1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four

So true, so current that it hurts! One of the books that times can't change unless we start learning from our mistakes. But depends on how many of us are willing to truly open our eyes and see where we are heading to, by repeating the errors of the past into our present and maybe future. At the moment I m writing these lines, into my mind are popping some images from Gaza and images from the...more

So true, so current that it hurts! One of the books that times can't change unless we start learning from our mistakes. But depends on how many of us are willing to truly open our eyes and see where we are heading to, by repeating the errors of the past into our present and maybe future. At the moment I m writing these lines, into my mind are popping some images from Gaza and images from the Holocaust. Here is the link: http://www.tubel.ro/israel-vs-nazism-trist-dar-adevarat/ That comes to show that, maybe, Orwell's 1984 is even closer to us than we think. As we speak, our lives are under the "magic" of television, internet and we are already using abreviations in order to describe our feelings. Feelings that are bigger and stronger than "I luv/ <3 u", or "soulm8", "needu2nite". Or they should be.When was the last time you slowed down to eat dinner with thgthe family, or went on a trip,detached yourself from worries and truly lived your life?   hide

I read this after having read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I favored Brave New World over 1984, though both were excellent. 1984 was much more depressing overall. And both authors have been all too prophetic in their messages/warnings. The most irking aspect of 1984 for me, the part that hit home the hardest, was how society was working so hard to develop machines to be as human as...more

I read this after having read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I favored Brave New World over 1984, though both were excellent. 1984 was much more depressing overall. And both authors have been all too prophetic in their messages/warnings. The most irking aspect of 1984 for me, the part that hit home the hardest, was how society was working so hard to develop machines to be as human as possible and how humans were becoming automatons. We can already see this happening in our daily lives. Both were sobering novels, both were great reads, and both are coming true. Well. We've been warned. 1984 was interesting in its use of the language recession. The brainwashing implemented by the Party and Big Brother is quite terrible. I don't quite know what to make of the ending. It was just depressing, really... But, a great book that everyone should read.   hide

George Orwell (1948): 1984 Perhaps my thoughts after reading a book includes "this was a strong read" and similar phrases. A simple test of the strength of such thoughts about strength of contents is to check a week later, or even later, if these thoughts remain as strongly with me as on the day of finishing the book. Using such a test I'm sure there are many cases where I would be forced to...more

George Orwell (1948): 1984 Perhaps my thoughts after reading a book includes "this was a strong read" and similar phrases. A simple test of the strength of such thoughts about strength of contents is to check a week later, or even later, if these thoughts remain as strongly with me as on the day of finishing the book. Using such a test I'm sure there are many cases where I would be forced to revise my opinion, in the direction of "well, perhaps it was not quite as strong, after all". But for "1984" the powerful strength of it surely and absolutely remains in me. This long paragraph therefore has the purpose of reaching its honest and deeply perceived conclusion "this was a strong read". I do recall most aspects of the book with absurd accuracy after all the years that have flown by since I read it (once upon a time, several years before 1984). The softcover Norwegian edition book I once read had the memorable phrase "MÃ¥ leses av alle tenkende og vÃ¥kne mennesker" placed on its back cover. Indeed, I agree. Krig er fred. Frihet er trelldom. Uvitenhet er styrke. And intellectual freedom is honesty in concert with being allowed to claim that two plus two equal four. In a footnote I put in that I disagree strongly with the reading and interpretation presented in "Morgenbladet" June 2007 by Espen Grønlie.   hide

My pocket dictionary was printed in 1992 with the inscription ‘The English language changes all the time. New words come into it, and existing words develop new meanings. You probably use and have to understand many new words that simply did not exist a few years ago.’ In direct contrast, the ‘Newspeak’ dictionary in 1984 is designed to limit the scope of thought....more

My pocket dictionary was printed in 1992 with the inscription ‘The English language changes all the time. New words come into it, and existing words develop new meanings. You probably use and have to understand many new words that simply did not exist a few years ago.’ In direct contrast, the ‘Newspeak’ dictionary in 1984 is designed to limit the scope of thought. ‘Its vocabulary grew smaller every year.’ The chief responsibility of 1984’s protagonist, Winston Smith, is to destroy contentious references in history books as an employee of the government. He is continuously watched by ‘Big Brother’ and his thoughts are monitored by the ‘thought police.’ In the book, the world is divided into three countries that are constantly at war with each other. Male and female relationships are permitted only for the purpose of procreation and children are encouraged to snitch on their wayward parents. The book was first published in 1949. My father read it prior to 1984 and said people of his generation wondered what would become of the world when that fateful year arrived. For people of my generation the world George Orwell creates is one of pure fantasy and ‘Big Brother’ is nothing more than a recently axed television series. That said, 1984 is a classic. If you haven’t read it, I would strongly recommend you do so.   hide

Imagine a world where u r not free to say what u want to say because some one has stolen your freedom of expression. Imagine a language which is contracting day by day because some one wants to make your expressions become paralyzed.Imagine a world where history but not the future changes on the will of a person who has a desire to rule the world. All this seems fiction but its the reality of...more

