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1984 (1949)

by George Orwell

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
81,46912669 (4.23)4 / 1985
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities.
  1. 852
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (nathanm, chrisharpe, MinaKelly, li33ieg, hpfilho, Ludi_Ling, Morteana, Anonymous user)
    li33ieg: 1984, Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451: 3 essential titles that remind us of the need to keep our individual souls pure.
    Ludi_Ling: Really, the one cannot be mentioned without the other. Actually, apart from the dystopian subject matter, they are very different stories, but serve as a great counterpoint to one another.
    Anonymous user: It's essential to read Huxley's and Orwell's books together. Both present the ultimate version of the totalitarian state, but there the similarities end. While Orwell argues in favour of hate and fear, Huxley suggests that pleasure and drugs would be far more effective as controlling forces. Who was the more prescient prophet? That's what every reader should decide for him- or herself.… (more)
  2. 877
    Animal Farm by George Orwell (JGKC, hpfilho)
  3. 746
    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (readafew, hipdeep, Booksloth, rosylibrarian, moietmoi, hpfilho, BookshelfMonstrosity)
    readafew: Both books are about keeping the people in control and ignorant.
    hipdeep: 1984 is scary like a horror movie. Fahrenheit 451 is scary like the news. So - do you want to see something really scary?
    BookshelfMonstrosity: A man's romance-inspired defiance of menacing, repressive governments in bleak futures are the themes of these compelling novels. Control of language and monitors that both broadcast to and spy on people are key motifs. Both are dramatic, haunting, and thought-provoking.… (more)
  4. 411
    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (citygirl, cflorente, wosret, norabelle414, readingwolverine)
  5. 372
    A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (wosret, Anonymous user)
  6. 4114
    Lord of the Flies by William Golding (vegetarianflautist, avid_reader25)
  7. 292
    We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (hippietrail, BGP, soylentgreen23, roby72, timoroso, MEStaton, Anonymous user, Sylak, humashaikh)
    hippietrail: The original dystopian novel from which both Huxley and Orwell drew inspiration.
    timoroso: Zamyatin's "We" was not just a precursor of "Nineteen Eighty-Four" but the work Orwell took as a model for his own book.
    Sylak: A great influence in the writing of his own book.
  8. 225
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (readerbabe1984)
  9. 182
    V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (aethercowboy)
    aethercowboy: The world of V for Vendetta is very reminiscent of the world of 1984.
  10. 207
    The Giver by Lois Lowry (cflorente, readerbabe1984)
  11. 122
    Brave New World & Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley (thebookpile)
  12. 101
    Kallocain by Karin Boye (andejons, Anonymous user)
    andejons: The totalitarian state works very similar in both books, but the control in Kallocain seems more plausible, which makes it more frightening.
  13. 90
    Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (BGP, ivan.frade)
    ivan.frade: Both books talk about revolution and the people, individual rights vs. common wellness. "darkness at noon" is pretty similar to 1984, without the especulation/science-fiction ingredient.
  14. 102
    Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (infiniteletters, suzanney, JFDR)
    JFDR: 1984's Big Brother is Little Brother's namesake.
  15. 40
    The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster (artturnerjr)
    artturnerjr: If you read only one other dystopian SF story, make it this one.
  16. 51
    The Circle by Dave Eggers (JuliaMaria)
  17. 40
    The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland (Eat_Read_Knit)
    Eat_Read_Knit: Two very powerful stories of what happens when a very small cog in the machine of a dictatorship decides not to turn anymore.
  18. 40
    Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov (BGP)
  19. 40
    Swastika Night by Katharine Burdekin (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Huxley and Zamyatin are practically the canon recommendations for this work, so much so that they hardly need to be mentioned, let alone mentioned again.. Therefore, let me instead recommend a lesser-known work that likewise influenced Orwell's work: Burdekin's dystopian future-history, Swastika Night… (more)
  20. 30
    Love Among the Ruins by Evelyn Waugh (KayCliff)

(see all 59 recommendations)

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» See also 1985 mentions

English (1,163)  Spanish (25)  Italian (11)  French (11)  German (9)  Dutch (8)  Portuguese (Brazil) (8)  Swedish (8)  Catalan (6)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Portuguese (2)  Arabic (1)  Slovak (1)  Finnish (1)  Hebrew (1)  Greek (1)  Russian (1)  Turkish (1)  All languages (1,260)
Showing 1-5 of 1163 (next | show all)
One of my favorite books. Prototype of my favorite genre ( )
  maittlan | Mar 11, 2024 |
4.5 but i'll round up!
i last read this in high school, so it has been a while. i appreciated it much more this time around because i'm no longer 16 years old. ( )
  gojosatoru98 | Mar 1, 2024 |
This is a book as old as I am (1949). It’s one of the many important books that I had not read but felt I should have read, although there are aspects of it that I’ve managed to vaguely absorb (big brother, newspeak).

