1984

Probably the most bleak and terrifying book I have ever read and becomes more relevant with time, which is a first in literature.

It might not be a brilliant book in terms of style, but it's surely one of the few books that defines the twentieth century. It had a relatively narrow meaning before the year 1984 actually arrived, and now delivers a different message. It makes my school students think, and along with Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale shows how language can and does control us. And the ending is as powerful (and as depressing) as anything else you care to mention...

I read this book well before 1984. Never imagined that anything like "big brother" could happen in the US. George Orwell saw the future, a couple of decades later than he thought.

Oh how prophetic is this book! Doesn't our government do much the same, only without being so obvious about it. We have our mysterious enemy, we are tracked and watched by machines every way we turn.

You do know that during the 1500s and 1600s, wars were still embarked on for political expediency? The Tudors decided to joust with France and Spain fairly frequently. It's a pattern that has formed and reformed throughout history - it isn't something new. There is always a bad guy and always a good guy - and it's debatable who does the most damage. :)

Every good patriot should read 1984 at least once.

I thoroughly agree with you.

It's difficult to work out how I really feel about '1984'. It was a set text at school, and I didn't really like it. I was never struck by any of the ideas. Not long after, I read 'We' by Zamjatin, of my own accord, and found it was a very similar book that I much preferred. In fact, Orwell acknowledges 'We' as an influence.

Nowerdays, it's just hard to separate my feelings for the book from my feelings towards the general culture of kneejerk comparisons to it. 'Orwellian' is just such an easy, trite phrase - of course many aspects of a society, particularly with authoritarian leanings, are going to remind you of '1984' - all dystopias contain strong elements of what is wrong with the world today. It's like if every youth crime or harsh prison regime was ruefully referred to as 'Burgessian'. It's not as if Orwell was visionary - these things were around, in different forms, in his time too. All he did in '1984' was what any sci-fi writer does - extrapolate already existing devices into more powerful, technological ones.

So, as I say, I find it difficult to separate my feelings from the book from my feelings towards that cult of often self-righteous journalism that holds up Orwell as a seer and refers to him, I imagine, as a cheap way of making themselves look educated, sensitive and socially aware.

I don't think this is Orwell's best book, but I do understand why it's made it into so many lists of best 100 books. The idea, is indeed, what I think trascends and makes it meaningful, even more so today. I think the book's characters are not as well developed as in other books of his, but still, the book brings up interesting points that are pertinent today.

The book was interesting, but I’m not sure it is number 13 of the top 100 books in English. Orwell has some really great ideas and some rather poignant observations about life in the 21st century. However, the way the story is told is a bit crappy. One chapter in particular which is a chapter out of a book that the protagonist is reading. I think when people speak of “Big Brother” most people don’t really know what that means. They think of spying, but in fact it is the ability to control the minds of the populace; a bit more than espionage. I really like Orwell and enjoyed “Down and Out In Paris and London”, “Animal Farm” more than “1984”. I have read “Animal Farm” and “Brave New World” recently and the three books have sort of blended together. The idea of keeping a war going and keeping the populace scared are rather eerie reminders of the War on Terrorism. So in all, the book was an interesting read, not a particularly enjoyable one, though.

Funnily enough, the bit from 1984 that stands out is the chapter from the book that the protaganist is reading - its almost as though Orwell had these ideas he wanted to write down but couldn't be bothered working them into the storyline :). I still think its better than Animal Farm, which i didn't really enjoy ...

We were actually talking about this bit the other day - totally agree, its almost like Huxley felt he had to get this into the book but didn't quite know how!

A lot of "Big Idea" books seem to have this problem. How exactly do you work the Big Idea into the story? Have you ever seen it work successfully? I'm not sure that I ever have...

I thought it was ok. I think Orwell has much more interesting stuff to read, though. It is more of a cultural icon, the "Big Brother" idea... but I think it has been misrepresented.

somehow now I'm sad it didn't turn out this way

its a classic