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I read 1984 nearly sixty years ago; I considered it to be one of the best then and I still do today. It was a grim novel then when Orwell described a future devoid of freedom. But the story was inconceivable for an American reading it at that time; today, both government surveillance methods and required political opinions wouldn't seem that far removed from what we have. There's even a technology eerily similar to the internet.
What seemed hardest to believe was that there could be a time when resistance became utterly futile. Today, I believe that that's precisely what the current American government desires and what they are very close to being able to implement. I suggest that the reader today should try to place himself in the Western Europe or North America of the early postwar years when people can and did express any opinion they wished. The mainstream was far more inclusive.
Another early dystopic novel that I found most enjoyable is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World which I read not too longer after. Whimsical and humorous on the surface, it nonetheless reflected Huxley's fears at that time. But unlike 1984, it did offer a ray of hope. 1984 will give you nary a smile; Brave New World will allow you to laugh. I recommend them both beginning with 1984.
Twenty-five years later Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited, a look at how things had changed in the real world as described in his novel. It's nonfiction, essentially the author's analysis and reflections of his earlier predictions. It is worth your time.
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I loved 1984. It was a great year. I was 19, carefree, soon to go to Europe for the summer, had no worries, no responsibilities... life was pretty perfect.
Okay. Sorry. The book was good, too. I read it in high school (required reading) and I skimmed it again last year.
I agree, if you read 1984, it might also be good to read Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451, all around the same time. They are all portraits of a dystopian future with totalitarian government with absolute ability to monitor and control the population.
Especially in light of current events, these books carry a different weight today than they may have in other decades. Kind of chilling, actually.
I read 1984 when I was a high school freshman, actually IN 1984. At the time, it was considered sort of funny, how the book was supposed to take place in the year we were living in but it was so far removed from how our society was. Chuckle, chuckle. I remember having to write essays about how Orwell was maybe a little too paranoid with his dystopian view of the future. I re-read it in the early 2000's and found it less funny and it was hitting closer to home. Read it again last year, and some if it was almost like reading the news.
Orwell, it seems, was just off in his estimation of timeframes. But he was dead-on with regard to how tyranny takes over and will eventually control all our thoughts and actions, how the rules will always be different for the elite in a supposedly egalitarian society, and the power of propaganda.
I read it for the first time a couple months ago. I think it should be required reading for everyone. It really made me think especially since while I was reading it, there were a lot of stories about the government invading people's privacy in the news.
I agree, if you read 1984, it might also be good to read Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451...
Three of my favorite books. I read "1984" for the first time when I was 12 years old, after watching the movie (Edmond O'Brien) on a late-night showing. Was introduced to "Brave New World" in 9th-grade English class, and read "Fahrenheit 451" after seeing that one on one of its first showings on prime-time TV.
It's more than good. It's marvelous. When I first read it, probably in high school, I liked it for the story. As I got older, I came to like it for its cleverness and astuteness. Now I also like it for its writing.
Yes, you should definitely read it, because it's a basic part of western culture.
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