running the show for a long time, and they've been doing so because we haven't known what to look for. Commies, terrorists, Nazis, anarchists... All red herrings.

The true enemy hides in plain sight.