Imagine a world where u r not free to say what u want to say because some one has stolen your freedom of expression. Imagine a language which is contracting day by day because some one wants to make your expressions become paralyzed.Imagine a world where history but not the future changes on the will of a person who has a desire to rule the world. All this seems fiction but its the reality of our times. George Orwell had imagined all of this in the 20th cnetury itself through his masterpiece '1984'. This is a story of a time when people have been deprived of their right to expression & their language is been shortened day by day so that people can not even think of anything. and all of this done by Big Brother who rules the entire nation.The country is forced into an eternal war and people are made to believe that this war is for their betternment and earlier the conditions were far worse than they r today. and who so ever tries to raise his voice against the system is destroyed and even get disappeared and no one comes to know or retaliate for this. those who come forward are tortured like anything and are made to believe that they are wrong and whatever is being done is for their good only upto the limit that a person himself starts beliving in it. its d relaity of our tmes also where d real big brothers are trying to rule us and making us believe at d same time that it is for d good of the world and we actually satrt believing in it.... a fascinating story of a future which has the capability to change everything from past to present to future.   hide

Its ok but its a book written more to get ideas across than anything else so its interesting and I suppose it has some good points,but some parts of it just drag pointless on and on; going into detailed explainations of something you dont want really want hear about, and that you already got in the first place!(especially the chapter with Golstein's book! uugh I swear every time I tried to read...more

Its ok but its a book written more to get ideas across than anything else so its interesting and I suppose it has some good points,but some parts of it just drag pointless on and on; going into detailed explainations of something you dont want really want hear about, and that you already got in the first place!(especially the chapter with Golstein's book! uugh I swear every time I tried to read that bit, it would find myself several pages on, not having taken in a singles word!) Also the characters really let you down! what made me keep reading was to see what would happen to them and see if they would somehow manage to beat the totalitarian system (that and the fact I had to read it for A-level! lol). I mean you would at least hope they would die fighting for what the believed in! but no! both the main characters end up being tortured and brain-washed into believing in the system! its really annoying!sorry rant over lol   hide

I like this excerpt of Isaac Asimov's review of the 'two-way TV set' and the 'Big Brother is Watching You' concepts in the book: "The great Orwellian contribution to future technology is that the television set is two-way, and that the people who are forced to hear and see the television screen can themselves be heard and seen at all times and are under constant...more

I like this excerpt of Isaac Asimov's review of the 'two-way TV set' and the 'Big Brother is Watching You' concepts in the book: "The great Orwellian contribution to future technology is that the television set is two-way, and that the people who are forced to hear and see the television screen can themselves be heard and seen at all times and are under constant supervision even while sleeping or in the bathroom. Hence, the meaning of the phrase 'Big Brother is watching you'. This is an extraordinarily inefficient system of keeping everyone under control. To have a person being watched at all times means that some other person must be doing the watching at all times (at least in the Orwellian society) and must be doing so very narrowly, for there is a great development of the art of interpreting gesture and facial expression. One person cannot watch more than one person in full concentration, and can only do so for a comparatively short time before attention begins to wander. I should guess, in short, that there may have to be five watchers for every person watched. And then, of course, the watchers must themselves be watched since no one in the Orwellian world is suspicion-free. Consequently, the system of oppression by two-way television simply will not work." Full Review here: http://www.geocities.com/ncptrory/1984.htm   hide

Written long before 1984, Orwell gives a chilling glimpse of a possible future (1984 to be exact) under a totalitarian government. The story itself is chilling. The degree of accuracy in predicting the future is chilling to the bone. The story line and the details are fictional, but the picture of complete government control is a real and present danger. The turning point in the story...more

Written long before 1984, Orwell gives a chilling glimpse of a possible future (1984 to be exact) under a totalitarian government. The story itself is chilling. The degree of accuracy in predicting the future is chilling to the bone. The story line and the details are fictional, but the picture of complete government control is a real and present danger. The turning point in the story occurs when the main character is tortured and broken by the "ministry of truth" to let truth be whatever the government says it is. However, the real tragic climax occurs when the "ministry of love" tortures him not only into a broken conversion of mind against his convictions, but betrayal of his love for Julia. His passionate plea, "Do it to Julia!" have haunted me for the 30 years since I first read this masterpiece. If anyone wants to discuss this book with me, that is the phrase I'm interested in most. The political ramifications are one thing. But that line is the crux of the book to me.   hide

So true, so current that it hurts! One of the books that times can't change unless we start learning from our mistakes. But depends on how many of us are willing to truly open our eyes and see where we are heading to, by repeating the errors of the past into our present and maybe future. At the moment I m writing these lines, into my mind are popping some images from Gaza and images from the...more

So true, so current that it hurts! One of the books that times can't change unless we start learning from our mistakes. But depends on how many of us are willing to truly open our eyes and see where we are heading to, by repeating the errors of the past into our present and maybe future. At the moment I m writing these lines, into my mind are popping some images from Gaza and images from the Holocaust. Here is the link: http://www.tubel.ro/israel-vs-nazism-trist-dar-adevarat/ That comes to show that, maybe, Orwell's 1984 is even closer to us than we think. As we speak, our lives are under the "magic" of television, internet and we are already using abreviations in order to describe our feelings. Feelings that are bigger and stronger than "I luv/ <3 u", or "soulm8", "needu2nite". Or they should be.When was the last time you slowed down to eat dinner with thgthe family, or went on a trip,detached yourself from worries and truly lived your life?   hide