1984

Kindle Edition, 269 pages

Langue : English

Publié 4 juillet 2020 par Prabhat Prakashan.

Voir sur OpenLibrary

5 étoiles (2 critiques)

It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centers on the consequences of government over-reach, totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviors within society. More broadly, it examines the role of truth and facts within politics and their manipulation. First published in 1948, The present book 1984 is a dystopian novel by prominent twentieth-century novelist, essayist, and social critique Eric Arthur Blair under his popular pseudonym George Orwell. The novel is set in Airstrip One, a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation. The superstate and its residents are dictated to by a political regime euphemistically named English Socialism, shortened to ‘Ingsoc’ in Newspeak, the government’s invented language. The superstate is under the control of the privileged elite of the …

53 editions

reviewed Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (The Complete works of George Orwell -- v. 1)

Review of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' on 'Goodreads'

5 étoiles

The contributions of this book are far too grand for me to go into all details here. To make it short, I believe that Orwell provided a fitting explanation of how individual thought is suppressed under totalitarian regimes. The principles of doublethink are also used in democratic states whenever it is politically necessary to hold two conflicting opinions. I even claim that it is a politician's most essential skill to perform this mental gymnastics convincingly.

However, this propaganda does not necesarrily manage to convince everybody. Regardless of the political system, it seems that generally, the people under its influence tend to root for it. But also regardless of the system, the capacity for subversive ideas can never be eliminated. Whether this capacity is actually of any use, though, depends on the system. The dystopian world of 1984 deals with subversive thoughts in such an efficient way, that revolutionary spirit is …

reviewed Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (The Complete works of George Orwell -- v. 1)

Review of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' on 'Storygraph'

5 étoiles

There are a few things that I find riveting in 1984:
- The idea that information control can shape reality. I first read 1984 in college, before algorithms played such a huge role in our lives. Today the notion that influencing information access can shape a populations' perception of the world, encourage opinion, shape our behaviors is all too real.
- The sense of hopelessness is absolute. I've never felt so mournful finishing a book. At the end, the world of individual liberty and hope has just completed fading from view. As Winston capitulates, the state continues its inexorable march to consuming the whole of the human experience, subverting romantic relationships, subverting the relationship between children and parents, even purging language of unorthodox concepts.

I probably shouldn't read books like this on the road. What a downer.