Name: 1984 Revisited
Rating: 4.105661298194241 (4098 reviews)
ISBN: 9780060806606

Irving Howe

Totalitarianism in Our Century

1984 Revisited

abrildarocha

Evie Sprite

Neesha Balapitiya 

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

Moira

Lucik

Franzi

To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free. when men are different from one another and do not live alone-to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone: From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from e age of Big Brother, from the age of doublethink-greetings!

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past”

Abby

He tried to squeeze out some childhood memory that should tell him whether London had always been quite like this. 

It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. 

…he couldn’t remember: nothing remained of his childhood except a series of bright-lit tableaux, occurring against no background and mostly unintelligible.

It was curious that he seemed not merely to have lost the power of expressing himself, but even to have forgotten what it was that he had originally intended to say. 

In a lucid moment Winston found that he was shouting with the others and kicking his heel violently against the rung of his chair. 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. Within tirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. 

And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blow lamp.

literally rip your own dick off and bleed out winston you unloveable fuck :

Suddenly, by the sort of violent effort with which one wrenches one's head away from the pillow in a nightmare, Winston succeeded in transferring his hatred from the face on the screen to the dark-haired girl behind him. Vivid, beautiful hallucinations flashed through his mind. He would flog her to death with a rubber truncheon. He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like Saint Sebastian. He would ravish her and cut her throat at the moment of climax. Better than before, moreover, he realized wby it was that he hated her. 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. 

you hate women because you cant get any you incel fuck. ewwww

He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones. It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy. But this particular girl gave him the impression of being more dangerous than most.  

George Orwell

George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life with extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity. “Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith 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. Lionel Trilling said of Orwell’s masterpiece, “1984 is a profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book. It is a fantasy of the political future, and like any such fantasy, serves its author as a magnifying device for an examination of the present.” Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s novel remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.

1984

After a lifetime of hearing references from this book, I finally got round to reading it. I believe everyone should read this book, and any country that tries to ban or restrict it 

I enjoyed the pacing and the world building, and Orwell does a great job at depicting the psychology of those under authoritarian rule, along with dealing with greater themes such as class. 

Although I do think this is rightfully named a classic, I rated it 4 as I found aspects a bit tedious, such as the drawn-out sections on Newspeak, and the last section of the book was a bit underwhelming for me. But overall, a must-read. 

George

After a lifetime of hearing references from this book, I finally got round to reading it. I believe everyone should read this book, and any country that tries to ban or restrict it cough cough USA only makes its message more poignant. 

I enjoyed the pacing and the world building, and Orwell does a great job at depicting the psychology of those under authoritarian rule, along with dealing with greater themes such as class. 

Although I do think this is rightfully named a classic, I rated it 4 as I found aspects a bit tedious, such as the drawn-out sections on Newspeak, and the last section of the book was a bit underwhelming for me. But overall, a must-read. 

Hanna rafeeque 

a novel

Nineteen eighty-four

Felix Micah

My favorite book I’ve read recently. Didn’t have any problems with it other than a little bit of disorientation during parts towards the end, but I feel as though it’s purposefully reflective of Winston’s state so I’d say it did its job. I am not of the common opinion that it is an overrated book, I find it to be thought provoking and to have remarkably horrifying modern real-world parallels that show how brilliant Orwell was with his foresight

Carson Cardell

Dani

Melissa Cometto

"1984" di George Orwell è un romanzo distopico pubblicato nel 1949 che ha lasciato un segno indelebile nella letteratura contemporanea e nel pensiero politico. Uno dei temi centrali del romanzo è la manipolazione della verità. Orwell descrive un mondo in cui il linguaggio stesso è controllato attraverso la costruzione della “Neolingua" (o novalingua), una lingua progettata per ridurre la possibilità di pensiero critico. La famosa frase "La guerra è pace, la libertà è schiavitù, l'ignoranza è forza" rappresenta la perversione del linguaggio e della logica che caratterizzano il regime totalitario. La sorveglianza costante e la mancanza di privacy sono altrettanto inquietanti. La figura del Grande Fratello è un simbolo del controllo che il governo esercita sui cittadini, portando a una società in cui la paura e la paranoia sono all'ordine del giorno. Orwell adotta uno stile diretto e chiaro, ma carico di inquietudine. La sua scrittura riesce a trasmettere un forte senso di impotenza e di desolazione, coinvolgendo il lettore in una riflessione profonda sui temi affrontati. L’uso di un narratore in terza persona permette di esplorare sia il mondo esterno che i pensieri interiori di Winston, creando un legame empatico con il protagonista. "1984" è molto più di una semplice opera di fiction; è un avvertimento terribile sulle conseguenze di un potere incontrollato e sulla vulnerabilità della libertà umana. Le sue tematiche continuano a essere rilevanti e attuali, in un’epoca in cui la disinformazione, la sorveglianza e la manipolazione dei media sono all'ordine del giorno. "1984" è un romanzo che merita di essere letto e studiato con attenzione. La sua capacità di far riflettere su questioni cruciali riguardanti la società e l'individuo lo rende un capolavoro intramontabile, che invita a interrogarsi sul nostro mondo e sul futuro che ci attende. Avevo letto questo libro in ambito scolastico, ma vi invito a fare una rilettura… Potreste trovare molti più punti in comune col presente di quanto pensiate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Robert Harris

