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1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four

Author: George Orwell
Creator: Ben Pimlott
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

36 reviews
Sales Rank: 119

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9

ISBN: 014118776X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780141187761
ASIN: 014118776X

Publication Date: January 29, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.

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Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Is it relevant today? June 26, 2008
I read this book having been unable to ignore the hype surrounding it. As with anything like this you usually stand to be dissapointed, but I was pleasantly surprised at how the book fitted my expectations very well.
The story is slightly sketchy in some places but this is the beauty of it - it keeps a good pace and concentrates on the authors suggestions of possible government structure in 1984 rather than centralising on the characters too much.

Where the characters are heavily detailed, this is to help create a tangible picture of the points the author is trying to make.

The words in our everyday use which originated from this book are taken for granted by us i.e. "Big Brother", "Room 101", And the author paints a powerful picture of their meaning.

Whilst writing this book in the 1940's, George Orwell obviously tried to predict the kind of technology we would be using by 1984 - and this must have seemed a world away for him. However, by 1984 the technology he had spoken of was easily possible and currently is far surpassed.

The overall setting of the story seems (at points) impossible to comprehend, but when you break down each part of Oceanic society and the circumstances that created it, it is generally easy to see "some" similarity with our own situation in the 21st century.

5 out of 5 stars

1984 - 1948 - 2008 - whenever May 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Was he writnig about a distant time or the time he lived in ? Orwellcould never know that he was only 20 years out with his CCTV and his national lottery, there is lots of this book that will hurt your head if you try to understand it too much. All i do understand is that perhaps i dont really understand this book at all, because it can mean many different thing to many diffent people. That is Orwell's master stroke he never knew his books would still have an impact after the fall of dictatorships but his books speak more to us now than perhaps they ever did

5 out of 5 stars

Gut wrenching May 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is one of my all time favourite books. It has a wonderful air of tension which builds ratchet like throughout the book and makes even the most banal things seem creeping and evil. What is brilliant about this book is that it ricochets between the boredom of living in grinding poverty under a big brother fascistic state where everything is proscribed, and the absolute terror of the same. It is so accurate in its emotional descriptions it's chilling.

Winston, the hero is just an ordinary man whose gesture towards freedom starts as something so simple and ends as something so momentous and tragic you can't quite believe where it all started. The layers of meaning and symbolism in the book help to build up this crescendo type movement and you can read it and read it and still be profoundly affected and amazed by something new.
It has some of the best lines of any book and is gut wrenchingly horrible whilst being unspeakably brilliant all at the same time.

5 out of 5 stars

scary May 19, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Its scary how this book could be almost documentary like, everything, although this is almost like a sci fi novel, you can imagine being real. There was so much detail, so much to think about it leaves you realing for ages after. Can't say enough good things about this book. Its every bit as good as its reputation (which is rare) so I suggest everyone reads it, if only to find out what happens when the real big brother is watching.

3 out of 5 stars

Lived up to the hype but... April 24, 2008
I bought this book a while ago and it's sat on my bookshelf waiting for a time when I was in the mood to read it. That time came and I read the book in a couple of days. It wasn't one of those books which you can't put down because it's just so gripping, but it's one of those books which you need to find out what happens so you just keep reading and reading.
Everyone has heard of this book and I think, after reading it, it does live up to the hype. Considering this book was written in 1949, Orwell's concept of how the future could be is quite amazing.
I've only given it 3 stars because I thought the 'extracts' from The Book were too long and boring. We had gained most of that knowledge from the rest of the story so 10 pages of 'extract' was just a bit much. I ended up skimming these pages just to get back to the story. Also, I thought it ended quite abruptly, there was quite a lot of scene setting and build up at the beginning of the story which I thought set up the book well, but it was all over very quickly. I thought it could have ended better.
All in all, I'm very glad I've read this book and would recommend everyone does as it does change your outlook on things...