Nineteen Eighty-Four

by George Orwell

George Orwell's 1949 masterpiece describes an imagined future, set in 1984. The vision of a huge nation run by an all-ruling 'Big Brother' may well be the most feasable that has been foretold in literature. It may not have happened by1984 and, indeed, to this day. But considering that we currently live in a world with dictatorships, ruthless politicians, entire generations dumbed-down by governments and/or media, a world similar to Oceania may be lurking somewhere in the future.

The book is loosely divided in three parts, the first one setting the scene of the world Winston Smith lives in. Ruled and controlled by a government that does not only decide what the public must know and consequently believe of the present state, but also changes the past by irradicating history as needed and eliminating any traces of a person's existence, if this person 'disappears'. Winston doubts the regime and remembers a different world, a family even.

The second part revolves around an affair Winston has with Julia, who is defiant as Winston is. The lovers' dislike of and distrust in the government stems from very different reasons. Julia appears to be defiant for the sake of it and it is Winston that pushes her in the direction of a counter movement. The romance, of course, is doomed from the beginning.

The third - and most devastating - part details the imprisonment and torture of Winston. Handed to him by one O'Brian, that he formerly believed to be a member of 'The Brotherhood', a rumoured restistance group. O'Brian, meanwhile, was always working for the government and puts it upon himself to mold Winston into a mindless party member. The ultimate goal is for Winston to love Big Brother and believe every word the party says. For an unsepcified amount of time, Winston is being tortured - physically and psychologically - until he even believes that

2 + 2 = 5

An absolutely brilliant book!

10/10

"War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognise their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. The very word 'war', therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist."