Orwell, George Books

1984 (Signet Classics)

George Orwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1362 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters that were plastered everywhere."

The year is 1984; the scene is London, largest population center of Airstrip One.

Airstrip One is part of the vast political entity Oceania, which is eternally at war with one of two other vast entities, Eurasia and Eastasia. At any moment, depending upon current alignments, all existing records show either that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, or that it has always been at war with Eastasia and allied with Eurasia. Winston Smith knows this, because his work at the Ministry of Truth involves the constant "correction" of such records. "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'"

In a grim city and a terrifying country, where Big Brother is always Watching You and the Thought Police can practically read your mind, Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. He knows the Party's official image of the world is a fluid fiction. He knows the Party controls the people by feeding them lies and narrowing their imaginations through a process of bewilderment and brutalization that alienates each individual from his fellows and deprives him of every liberating human pursuit from reasoned inquiry to sexual passion. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime--in 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control that have since passed into our common vocabulary. More importantly, he has portrayed a chillingly credible dystopia. In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always looking for his chance. --Daniel Hintzsche

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fiction... or fact? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am a big fan of science fiction. This book might be classified as such, as it was written to be set in the future when George Orwell published it in 1949. But as time passes, this book is showing itself to not be so much of a story as it is a warning. There are already so many phrases from the book that we use, like Big Brother or Newspeak. And the way some governments are now does not bode well. This is a classic novel that more people should read as a warning, so that we can avoid this kind of dystopia.

Editorial Review:

Thought Police. Big Brother. Orwellian. These words have entered our vocabulary because of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, 1984. The story of one man's nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world ruled by warring states and a power structure that controls not only information but also individual thought and memory, 1984 is a prophetic, haunting tale.

More relevant than ever before, 1984 exposes the worst crimes imaginable-the destruction of truth, freedom, and individuality.
With a new forward by Thomas Pynchon.

Animal Farm and 1984

George Orwell

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ANIMAL FARM

George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture. It is the account of the bold struggle, initiated by the animals, that transforms Mr. Jones's Manor Farm into Animal Farm--a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. Out of their cleverness, the pigs Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball emerge as leaders of the new community in a subtle evolution that proves disastrous. The climax is the brutal betrayal of the faithful horse Boxer, when totalitarian rule is reestablished with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: But some Animals Are More Equal Than Others. . . .

1984

In 1984, London is a grim city where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

The Road to Wigan Pier

George Orwell

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Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

We have nothing to lose but our aitches 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Contrary to my expectations, this is Orwell's most personal book. He bares his soul to us. At least I think he seriously tries to be perfectly honest, if not complete.
After his success with Down and Out in Paris and London, Orwell got commissioned by the influential Left Book Club (Victor Gollancz one of the editors)to write a book about unemployment in the industrial and empoverished northern part of England. This was the mid 30s, the recent depression had led to high unemployment and endless misery in England as elsewhere.
GO went there and dug in and lived with workers and in boarding houses and crawled through mines (though he was about twice as tall as a miner should be) and talked to people and read statistics and reports.
The outcome is an oddity. Part 1 is a solid piece of investigative reporting and journalistic sociology. Chapter 1 is along the lines of Down and Out, an account of life in a boarding house in the North. Start with chapter 2 if you are squeamish. The hygienic conditions are worse than anything in Down and Out.
The following chapters in part 1 give us decsriptions of the life of miners and work in the coal mines, of the miners' leisure time, health, work safety, accidents, the housing conditions in the fearful northern slums (worse than the slums in India and Burma, says GO, because of the cold dampness), of unemployment and malnutrition, of food and fuel, of the uglyness of industrial countries at the time. The strongest chapter in this part, in my opinion, is the one on unemployment and its psychology. This subject is timeless. Even if the slums have changed, the essential condition of unemployment is surely unchanged.
So far so good and in line with the job description.
But then the man went and added a second part which deals in first place with himself, an autobiography and history of the thought of GO. Having grown up as a son of shabby genteels, he was raised on contempt for the working class. Public school education enforced the attitude. After school and after WW1, GO took a job in the imperial police in Burma and there learned to hate the system. He quit after 5 years and went into a personal crisis, a kind of horror vacui and hatred against his self. He goes on search of redemption as told with some embellishment in Down and Out. He tries to anihilate his social persona, but learns it does not work that way. The North England job gives him a chance to reconsider his position. He philosophizes about socialism and the classes. Interesting to us (at least to me), but shocking to the Left Book Club.
They decide to publish it anyway, but Gollancz adds a foreword where he thinks he needs to warn his club members that here is somebody who does not walk the line of good doctrinarism. Very odd.
By the way, did you know that quite likely fish and chips and the football pools have averted revolution in England by providing 'panem and circenses'? Says Orwell, and I love him for that kind of insight.
(This concludes my Orwell cycle, unless I decide to re-visit Burma and Catalonia.)

