Nineteen Eighty Four book review.
Author:George Orwell, 1949
Nineteen eighty four is a serious political fiction novel written by George Orwell.It details life under the thumb of an overreaching dictatorship that tries to control every aspect of its citizen’s lives.It is a frightening study and prediction by
George Orwell as to how he saw society progressing, and the evils of dictatorial Socialism.
The story takes place in the future (1984) in a society that has been ravaged by war.Three major countries are left in the world and they are in a constant state of war.The two weaker ones are pitted against the stronger one.The countries keep switching sides, depending on who is the strongest, thereby ensuring a continuous state of war.
The story centers around Winston Smith, a low level government official.Smith works for the Ministry of Truth and is responsible for rewriting history at the behest of his political masters.That is the only aspect of his life that he finds challenging and somewhat enjoyable.Eventually, Smith finds a woman who he falls in love with a woman named Julia.The two begin a covert love affair and consequently, break a group of laws known as “Thought Crime”.They are eventually caught by the government officials and brought to justice for having individual thoughts.
Nineteen eighty four is a frightening prediction of what can happen to society if a dictatorial government becomes too powerful.Words like “Orwellian”, “Big Brother”, “thought crime”, “double think” and “New Speak” have been added to the language because of this famous work by George Orwell.This story contains elements and similarities with other famous works of that time.For example, Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged have similar themes.Nineteen Eighty Four is ranked by “Modern Library” as the number 13 on its top 100 list of 20th century novels.It is quite simply, Orwell’s finest and most famous work and should be read by everyone.