Nineteen Eighty-Four

I honestly don’t even know what to say about this. This book is a Masterpiece—a work of intellectual genius. And it may also be one of the (if not THE) most horrific book I’ve read to date.

Winston is not a heroic character. If anything, he is really quite pathetic. And I think that is what makes him so great: that he is heroic simply because he resists, in his own quiet way, the evil that surrounds him.

For most of the book, anyway.

Then, what began as a captivating dystopian about totalitarian control, ends with a discussion of free agency, asking the question, “What would it take for you to denounce everything you stand for—to denounce your very own being?”

And then it answered that question simply with, “Pain.”

((I’m show more a fairly sensitive person when it comes to violence and torture. I mean, it REALLY upsets me. So let’s just say I was NOT vibing during Part Three. Still, I can’t help but acknowledge that this book is a Masterpiece. At the very least, George certainly got his point across.))

I’m so very thankful for Objective Reality, and that my own existence (and the existence of those I love) is part of it. And also that I’m not being tortured by my worst fear until I denounce everyone I’ve ever loved. That’s good news, too.

Frick, man.

All-in-all, my experience with this book can be summed up in this: that I came here for a good time no and I’m honestly feeling so attacked rn. show less

After re-reading the book during this turbulent year I am even more afraid where is our society heading to.

I was always told that Orwell's and Huxley's views on the society are opposites. Personally I think this is not true. Huxley's view of Brave New World where opiates and drugs are used to control the society is just the continuation of the Orwell's world-view. In order to control the people through drugs people first need to be broken and brought into submission. And this can be done only through the means as portrayed by Orwell.

It is truly remarkable how author from early decades of 20th century managed to capture nature of humankind. Effect television and later explosion of communications have on society, constant strategy of show more tension (was cold war, then terrorism, now it is (gasp!omg!) disease panic) destroys the people from within, dulls them, creates Stockholm like syndrome between themselves and authority abusing them, perverse relationship in which people are grateful when only one percent of their rights and freedoms are returned. If anything Orwell shows how easy dictators come to power when society allows them (Animal Farm is the other book from the same author and on the same subject that I wholeheartedly recommend).

Who cannot make the parallels between Thought Police and propaganda machine so ready to destroy people with this year's (better said this decade's) cancel culture and de-facto control of both spoken and published word (new-speak anyone? so many new words to be used and not to be used otherwise person is declared as hater and his actions as hate-speech). So many idiotic events that draw attention from actual social problems and cause so much confusion it is incredible. That constant need to be right, right no matter what, is not unlike Thought Police's perverse approach to re-education - after breaking the person up and finally forcing him or her to accept the rule of the Party then they kill them. It rings so true in these days of almost cult-like worshiping of ideas and people - it is us or them, no middle ground, no compromise. You have to obey and by that not just bow, but truly obey and believe the ideas and actions imposed on you. Otherwise physical punishment or loss of means to live is just around the corner.

If anything this year showed that Orwell's view of the humanity rings true almost 70 years later. Humanity allows itself to be treated as dough by immoral and ruthless people (be it dictators using raw power or those using science to achieve control) who take the chance to mold it into something that is less than itself.

I hope people come to their sense at some point in time.

Excellent book, full of warnings that have unfortunately fallen on deaf ears of so many for so many years. Worst lie ever is to say to oneself "it cannot happen to me".

Recommended.



(Original Review)

Terrifying book. Orwell truly had a knack for predicting the way human society evolves.

Read it, it will change your perception of the world (I know I am looking differently at the newspapers now :)) show less

1984 is a compelling tale of an individual's physical and intellectual battle against a totalitarian political system. Orwell renders this world convincingly, and this together with the parrallels to certain present day regimes is what makes this book so absorbing and terrifying. There are a lot of profound ideas here, relating to liberty and personal freedom, the nature of language and thought, political ideology, the structure of society, and population and individual psychology. The richness of ideas, the horror of the alternative reality, and the page turning story all contribute to setting this apart from other novels. There are very few books that everyone ought to read, but this is perhaps one, if only so that such a future could show more be avoided, and our present circumstances appreciated (though perhaps there is also the danger of this book being used as a manual for oppression). show less

At first I thought this book was satirical, I couldn't take seriously the ministry of plenty, the ministry of truth, etc. How could a society be fooled by a government who so obviously touts the lies by which it functions? Ah shoot, it got me. Doublethink, the process by which people speak around the actual truth, using language to present what the government wants them to believe, is what explained it to me. And the author adds that in order for doublethink to work properly, the thinker has to be conscious of the very lie they are believing. This book messed with my head in a way that will never be undone. I hate it. Thank you Mr. Orwell.

I suppose I should start by saying that this book is the complete antithesis of who I am as a person. I am all about creativity, combined with happy bubbly things. Yeah, Orwell and I aren't really a match made in heaven as this book is anything but that.

Most folks I've talked to have read this book in high school or college. Not me, and I'm actually glad I never did. I can't honestly imagine a pimply hormonal teen getting as much out of this as an adult who lives a life of bosses, paychecks, taxes, insurance payments, and society in general. Unfortunately, when I break it down as such, perhaps Orwell is just hitting a little too close to home, especially these days. When you think of the number of ways that we're tracked now - via show more location services on cell phones, iPads, computers...when every government agency tracks you and then this information (correct or not) seems to find its way to a Google search? Yeah, maybe Orwell knew something we didn't?

