Nineteen Eighty-Four by

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever...

This 75th Anniversary Edition includes:

• A New Introduction by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Take My Hand, winner of the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Fiction
• A New Afterword by Sandra Newman, author of Julia: A Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching...

A startling and haunting novel, 1984 creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions—a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

• Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read •

Reviewed by clementine on

4 of 5 stars

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I feel like everything I could possibly say about this book has been said many times, and so much more eloquently than I could ever put it. First and foremost, this book isn't like any dystopian fiction I've ever read. Every other novel in the same genre pales in comparison. 1984 is wholly devastating, horrifying, and downright depressing. Its scope is remarkable and the various details of life in Oceania are chilling and really amazing. The ending is just as horrifying as the rest of the book. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of how Wintson hated Julia at first but ended up falling in love with her and trusted O'Brien from the beginning and ended up being betrayed by him. I feel like that is just very indicative of the society/dynamic in the novel - your only choice is to go on instinct, but instinct isn't infallible.

This is really scattered and the opposite of thorough but I just feel like I can't add anything that hasn't already been said.

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  • Started reading
  • 25 January, 2012: Finished reading
  • 25 January, 2012: Reviewed