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Sindhujaw

I read George Orwell's Nineteen eighty four, a dystopian fiction. It was published in 1949. It's set in the future year 1984, when the civilization has been damaged by war, conflict and revolution. ⠀ ⠀ This book illustrates totalitarianism, mass surveillance of cities. I was actually traumatized, when I started the second part. The first part just moves with the protagonist who enjoys his love life amidst all the political dilemmas. ⠀ ⠀ The second part! Oh my goodness! It's so hard to actually get into it. But when I finished it, it hit me hard; it was really depressing and terrifying. I mean how this man actually wrote a book like this. How he imagined a government that controls the people's mind and information?⠀ ⠀ I read somewhere that this is George Orwell's last book and he was in an urge to finish this one. Though it was criticised when first published, now it is celebrated as his masterpiece. ⠀ ⠀ I strongly recommend this book to all who love politics.

Testo inglese a fronte Pubblicato nel 1949 e inizialmente progettato con il titolo L’ultimo uomo in Europa, 1984 proietta nel futuro uno stato totalitario, Oceania, che include al proprio interno l’Inghilterra. I suoi cittadini sono indottrinati e controllati da un governo invisibile che attraverso teleschermi spia ogni momento della loro vita pubblica e privata. In questo mondo spaventoso e angosciante, teso tra fantascienza e profetico realismo, Winston Smith, un uomo qualunque, lotta per tenere viva la fiamma della propria identità e della propria coscienza, in uno sforzo disperato che non potrà che portarlo all’annientamento. Capolavoro assoluto di uno dei più attuali autori del Novecento, 1984 è un monito perenne contro i totalitarismi di oggi e di domani.

Mi compita fue torturado por un culo (2+2=5)

Emilio Treviño Resendiz

Poor Winston, he deserves better 😔🤞🏼

maye

Liza

XAVIER COSTE

Классика в своем жанре, по-моему мнению заслуженно, также обязательно к прочтению

Jokude

It’s everything you’ve heard of and what it’s been hyped up to be. It takes you into the mind and the feeling of life under an authoritarian surveillance state, and how thoughtful rebellion is quashed under those conditions.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I wasn’t sure how they would wrap up the ending, but its conclusion has truly stuck with me and is an experience to make you grateful for the freedom and privilege we have in this life. 100% worth reading when you can.

Kay so Queso

Excellent. A classic.

It’s everything you’ve heard of and what it’s been hyped up to be. It takes you into the mind and the feeling of life under an authoritarian surveillance state, and how thoughtful rebellion is quashed under those conditions.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I wasn’t sure how they would wrap up the ending, but its conclusion has truly stuck with me and is an experience to make you grateful for the freedom and privilege we have in this life. 100% worth reading when you can.

1984 is a dystopian novel that predicts the future, a society dominated by "Fake News" where there is no way for the people to know what is true and what is not. It has been named as one of the best English language novels of the past century.

1984 George Orwell - Large Print Edition

As much as this book is a critique on authoritarian control and censorship, it’s also a criticism on capitalism and unchecked wealth. And George Orwell, what a sick motherfucker. I felt the nourishing quality of their love and then this disgusting, dark, and wretched feeling of the ending. Like what level of depressed are you to be able to make this bs??

Michelle Dsouza

First read it in school, reread it at least 4 times since, and it still hits hard. 1984 is a dystopian classic set in a world where the government controls everything: information, language, history, even private thoughts. We follow Winston Smith, a man trying to survive inside a system built on surveillance, fear, and propaganda, where truth is something you’re told, not something you discover. It’s a tense, unsettling book, and it’s meant to be. What keeps me coming back to it is how sharp and chilling the ideas are. Orwell doesn’t just describe a scary future, he shows how power works when it’s unchecked: how people can be manipulated, how reality can be rewritten, how language can be used to shrink what you’re even allowed to think. It’s the kind of book that makes you pause mid-page because you realize you’ve seen versions of these tactics in real life, just packaged differently. The last time I reread it was 2016, and even then it felt painfully relevant. Honestly, it still is. It’s not an “enjoyable” read in a cozy way, but it’s absolutely a necessary one. Poignant, disturbing, and unforgettable.

Natalija

depiction of what could've happened if the government succeeded in gaslighting and manipulating their people. 

