The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of "negative utopia"—a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. 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.
A lot to unpack in this book. The lead character (Winston) has some pretty misogynistic tendencies, and there's not a single female character in the book with any depth whatsoever. This can be explained to some extent by the fact that it was written in the 40s, and that Winston has been subject to psychological manipulation essentially since birth.
Problematic elements aside, this provides an interesting dive into the world of psychological warfare, which remains relevant to this day.
Review of 'George Orwell\'s "1984"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A timeless classic, no less. It boggles my mind to think that it was written in 1949, almost 75 years ago! It couldn't be more relevant to the current world order.
George Orwell étire la réalité des régimes autoritaires pour en faire un régime absolu, total.
Alors oui l’Angsoc n’est pas le parti qui domine notre vie politique et non les journaux officiels ne sont pas en Novlangue… mais…
Parfois grâce à liberté de la Science-fiction on peut en exagérant sur les mécanismes de la société, nous montrer ce qu’on ne voit pas aujourd’hui comme…
Le parti qui veut le pouvoir… pour le pouvoir. La classe dirigeante du roman n’a pas vraiment beaucoup d’avantages matériels mais aucune hypocrisie ou faux semblant : le parti veut écraser l’individu pour écraser l’individu. Pas d’avenir radieux. Pas de promesse de paradis pour le travailleur, le sur-homme ou l’entrepreneur (rayez les mentions inutiles).
Le pouvoir pour le pouvoir pour toujours.
Le parti s’appuie entre autres sur la langue. Le parti s’approprie les mots, les détourne, les vides de leur substance. Cette volonté est affichée et motivée (et même expliquée en annexe).
Très pertinente lecture qui expose à nu des manipulations que l’on croise dissimulées.
Le parti s’appuie sur la surveillance. Un sujet qui a dépassé la fiction.
La grande force du récit ?
Incarner de si grand thème, un point de vue si large avec seulement trois personnages centraux.
The contributions of this book are far too grand for me to go into all details here. To make it short, I believe that Orwell provided a fitting explanation of how individual thought is suppressed under totalitarian regimes. The principles of doublethink are also used in democratic states whenever it is politically necessary to hold two conflicting opinions. I even claim that it is a politician's most essential skill to perform this mental gymnastics convincingly.
However, this propaganda does not necesarrily manage to convince everybody. Regardless of the political system, it seems that generally, the people under its influence tend to root for it. But also regardless of the system, the capacity for subversive ideas can never be eliminated. Whether this capacity is actually of any use, though, depends on the system. The dystopian world of 1984 deals with subversive thoughts in such an efficient way, that revolutionary spirit is …
The contributions of this book are far too grand for me to go into all details here. To make it short, I believe that Orwell provided a fitting explanation of how individual thought is suppressed under totalitarian regimes. The principles of doublethink are also used in democratic states whenever it is politically necessary to hold two conflicting opinions. I even claim that it is a politician's most essential skill to perform this mental gymnastics convincingly.
However, this propaganda does not necesarrily manage to convince everybody. Regardless of the political system, it seems that generally, the people under its influence tend to root for it. But also regardless of the system, the capacity for subversive ideas can never be eliminated. Whether this capacity is actually of any use, though, depends on the system. The dystopian world of 1984 deals with subversive thoughts in such an efficient way, that revolutionary spirit is crushed before it even started to materialize.
I am not that smart of a person to write a meaningful critique of this book, but if you're interested in one, Isaac Asimov wrote one in 1983 on the eve of the forthcoming year, critiquing Orwell's writing, history, politics, and its role as science fiction.
1984 is one of those cultural touchstones that stay relevant decades after it publishing, decades after the people and regimes it critiques are long dead. It's imagery and the world it paints is extremely evocative and by far carries this book, despite it's lukewarm romance plot. If anyone reads any of 1984, they should read Goldstein's book. It lays out an almost autonomous accumulation and misuse of power that remains relevant today in every country.
Review of 'George Orwell\'s "1984"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A masterpiece, as a political theory. Haunting futurology. Dense and heavy description of its society. However, i found the technology framework poorly detailed, which should act as an important pressure point, a tension instrument for the whole concept.
Review of 'George Orwell\'s "1984"' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Re-read during the pandemic. Had been meaning to do so as it became clear that its lessons were not heeded but put into practice. Fortunately, incompetence has hindered success. But the cruelty and indifference behind the actions is eerily reminiscent of big brother.
Review of 'George Orwell\'s "1984"' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This was even better in the reread. The writing is so crisp, the ideas so relevant.
I'd read critiques and was psyching myself up for disappointment, it had been years and years and years since I'd read it. Luckily I found out that - while the critiques weren't totally off the mark - they weren't anywhere near strong enough to take away from the power and timelessness of this work.
Newspeak alone makes this a legendary work: doublethink, facecrime and duckspeak are almost comically relevant today.
There are a few things that I find riveting in 1984: - The idea that information control can shape reality. I first read 1984 in college, before algorithms played such a huge role in our lives. Today the notion that influencing information access can shape a populations' perception of the world, encourage opinion, shape our behaviors is all too real. - The sense of hopelessness is absolute. I've never felt so mournful finishing a book. At the end, the world of individual liberty and hope has just completed fading from view. As Winston capitulates, the state continues its inexorable march to consuming the whole of the human experience, subverting romantic relationships, subverting the relationship between children and parents, even purging language of unorthodox concepts.
I probably shouldn't read books like this on the road. What a downer.
A frightening look at the dangers of total government control, the loss of freedom of speech and thought, and the importance of continuing this discourse before it happens to us. Some might say it already has, but this book shows how terrible it really can be.
“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” ― George Orwell, 1984
