1984

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Summary: Probably the most important political novel of all time.
Review: 1984 is very likely the most important political novel of all time. George Orwell's classic essentially seeks to portray life in what amounts to the ultimate totalitarian state. The most terrifying thing about the novel is that nothing in it is at all far-fetched. Other totalitarian states have approached Orwell's "Oceania" in the thoroughness of their oppression and the ruthlessness of their grip on power. Soviet Russia, Maoist China, and Nazi Germany all come to mind, and all shared many traits with Orwell's fictional tyranny. In 1984 Orwell describes precisely how the ultimate totalitarian state would operate, what life under it would be like, and why it might never be possible for human beings to overthrow it.

The novel shows life through the eyes of one individual, Winston Smith, a citizen of Oceania, living in Britain, now renamed "Airstrip One." Life in Oceania is unspeakably bleak, with even most of the elite living at or near the poverty line. Shortages of everything are the norm, as the government controls all aspects of the economy with no free market even dreamed of. Love is forbidden other than love of the "Party" and "Big Brother," the Party's leader. Loyalty to the Party is enforced by the Thought Police, whose job is to ferret out anyone who does not conform to the requirements of fealty and single-minded devotedness to the Party. Since Winston is such a one, in the novel he is in trouble. By the way, despite being a political novel intended to make a point, 1984 is also a very readable story in its own right. Orwell's prose is excellent, and the storyline moves along briskly. This is a very dark story, however, with suffering characters and an unspeakably bleak outlook. Part of this is said to be reflective of the fact that Orwell himself was in failing health when he wrote the novel. In any case, this is not an uplifting novel, for all its importance. The theme of the novel is more or less summarized when a Party leader explains to Winston that the image of the world for the rest of all time, may be summarized as a booted foot stomping on a human face.

1984 has had a powerful effect on Western political thought, as a warning about the effects of giving government too much power. Concepts such as the "Thought Police," "Doublethink" and other artifacts of the novel have passed into common usage and political discussion. This is a very important novel that shows what could happen to mankind if we fail to nurture and cherish liberty and freedom, and instead allow government to dominate our lives.

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Summary: Goldstein's "The Book"
Review: More or less, most things that could be said about this book, have been. So, I'm going to limit it to an interesting coincedence that I found between 1984 and current day America. The coincedence is that between Goldstein's "The Book"(a "history" & sociology text on the party systems/countries in 1984) and modern political books. I'm referring to the glut of books on the market these days like Franken's and Coulter's and Savage's and on and on. The scary thing to me about The Book is Winston's reaction to it. He reads it, finds his views validated, and then, ego sated, he goes to sleep and thusly delivers himself into the hands of the Thought Police. Modern political rantings seem to have a similar soporific effect on many people. They buy a book that they know they will agree to a high degree with, read it, congratulate themselves on being active, and then fall to even greater passivity. All one has to do is compare the sales figures of political books to voter turnout on both ends of the spectrum, and you'll see what I mean. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that everyone is this way, but I've seen enough of it to catch my attention. This seems to be the real lesson to me, that most people will become sheep if their basic needs are met while they are simultaneously kept under a wet blanket of fear & suspicion. Most people in the world of 1984 simply needed security and food, while Winston and Julia required varying degrees of manufactured rebellion and love/sex before they were comfortable enough to surrender.

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Summary: You should really buy the book instead...
Review: 1984 is such the classic that to this day people are referencing the story that haven't read the book. Talk of the Thoughtpolice, Political Totalitarianism and especially Big Brother have pervaded our everyday lives. It taps into our greatest fears more than any book about monsters and ghosts ever could, beacuse it deals with two things: the unknown that is the future and the loss of the privacy of even our own thoughts. Most people will find no more horrible an idea than your every thought being known and held against you--the ultimate loss of freedom more than even physical freedom or even political freedom.

It is easy to read this book and say "that'll never happen" because it is just so extreme. Orwell wrote this idea in such an extreme fashion in order to get his point across, but the issue is a very real one that we are dealing with today. In Washington right now our political leaders are deliberating over social policies that the masses disagree with but will be good for the country, privacy bills that restrict, enhance, or otherwise control what is considered private.

I am not about to suggest that we are on the verge of Airstrip One by any means, but Orwell's book is symbolic of issues that are going on right now--and anyone who says that 1984 is outdated or doesn't apply to us does not understand the deeper meaning behind what Orwell meant. He was not like mnay writers today to write stories purely for enjoyment because social commentary has gone out of style, every passage Orwell wrote exuded a socio-economic, political, or religious lesson. He made not have hit the mark on every point, being tempered by post WWII that sometimes throws an idea askew, but he does a good job at the most important point: This is what we should always keep in the forefront of our minds that we never want to have happen because ignorance will not steer us clearly away from it.

Outside of that the book is actually a pretty interesting read. I think personally there is much more redeeming in reading it than listening to someone else read it, but it is definitely worth experiencing no matter how you choose to do so.

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Summary: Think For Yourself
Review: Although slow at the start one cannot help, but be swept up in the events that transpire in Orwell's 1984; most especially because of the potentiality of them to arise in any societal faction. The story line and its climax are not necessarily what draws the reader in, but instead the possible reality of the situation portrayed. Moreover, although one tends to lean more towards the "this could never happen" scenario what's disturbing is how easily a mass of people can be lead like a more inferior animal such as a sheep. Disturbing events in history, most poignantly the Holocaust, only support the docile nature of the human being as a whole. This novel was more thought provoking than literally captivating. It's the questions that are posed at the conclusion of the novel that make it a must read even more than the words between the cover.