Editorial Review:

Although George Orwell grew up in the relative comfort of the English middle class, his socialist convictions and general sense of fairness led him to hate his country's deeply ingrained class structure. That perspective permeates this book, but the most striking elements are the quotidian details of life that Orwell observes in his first-person account of the lives of coal miners and others in the poor north of England. Wigan Pier is almost too realistic at times, as Orwell brings his unparalleled powers of observation to portray the wretched conditions of the working class. That Orwell may have slanted his reporting to make things look worse than they were is a question that does not lessen the book's interest.

1984: A Novel (Commemorative Edition)

George Orwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

1984 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 30 people found this review helpful.

I have just finished reading 1984 by George Orwell. On the surface it seems to be an interesting glance at the "future" that our grandparents envisioned. This however could not be farther from the truth. 1984 is in fact a lame, boring, and novel that attempts to be philosophical. I say "attempts" because any useful words of philosophy are lost or choked by the presence of Winston, the lame, spine-less main character who seems intent on boring the reader to death. Orwell attempts to make Winston likable but his acts of stupidity (i.e. trusting in a world where trust really should be earned) and lack or actions, other than sexual, make the reader hate him.
However, even in the face of utter boredom and disgust, there are a few good things about this book. Number one would have to be the setting. The book is set in a "future" London. It is filled with small, aging apartments where Party members live, dark slums and alleyways for nonparty members, and large, imposing government buildings. You can almost visualize this London and replace it with the London of today. Number two would have to be that this book allows Westerners to get a feel for life under a dictatorship, such as life in Russia under Stalin and Germany under Hitler. This makes it a great book to read to understand such a life and appreciate the freedoms of democracy.
In short, 1984 is nothing more than a second rate book attempting to develop profound, intelligent themes. However, these themes are lost in the monotony of the book and the reader gains only a better understanding for life under a dictatorship and appreciation for the freedoms of democracy. On a scale of 5 stars, I give this book 1 star for its attempts at philosophical content and its insights into dictatorships. It also makes a great substitute for a sleeping pill because it'll put you out like a light and is not habit forming.

1984 (Biblioteca Juvenil)

George Orwell

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Editorial Review:

En esta novela encontramos al lider unico cuya presencia es ante todo una abstraccion, la negacion del individuo, la sustraccion de la informacion: el Gran Hermano. Es, al mismo tiempo, una advertencia y un deseo. El autor ha construido una metafora del imaginario social del siglo XX, al describir un pais carcelario, vigilado por un lugar desde donde se ve a el y a todos.

1984

George Orwell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Deviates corrected for their own good 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

In a society that has eliminated many imbalances, surplus goods, and even class struggle, there are bound to be deviates; Winston Smith is one of those. He starts out, due to his inability to doublethink, with thoughtcrime. This is in a society that believes a thought is as real as the deed. Eventually he graduates through a series of misdemeanors to illicit sex and even plans to overthrow the very government that took him in as an orphan.
If he gets caught, he will be sent to the "Ministry of Love" where they have a record of 100% cures for this sort of insanity. They will even forgive his past indiscretions.

Be sure to watch the three different movies made from this book:
1984 (1954) Peter Cushing is Winston Smith
1984 (1956) Edmond O'Brien is Winston Smith
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) John Hurt is Winston smith

1984 Actors: Edmond O'Brien, Jan Sterling

!984 - A shocking future from 1949 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It is truly amazing to look at the fantastic writing minds of our grandparents' time. Post-WWII fever hung over the population and many were clueless, or even fearful for not knowing what lie before them. And, unlike many, George Orwell was a man who was not afraid to show what he interpreted as a possible future for not only our country, but the entire world.

In his novel, 1984, Orwell crafted a post-apocalyptic world in which the planet's powers had been divided into three portions; Oceania, which consisted of the Americas, Eurasia, comprised continental Europe and northern Asia, and Eastasia, which, as its title implies, covered most of the eastern Asian continent.

The story follows the life of a middle aged man named Winston Smith, another Drone of Eurasia's Main power, The conspicuous Party, whose god-like leader and people-worshiped Big Brother, control everyday life.
Except for the homes the proles, who are sort of like peasants, every room is garmented with a Telescreen, a sort of T.V. which can never be turned off or muted. Unfortunately, it can also see and hear everything going on in the room.

Most standard crime has been wiped out due to massive military force, and so the party, in its never ending search for power, falls upon people with psychic powers to detect felonous thoughts in people. These psychics are known as the thought police, and constantly track down and "delete" people who are convicted of crimethink (a word from Eurasia's new national language, called Newspeak).

Our "hero", Winston's job is to help the party erase any evidence of their saying or doing anything wrong, to control their people's minds and
opinions of the party. Ultimately, they are "Censoring the past". One day the country could be at war with Eastasia, the next, Eurasia, and the entire populace would accept that they had always been at war with Eurasia, and any thoughts otherwise was crimethink.

