Nineteen Eighty Four
written by George Orwell in 1948 is a story about an imaginary, nightmarish dystopia - the evil twin of utopia. The events take place in the country of Oceania ruled by
Big Brother who is able to know and see everything that goes about. The main character Winston Smith works in the Department of Truth where he changes and deletes history. He is frustrated with his life and feels himself chained and anxious which is no surprise cause Big Brother is constantly monitoring everything. Big Brother can hear your every word and see your every movement. At times Big Brother seems to be able to read your mind. Never again can you make your own decisions. Even a new language has been created to replace the native language and to make the words simpler and to prevent crimes committed by thinking. After Winston finds a girlfriend who thinks similarly about the world he decides to step up for himself. They find the perfect hiding place and join a community whose members have a common goal: they want to destroy Big Brother. But not everything is how it looks like and Winston and Julia run into surprising hardships.
Nineteen Eighty Four is a parable of how the state tends to monitor its citizens without giving them any privacy. The
book has been said to tell about the Soviet Union ruled by Stalin and at the time when the book was written the relationships between The Soviet Union and the western alliance weren't that friendly. The book was even banned in the Soviet Union and all references to it were removed from the Finnish version of the book which was published in 1950.
The name of the book comes from the year when it was written, 1948. Only the last two numbers have switched places. Even though the year 1984 has already passed we should take the book's message seriously. Some of the terms used in the book are still in use - the most commonly used is probably Big Brother. Even the television show Big Brother is based on Orwell's idea about the Big Brother who is watching us. In addition
David Bowie was a big fan of this book and wanted to make it into a musical in the mid-70's. Orwell's widow didn't give him permission to doing that but Bowie's Diamond Dogs album still has some obvious references to the book.
Nineteen Eighty Four is a timeless, fascinating and intellectual novel which will surely capture the readers full attention. WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS POWER.
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