An unforgettable classic of the dystopian genre, it's still unparalleled in its deep satire of totalitarian states and their systems of propaganda, by which they change the language itself to the point of absurdity, where everything's true meaning is the opposite of its name: the Ministry of Love is where you go to get tortured; the Ministry of Truth is where they fabricate lies (propaganda); and so forth. These patterns have been played out the world over, again and again, in so many countries and political parties.

I used to think that between 1984 and Brave New World, that the later got things more right because a system built on drugging your population by appealing to their happiness (as opposed to their fear) is more self-sustaining. Today, I look at the long-lasting examples in the real world of both and think, it looks like either one can be self-sustaining.If anything, this story is sad and scary because certain places (China and North Korea for instance) are so ridiculously dystopian today that, well...I really wish this book were just fiction, because of all of the very real people who have to live in these regimes.

To the degree that a country or political party mimics the ones in this book is the degree to which they should not be taken seriously in one sense--in that they should have zero credibility--but they should be taken very seriously in another sense--in that they know what they are doing and are a serious threat to the free world. Cults also follow this same pattern of mind control.

This book is also striking for calling out the war culture, where a dystopian government needs and wants continual war because the fear and extreme patriotism and brain-washing all go together so well.

The book is also just very well-written, very easy to read, hard to put down, even as it takes you down a dark path, you are drawn to keep reading it, drawn to the "horror" of it, for lack of a better word.

George Orwell is also just such a great man for inventing so many new words: Big Brother, doublespeak, newspeak, crimethink, unperson. What a great man for giving us words and imagery to convey just what it is that we see and fear our governments becoming.