Winston, unhappy with this life and detesting the party, secretly purchases a pen and diary, the use of both have been outlawed for some time. This is simply the beginning in a long string of rebellion, love, and unanswered questions that keep this book in your mind whenever you are not reading it.

This is one of the most fantastic sci-fi novel experiences I have ever had, and while particular sections of the book can drag on for far too long, the character depth and plot more than makes up for it. Anyone who wishes to deny this book as a classic great has not the brains to understand it, and therefore cannot accurately judge its prowess.

1984 (Planeta Cero)

George Orwell

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Ironically assigned reading in many public schools 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

1984 is extremely influential on the way we as a society label each other and our government with names such as "Big Brother" Orwellian and such. These names like calling someone a Nazi allow us to appear to argue but actually allow us to dodge the real issues. This is fairly ironic considering the origin of such terms. Basically 1984 is set in London in the distopian future. Orwell wrote it in response to Stalin's corrupting the ideals of Socialism. He was a socialist and so was really bothered by that failure.

The plot to 1984 isn't so important as the setting. Basically the story follows Winston Smith. Smith harbors less than perfect views of his environment, for which he will one day be arrested regardless of his actions. Not loving the government (thought crime) is the only crime that is recognized. Hidden cameras and microphones are omnipresent in the city, included mandatory TVs which can't be turned off, only show a single government station and contain hidden cameras through which "thought police" may monitor what is in front of the TV at any time. Social interaction doesn't exist, since that would be considered weird and therefore criminal.

There are three classes of people in London: Inner Party members, Party members like Winston and the proletariate, who aren't watched so closely because they aren't considered human. In this world Winston goes from merely not liking the government to engaging in unusual behavior. He starts by buying decorative antiques at a proletariate shop and progresses to having a girl friend, who he can only meet with in remote country side settings on account of social interaction is not allowed by the government. It is obvious to him that he will one day be taken to the Ministry of Love, a windowless building which handles law enforcement, and never fails at getting thought criminals to love the government.

The novel is always dark. No happy beginning, no happy middle and no happy ending. Still it is important to read it before throwing around terms like "Orwellian" It has been so influential on society that it is required reading - if you want to pass your tenth grade English. Failing to read is a sign of insurgence against the government.

Spark Notes 1984

George Orwell, SparkNotes Editors

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Editorial Review:

Get your "A" in gear!

They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes™ has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles. SparkNotes'™ motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!

George Orwell's 1984: A Play

George Orwell

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

1984 Review 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Winston Smith began getting tired of his regular, everyday job for working with the Party in the future of London, England. Several countries were overcome by the US and transformed into a giant country called Oceania. In this future, set in 1984, there is a system called the Big Brother that watches over all of its citizens to make sure they do not try to rebel the government and throughout the story Winston gradually turns against the government and plans to overthrow it. Along his journey he meets a woman he supposedly falls in love with which is breaking a law and meets a man named O'Brien that is said to be working against the Party. Winston knew he was doomed with a life sentence for a while and eventually gets caught by the Party and interrogated. 1984 is a very well written book filled with great characters, mystery and vivid description to keep the reader reading the story.
The main characters in this story were Winston Smith, Julia, Mr. Parsons and O'Brien. All of the characters were different in their behavior and all wanted to accomplish different things. Winston changed began the story as partially disliking the Party but kept his thoughts to himself and he changed through the story to a man with a severe hatred of the Party and tried to demolish it. Julia was a woman that lived a dangerous life and did not care about who she associated with. She had experiences with many of the members of the Party and no one had turned her in yet. Mr. Parsons was a quiet man that did what he was supposed to do without question but eventually got caught for hating the Big Brother. O'Brien was the man that turned in Winston and Julia because he was a sort of spy. He lured Winston into breaking the law and busted him.
Mystery was a main characteristic of this story because judging by characters behavior you could not guess what the consequence would be. After Winston bought the journal from the antique store it was fairly hard to see if he would get caught and arrested because buying that item was illegal. He met with a man that Winston thought opposed the government but was not sure. Not knowing who this man was, Winston still discussed plans with him about overthrowing the government and the reader would immediately begin to wonder whom this man really was. Another event was when Winston became friends with Julia, which was breaking laws so the reader would then wonder when or if the two would get caught.
George Orwell wrote this book very descriptively to show the reader everything that was occurring at that time such as talking about all of the setting, who was in the area and other important facts. One time of his great description was when Winston and Julia were alone in their bedroom above the antique store and they heard a strange but familiar voice from inside the room. The room was empty but still they heard the voice and steps approaching them. By this time the reader could picture perfectly how the two of them would be looking in all directions while a group of unknown people would be coming for them.
1984 was an over all enjoyable book to read. Page after page was filled with something new and a new event to change the outcome of the story. The reader would think one thing would occur because of the event but another event suddenly altered the fate of the first event. This book should be read by all of the readers that enjoy futuristic books dealing with a grim government and total control of the population to lead to a revolution.
- K Hurdle