Review Tuesday: 1984 by George Orwell

1984

GEORGE ORWELL

The story of Winston Smith and his journey to rebel against IngSoc.

George Orwell lived in a time that saw the rise and fall of despots. The growth of socialism around the world. The loss of human liberty. It clearly terrified him to the point that he wrote this book as well as ANIMAL FARM (published in 1945, reviewed HERE). 

Published in 1949, Orwell depicted a bleak future of the world come the year 1984, hence the title. Written from the perspective of Winston Smith, an average man who works falsifying history, creating the official version, for The Party and Big Brother.  

The rest of the book is a cautionary tale about what can happen when the government grows so big that it devours individual freedom and liberty. Forget about freedom of speech, you could even be vaporized for having the wrong thought. 

In this day and age when you hear so many people asking for the government to get bigger and take care of everyone and to even out the playing field, it sends a chill down your spine while reading this book. In this election year, this book makes very compelling reading. There is just so much that is brilliant about the writing I can't even imagine where to begin. I can go on forever analyzing every single word in the book. Orwell put to words the process of how good intentions led to enslaving the entire planet with socialism and never-ending war. Now more than ever every single person NEEDS to read this book. You might see why some people say, "1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual!!!"