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Summary: Interesting!!
Review: This books is a classic! It is very visionary and rightly predicts some societal trends towards totalitarianism. It is highly pessimistic, so don't expect a happy ending!!!!

I disbelieve the claims that this book is written against religion. In the book, the Ruling Party, which is viewed negatively, is against religion--as we would define it. I find it much more probable to take the simple interpretation--it is written against political totalitarianism. Sure, atheists might like to have a good book like 1984 to trump their cause, but this book can not be understood properly within its literal/historical context without realizing that it strongly eludes to Soviet-style Communism and political totalitarianism in general.

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Summary: Not as good as Harry Potter, says I
Review: While cultural pundits try to convince you that some literature is better than other literature, the truth is that all art is relative to individial tastes. Thus, it doesn't make any sense to think that a novel like this one is really any better than say, Michael Crichton or Stephen King. Aesthetic standards can't be grounded.

Thus, don't listen to anyone who tries to distinguish between "serious" works of literature like this one and allegedly "lesser" novels. The distinction is entirely illusory, because no novels are "better" than any others, and the concept of a "great novel" is an intellectual hoax. This book isn't as good as Harry Potter in MY opinion, and no one can refute me. Tastes are relative!

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Summary: Mandatory reading
Review: This is a powerful and chilling tale of totalitarian dictatorship. This book shocked and scared me more than any other book I've ever had the privlege of reading. The thing that makes this book so frightning is that it's not really a work of fiction. The events in this book have happened, are happening right now and will happen in the future. If you don't know what I'm talking about then that gives you incentive to pick this up. 1984 will open you eyes and maybe give you a incite into the world we all live in. Do yourself a favor and read this book. Judge for yourself. It may be one of the most important books you ever read.

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Summary: Sexcrime?
Review: This story is based on a futuristic form of government mostly based on the ideals of a communist government but taken to an extreme. Many would argue that if our own government is allowed to intrude in to our private lives through vehicles such as the "Patriot Act", we will continue to lose personal freedoms, and find ourselves in a 1984 situation. This book describes a world controlled with fear and kept clean and neat by the brain washed population. All have been blinded by the shadows of big brother and kept there by an enormous army ready and willing to die for their cause. George Orwell the author of 1984 and "Animal Farm" displays in both books how a society controlled by a totalitarian form of government oppresses the people iti is supposed to govern. If we allow the government to take away our freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism, "big brother" will be here. I enjoyed the way Orwell described the people as nothing but brain washed zombies mindless and more than willing to follow without question. The book shows how easy it is for a government to lie to its people, and manipulate them. This book speaks a lot of truth and that's like a cold bucket of water in the face in the middle of a warm slow peaceful dream. The way he hits you with the truth of what could happen if a government is allowed to ru amock. This book should be required reading for all freedom loving Americans. Overall this book was an absolute delight to read it was interesting and suspenseful.

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Summary: The most damning indictment of left-wingers ever written.
Review: This book, along with the thematically superior but literarilly inferior ANTHEM by Ayn Rand, captures the essence of a great truth we must never forget. A lot of the world outside the US is on a slippery slope toward this kind of nightmare land. Look at France and Germany these days!

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Summary: It has to go
Review: I can understand that maybe in the wake of Nazism and under the continuation of Stalinism, the message of this book might have seemed more relevant than it in fact is. Looking past that overplayed message, though, it's difficult to detect the kind of substance, complexity of theme and depth of character which ought to make a classic. The writing is decent, but it's time to stop touting it as something everyone should read. There's no need whatsoever to read it; get the three-sentence summary from someone who has: "This novel is about a totalitarian state. The abstract totalitarian authority figure is called 'big brother.' Totalitarianism is bad." But it's not as though that message needs to get spread around these days.

As a seperate criticism, never minding that the message it obvious, it has quite a few weaknesses. Presenting the top five reasons why the scenario in this book would never, ever come about:

5) This is the English we're talking about, and they don't put up with much. I mean, they're too cool for a constitution; they've got by so far on _common law_. They've had totalitarian rulers, and when they got to be too much of a load to bear, they were beheaded.

4) If children were responsible for detecting unpariotic leanings in their parents, given the usual state of parent-child relations, the secret police would recieve upwards of six thousand false reports a day, and the department would collapse.

3) Aesthetics. People would complain of sexism and demand a 'big sister.' As ideals of beauty changed and people decided that Big Brother's omnipresent facade was unnatractive (too fat, maybe) they would lose all respect for him.

2) Corruption. The evil in this book is some sort of abstract, monolithic thing, but there are concievably real people behind it. Give a group of real people control of the hearts and minds of a country, and it won't be long before there's only one of them. He will eventually die. Chaos will follow.

1) Inefficiency. "Johnson, the spy camera in living unit 3J07 has been offline for six weeks; I thought you were going to take a look at it." "I ordered the parts, sir; I don't know what went wrong. It's not my fault." "Fleming, have you recieved an order for spy camera parts?" "It's difficult to say, sir. Not my department. You'll have to talk to Roberts, and he just left on vacation."

If you want proof, just look at how quickly Nazism (and even Stalinism, though it was more persistent) fell apart. No pure system can survive for long.