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1984
Availability: This title usually ships within 24 hours.
by
George Orwell
List Price: $5.95
Our Price: $4.76
You Save: $1.19
(20%)
Mass Market Paperback
Reissue edition
(May 1990)
New Amer Library;
ASIN: 0451524934
Avg. Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
;
Number of Reviews: 87
Customers who bought this book also bought:
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars Number of Reviews: 87
ariel_nala@hotmail.com from
Vancouver, B.C., Canada , 06/11/98, 4 out of 5 stars
1984 is a warning to the future.
If society continues its
cownward spiral, it just may end up as Orwell's 1984. One need look
only to the Russian Revolution and Russia under the rule of Stalin to
see that such events are possible. There are very close parallels
between Stalinist Russia and 1984. Josef Stalin is much like Big
Brother. Once he has sighted opposition to him or intellect, he erases
that person from existence. This happened thousands upon thousands of
times in Russia while Stalin was in control. The people in 1984 live
life much like the peasants in Russia. They get meager rations of
tasteless food, if they get any at all. One more parallel between the
two is that the torture chambers of Big Brother are much like that of
the Gulags of Stalin. Society should take examples from history to
prevent the world from turning into the one in 1984. It seems to me
that this book is a warning to society. Examine the past, learn from
it, and control the future. It is fortunate that Stalinist Russia came
to and end when he died. Next time, the world may not be so lucky.
kathy@emeraldis.com from South Carolina , 06/11/98, 5 out of 5 stars
The single most startling book I've ever encountered.
Nineteen-Eighty Four is by far one of the best novels I have ever
read. It struck me at first as a simple novel of the so-called
future, but I then came to see the more subtle aspects of the human
psyche. By the end of the novel, the reoccurance of "War is
Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength" begin to
ironically make sense. Anyone who reads this novel will begin to
realize a type of "Big Brother" in their own life.
Ananda Gupta (asgupta@ibm.net) from Bethesda, MD , 06/07/98, 5 out of 5 stars
One of the best books.
I think Orwell is one of the English language's best writers. 1984 is his master-work. However, to really grasp many of the themes in 1984 one must also look at Orwell's other political writings. (There is an excellent collection of them on the Web - search for 'George Orwell' in Yahoo).
Much of what I would say about 1984 has already been said here. However, it never fails to amuse me when socialists and left-wingers seek to cast 1984 as an attack on capitalism. Even the little piece at the end of the edition offered for sale here tries desperately to protest that Big Brother and Ingsoc might also be the product of capitalism. If you believe this, ask yourself how well the words 'laissez-faire' would fit into Newspeak.
It is absolutely true that Orwell was a 'democratic socialist.' It is also absolutely true, and Orwell knew, that democracy could produce totalitarianism. 1984 is a critique of two things: relativism (the view that there is no objective truth), and the planner's mentality (that endemic to both the left and right). To think of it as a criticism of any purely economic system is just plain silly.
jasduv@edge.net from TN, USA , 06/03/98, 5 out of 5 stars
I am a fan of this work, but some take it too far.
Many
of the reviewers on this page are part of the pre-millenium paranoia
that seems to have gripped our country in a solid grasp in the last
few years. What many of the people who have joined this movement fail
to realize is that they have done just what Orwell warned against,
becoming part of a faceless movement. All that need be given to form
a mindless mob is a galant cause, and the destruction of the evil
"new world government" fits that bill perfectly. What these
people fail to realize is that the individuals trying to violate our
homes, and ultimately our brains, are the pervayors of capitalism
itself; that is the owners of huge corporate conglomerates , private
individuals that have a larger motivation than world domination
. . . greed. So, go ahead and buy this book on a computer built by a
huge monopolizing business, over an "internet" that has
exposed your personal knowledge to thousands of people (a service wich
you pay for), using a credit card which holds you constantly in debt
to a group of people which you have never even seen. Know then, that
some lessons are never learned. --This text refers to the
hardcover edition of this title.
mwslas@juno.com from Palm Spring, CA , 06/02/98, 5 out of 5 stars
He loved Big Brother
I read the book twice. Saw the movie (with Richard Burton) three
times.
Orwell's tale is the tale of our time. It is the story of a man's total loss of himself, and the story of the nature of the society that took his very soul. Smith's fight against Big Brother proves more than just futile. His fight is the direct cause of his undoing both in his loss of "freedom" to move within his restricted society and in his loss of any concept of self.
In many respects this is the ultimate horror story because after all the tyrany, torture, hate, and deceit, the greatest horror still remains inside the human psyche. Smith who could no longer believe in his lover Julia, who could no longer believe in his neighbors, who could no longer believe in the resistance & Emmanuel Goldstein, who never believed in "God," finally failed to believe any aspect of himself. What's left? "He loved Big Brother."
This is an extremely powerful book. I have only touched on one of its major themes. I highly recommend it.
lindsayr@beaverisland.k12.mi.us from Michigan, USA , 06/02/98, 3 out of 5 stars
1984 is a book that you have to be in the right mood to
read. The story line is quite boring in the beginning because there
is no real action that takes place until the near end of the book.