1984, published in 1949, is a dystopian and satirical novel. It revolves around Winston Smith, who lives in a nation called Oceania, in a province called Airstrip One, which represents present-day England. This state is controlled by the Party, headed by a mysterious leader who is addressed as Emmanuel Goldstein, also known as the Big Brother. The Party watches every single move that Smith and other citizens make. The nation's language and history is forcefully changed for the benefit of the Party. A new language, Newspeak, is being compulsively implemented to ensure works that have anything to do with political rebellion are omitted. In Oceania, even rebellious thoughts are illegal and are said to be the worst of all crimes. The people are suppressed and any form of individuality is not tolerated, including love and sex. Smith works as a low-ranking member of the Party who alters historical records. He hates the Party and thus buys an illegal diary in which he pens down his thoughts. He meets Julia, a coworker, who seems to been romantically inclined towards him. He however doubts that she is a Party spy who will get him imprisoned for his 'thoughtcrimes'. Her love turns out to be true and they have a covert affair. Smith's hatred for the Party grows day by day and he is convinced that a powerful Party official O'Brien is actually trying to overthrow the present government with the help of a secret group named the Brotherhood. As the story goes on, readers learn the twists and turns that life in Oceania has in store for Smith. He faces terror, betrayal, freedom, and a broken spirit. 1984 is the author's haunting vision of the future. The book has been adapted into television programmes, films, radio broadcasts and plays. In 2003, the book was number 8 on BBC's survey The Big Read. It was 6th and 13th on the reader's and editor's list of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, respectively. In 2005, it was added to the 100 Best English Language Novel from 1923 to 2005 by TIME magazine. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell (1903-1950), was an English author and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism. In addition to his literary career Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922-1927 and fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1937. He was severely wounded when he was shot through his throat. Orwell and his wife were accused of 'Rabid Trotskyism' and tried in absentia in Barcelona, along with other leaders of the POUM, in 1938. However by then they had escaped from Spain and returned to England. Between 1941 and 1943, Orwell worked on propaganda for the BBC. In 1943, he became literary editor of the Tribune, a weekly left-wing magazine. He was a prolific polemical journalist, article writer, literary critic, reviewer, poet and writer of fiction, and considered perhaps the twentieth century's best chronicler of English culture. Orwell is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) and the satirical novella Animal Farm (1945)-they have together sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author. His 1938 book Homage to Catalonia, an account of his experiences as a volunteer on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War, together with numerous essays on politics, literature, language, and culture, are widely acclaimed. In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of 'The 50 greatest British writers since 1945'.

Soph

Library Edition

Rushikesh Gaikwad

Parts in 1984 that stood out to me and gave me Deja Vu:

"It was always at night--the arrests invariably happened at night. The sudden jerk out of sleep, the rough hand shaking your shoulder, the lights glaring in your eyes, the ring of hard faces round the bed. In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word. (From Chapter 1 of Part 1).

"6079 Smith W! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! That's better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me!" (From Chapter 3 of Part 1)

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." (Chapter 7, Part 1)

The entire passage about the Inner Party is important but i want to focus on "The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought." (Chapter 9, Part 2)

" 'Down with Big Brother!' Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems. Between you and me, old man, I'm glad they got me before it went any further. Do you know what I'm going to say to them when I go up before the tribunal? 'Thank you,' I'm going to say, 'thank you for saving my before it was too late.' "

"It was my little daughter," said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride."

Susan

Parts in 1984 that stood out to me and gave me Deja Vu:

"It was always at night--the arrests invariably happened at night. The sudden jerk out of sleep, the rough hand shaking your shoulder, the lights glaring in your eyes, the ring of hard faces round the bed. In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word. (From Chapter 1 of Part 1).

"6079 Smith W! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You're not trying. Lower, please! That's better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me!" (From Chapter 3 of Part 1)

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." (Chapter 7, Part 1)

The entire passage about the Inner Party is important but i want to focus on "The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought." (Chapter 9, Part 2)

" 'Down with Big Brother!' Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems. Between you and me, old man, I'm glad they got me before it went any further. Do you know what I'm going to say to them when I go up before the tribunal? 'Thank you,' I'm going to say, 'thank you for saving my before it was too late.' "

"Who denounced you?" said Winston.

"It was my little daughter," said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride."

(Chapter 1, Part 3)

I’m starting to realise the classics are classic for a reason lol 

amy isabella

One of the most unforgettable allegories of all time. The blackest mirror a reader will ever peer into.

Blake Dickson

I know a sound is still a sound around no one

I didn’t live through 1984, but somehow… it feels like I’m living 

 it. Surveillance, manipulation, thought control, things that once felt distant now feel eerily familiar. It’s not just a book about a dystopia.

It’s a manual the world seems to be quietly following, one update at a time.

Tanishq Khandelwal

I didn’t live through 1984, but somehow… it feels like I’m living in it. Surveillance, manipulation, thought control, things that once felt distant now feel eerily familiar. It’s not just a book about a dystopia.
It’s a manual the world seems to be quietly following, one update at a time.

1984 Revisited Totalitarianism in Our Century

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