I found this novel repellent, with Winston an unattractive protagonist. The skin-deep love story in a dystopian world of institutionalised torture and disappearance is neither sexy nor enticing. There is an underlying sado-masochistic delight that I found distasteful. Winston’s attraction to Julia arises from sadistic fantasy and his submission to O’Brien’s sadistic torture has a masochistic inevitability to it. As O’Brien himself says,
We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. (p. 276)

Predictive novels are usually more about the present than the future and Nineteen Eighty-Four is no exception. So, it is not surprising that 1984 has been and gone without realisation, Mind you, Trump’s alternative facts or his method of fabricating fact-through-assertion and Xiang Ping’s reinvention of the Party in China make one wonder.

The emphasis Orwell places on control of language is most detailed in the Appendix but it’s also curiously unconvincing. Is this because language is a wilder beast than institutions are capable of controlling? Nevertheless, the way such insidious terms like human resources, efficiency dividend, let him go, have entered the language, point to more subtle mechanisms of control.

I found this book deeply flawed and unpleasant to read. ( )
  simonpockley | Feb 25, 2024 |
Terrifying. On the surface, it seems like pure fiction and unrealistic, but even just a basic level of deeper thinking let's you see how real this future could become, how quickly our society could develop into this. Even more so now than when it was first written. With the Internet, smart phones and all the smart products around us, we essentially are being watched and listened to at all times, it is not a far leap to see how this could turn into a way to force compliance to societal or government demands. I think it is also terrifying to see how easily the party members accept it all, with little thought of upsetting the norms. It is easy to imagine groups today being swept into group hates and desire to see others punished, in many ways, we are already there. But today there are many more small groups of focused hate for many different people and subjects, if the hate became unified against only a few subjects, 1984 could easily become reality ( )
  Crystal199 | Feb 19, 2024 |
I had a hard time getting through this book, and ultimately didn't finish it. I got to around page 100 until I stopped reading it. I just couldn't get into Winstons POV and the way the book is written. Maybe in the future I will give it a new try, but as of now, it will most likely gather dust on my bookshelf. ( )
  swedishreader | Feb 1, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 1163 (next | show all)
But writing a book like 1984, which is violent, misogynist, sadistic, grim, paranoid: that comes out of a writer’s flaws.
added by vibesandall | editThe Telegraph (Oct 15, 2023)
 
In conclusion, 1984 is not the pinnacle of dystopian novels. The insufficiency of Orwell’s writing, the blandness of the characters and the inappropriate content make this book just plain bad.
added by vibesandall | editThe Trailblazer, Camryn Lee (Oct 10, 2023)
 
"We get Arthur Calder-Marshall’s attack, in Reynolds News, on Orwell’s book and character"
added by vibesandall | editReynolds News, Arthur Calder-Marshall (Jun 22, 2019)
 
You don’t need to be Will Self to find fault with Orwell’s novel...It must surely be possible that the book can be both mediocre and brilliant, deeply flawed and enduringly great?
added by vibesandall | editThe Guardian, Sam Jordison (Nov 18, 2014)
 
George Orwell's handling of his main female character in 1984 is clichéd, clumsy, and not a little sexist.
added by vibesandall | editThe Atlantic, Noah Berlatsky (Jan 28, 2014)
 

» Add other authors (26 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Orwell, Georgeprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Audiberti, AmélieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Čepliejus, Virgilijussecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Baldini, GabrieleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Baulenas, Lluís-Antonsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Chiaruttini, AldoContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Corr, ChristopherCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Davids, TinkeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Davison, Peter HobleyIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fromm, ErichAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Holmberg, NilsTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kilpi, Tuomassecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kool, Halbo C.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Manferlotti, StefanoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mattila, RaijaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Noble, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pimlott, BenIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Prebble, SimonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pynchon, ThomasForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Qoserî, Salih AgirTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Talvitie, OivaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Verhoeven, WilAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vos, PeterIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wagenseil, KurtTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Walter, MichaelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Warburton, ThomasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
וולק, ארזTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
Quotations
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU."
"WAR IS PEACE. SLAVERY IS FREEDOM. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Freedom is the freedom to know that two plus two make four.
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two plus two might make five, but when one was designing a fun or an airplane they had to make four.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities.

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Book description
George Orwell describes a grey, totalitarian future ruled by Big Brother and his wide network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world where news is fabricated according to the authorities' wishes and people live lukewarm lives by rote.
Winston Smith, a hero who lacks heroic attributes, merely wants truth and decency. But he realises there is no hope for him in a society where privacy is non-existent and individuals with unconventional thoughts are brainwashed or executed.
Even though the year 1949 has passed, George Orwell's nightmare picture of the world we were creating remains the great modern classic portrait of a negative Utopia.
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Penguin Australia

6 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 014118776X, 1405807040, 0141036141, 0141191201, 0143566490, 0141391707

 

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