Even in the end, there was only a brief section that contained any
action. I enjoy books with a lot of action and this book didn't
strike any emotion in me. I think that it was because the author took
so long to get to any "good" parts that I soon lost interest
in the book.
The one part that made me cringe was the rats in the cage. I found it quite disturbing when O'Brien took the rat in the cage and attached it to Winston's face. Rats were the only thing that made Winston wary and the Thought Police took that bit of information to torture him. I also found it quite disturbing how the Thought Police battered the inmates so harshly. They would beat the inmates senseless using blunt objects as well as electricity trying to get them to confess to deeds that they were not guilty of. This was the section of the book that I enjoyed. The end of the book was quiet disappointing though. I was thinking that Winston would be murdered or "vaporized" after he completed the final step of his believing in the Brotherhood, but he wasn't. The book leads you to believe that he is sitting in a bar, waiting for there to be a message from the Brotherhood and then he all of a sudden claims to believe in the Brotherhood. I found this quite pathetic. How could a man, so set in the way he believed, be swayed so easily into complete belief of the opposite. This, in modern day, would not be likely to happen. If a person believed strongly in a issue, he could not be fully swayed to believe otherwise. This book is a good choice for people who enjoy science fiction type books, but I would not recommend it for those who enjoy high action books. 1984 does have some good scenes, but it does not seem fully realistic and believable. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
lindsaym@beaverisland.k12.mi.us from United States , 06/02/98, 2 out of 5 stars
George Orwell's novel, 1984, was very disturbing and did not do
an effective job of trying to outline the future. This novel is not at
all realistic in the sense of predicting our future. The content is
not at all relevant, because as of now, this type of situation would
never successfully happen or stay running. The government and other
surrounding powers would not let a city of this order get away with
getting rid of the past or torturing and confining people in the
manner written in the novel. The novel looked at many different
aspects of the city of Oceania. The city was under held by the Party
and Big Brother, dominating with telescreens and other various types
of imprisonment.
Winston Smith was supposed to be a devout member, but actually disliked the party and all of their rules and obligations. Throughout the novel, Winston attempted to live as a party member, but he did his best to do everything against the Party. In his diary, and also meeting at various places with Julia, Winston seemed to be going against the Party in secret and safety. But in turn, he was rightly found and punished in a cruel, cruel manner. How could anyone punish people in such a horrible manner? I cannot understand, but it was really upsetting to read.
In the city of Oceania, it seemed as if all of the people in the Party and also the Inner Party were out to get eachother and make everyone else's life horrible. Everyone snuck around pretending to believe one way or the other to trick others. By tricking others for example, Winston got into some serious trouble. The Thought Police were very sneaky in how they caught people, they set a trap and people like Winston fell right into it. It is one thing to trick people, but it is another to let them go and do things for so long, and then one day catch them and put them in the Ministry of Love where they will suffer maybe forever. The detail of the punishment in the Ministry of Love was extensive and of content that would not happen in our world today or ev! en when the book was published.
Overall this book was disturbing and unrealistic. The plot took too long to develop, and some information that was in the novel had no relevance to the rest of the story. The book may have been better, if it was pertained more to the real world, rather than a made up society. The punishment and imprisonment was way to cruel and the characters did not relate well with eachother. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
kendraw@beaverisland.k12.mi.us from us , 06/02/98, 5 out of 5 stars
George Orwell's novel, 1984, was a very unappealing book. There
was little action throughout the book until the very end. To think of
a society run in that matter is a very scary thought. You have no
emotion or thoughts of your own, but only those of which the Party has
bestowed on you. Privacy is something that most poeple take for
granted. In Oceania you have absolutly no privacy at all. Every move
you make is being watched by the Thought Police.
I admired Winston very much throughout the book until the end when he was finally so brainwashed that he actully believed that he loved Big Brother. Winston is someone who should be looked up to. He is definately a non-conformist who sticks to his beliefs and doesn't let anyone or anything take his beliefs away. In the Party even your emotions were ripped from you, but Winston's love for Julia shows that he even was able to keep his emtions from being destroyed by the Party. How could a government want to destroy an individual so much that they can not even think or feel on their own.
The Party's slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength all unfortunately could in reality make sense. Just as an example of one of them is in order to be free from say your parents you have to work and make a living for yourself which is in a way being a slave. This book has a lot of other points to ponder, but they are not ones that someone thinks about on a day to day basis.
In order to understand this novel and actually somewhat enjoy it you definately have to be in the right frame of mind. It is a bok that takes a lot of thinking about to get anything out of it. This may be a book that you have to read more than once to get the full effect because when I read it I didn't understand the point of the story for the most part. Although this wouldn't be a book that I would again. I can see where it may be a good book to read in English classes because it does have a lot of controversial points that would be good for class d! iscussions, but if you are looking for a book of leisure or fun reading this is definately not the book. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
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