As for the story itself, I understand that it's listed as a classic, but seriously...this is sort of horrifically scary, right????? I mean, we've got some torture going on, major mind control, and who the heck knows which people are on which side and who you can trust? I actually found myself liking Winston at the beginning because, let's face it, he's narrating, and he seems rational. However, toward the end? I was almost convinced he WAS delusional and psychotic. Thanks again, George, for making me wonder about reality. You'd think I would have bonded with Julia, but she was basically all about the sex. I just didn't see much other use for her other than to provide an opportunity for a change of scenery.

Mind you, with all the twistedness of the story, the most horrific part was the scene in Room 101. Winston and I would have had the EXACT SAME experience here, and I was almost screaming in my car as I listened to the audiobook of this. Wanted to die.

Orwell summed up his psychotic thriller/classic/horror novel with one of the best quotes around. He's a genius. A twisted, demented, scary one, but genius. show less

This is a re-read of one of the great literary classics of the 20th century which I first read at school. In fact I think it is arguably the seminal novel of the 20th century in its depiction of a totalitarian society and totalitarian mental attitudes and practices. People sometimes claim that aspects of contemporary western societies are becoming like this, particularly in terms of surveillance, but I think this is a very superficial comparison; I think such claims fail to understand the all pervasive nature of totalitarianism, as distinct from illiberalism or authoritarianism, as practiced in Oceania, the closest equivalents to which have been Stalin's USSR at the time the novel was written, and North Korea now. It is a seminal and show more gripping novel about freedom and how human beings react and behave and think, and how that can be moulded and distorted. I felt the drama and horror of it anew even though I am very familiar with the plot and narrative and can recall many chunks of the texts off by heart from previous readings. Everyone should read this. show less

What can I say? I both love and hate this book, which may be a form of doublethink. Even having read it before, I was still rooting for Winston Smith to retain his humanity ... but alas. What struck me in particular this read-through was how blatantly the things that will happen to Winston are stated throughout the book. It's more than mere foreshadowing: From the beginning, we get actual description of the sorts of things that Winston ends up having to endure (see some of the earlier quotes listed below). The mantra that the result is concurrent with the act is thematically reinforced, which makes the story even more chilling with a second reading, at least for me. O'Brien's obviating statement upon first entering Winston's cell ("You show more knew this, Winston.... Don't deceive yourself. You did know it — you have always known it.") seems directed more at the reader than at the character: We knew what was going to happen, we read what was going to happen, we were told nothing else ever happens, yet we still hoped and deceived ourselves that it would not happen.

Without getting to much into modern politics, there's some interesting comparisons that can be made today. For example, privacy concerns about products like Google Glass, which are basically telescreens for your face — especially in light of Google's fight with the FBI over "National Security" letters, which are basically non-court-reviewed subpoenas that nobody's allowed to talk about and, thus, don't really exist.... Or the relatively new legal "mosaic theory" of surveillance where at some vaguely magical point a certain amount of public scrutiny by police violates 4th Amendment rights, but in a stunning display of Sorites Paradoxism, nobody (including SCOTUS) can really determine where that point is, and thus, it effectively doesn't exist.

On a personal note, I read it on my telesc— err, iPad. This is the first ebook where I've actually spent a bit of effort highlighting quotes and passages in that medium. Then, stupidly I removed the ebook from my iPad. Fortunately, when I synced it back, all my highlights were still in existence. Given that providential event and the effort I went through, I now present:


A List of Things I Highlighted in 1984

The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. (I'm thinking of Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy, titled "The Pack," here...)

At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration, and Big Brother seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector, standing like a rock against the hordes of Asia, and Goldstein, in spite of his isolation, his helplessness and the doubt that hung about his very existence, seemed like some sinister enchanter, capable by the mere power of his voice of wrecking the structure of civilisation.

He hated her because she was young and pretty and sexless, because he wanted to go to bed with her and would never do so, because round her sweet supple waist, which seemed to ask you to encircle it with your arm, there was only the odious scarlet sash, aggressive symbol of chastity.

Winston woke up with the word 'Shakespeare' on his lips.

All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and re-inscribed exactly as often as was necessary.

It struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones...

Orthodoxy means not thinking — not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.

Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word.

...in moments of crisis one is never fighting against an external enemy, but always against one's own body.

But before death (nobody spoke of such things, yet everybody knew of them) there was the routine confession that had to be gone through: the grovelling on the floor and screaming for mercy, the crack of broken bones, the smashed teeth and bloody clots of hair. Why did you have to endure it, since it was always the same?

Some kinds of failure are better than other kinds, that's all.

[People incapable of understanding orthodoxy] could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane.

Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter: only feelings matter.

They can make you say anything — anything — but they can't make you believe it.

They could lay bare in the utmost detail everything that you had done or said or thought; but the inner heart, whose workings were mysterious, even to yourself, remained impregnable.

At present nothing is possible except to extend the area of sanity little by little.

Nevertheless the dangers inherent in the machine are still there.

The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.

But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer. From the point of view of the Low, no historic change has ever meant much more than a change in the name of their masters.

Inequality was the price of civilisation.

The essence of oligarchical rule is not father-to-son inheritance, but the persistence of a certain world-view and a certain way of life, imposed by the dead upon the living. A ruling group is a ruling group so long as it can nominate its successors.

For the secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one's own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes.

Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad.

"You don't think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you?" (Parsons)

In the face of pain, there are no heroes...

It is not easy to become sane.

Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.

You must stop imagining that posterity will vindicate you, Winston. Posterity will never hear of you.

We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him.

What happens to you here is forever.

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.

One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

Reality is inside the skull.

Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain.

It was all contained in that first act. Nothing has happened that you did not foresee.

For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself.

To die hating them, that was freedom.



And Finally...

I'll note with hints of both humor and chagrin, that I once controlled the domain prolefeed.org.

An extended version of this review is available at my website, www.curtisweyant.com. show less