|
Nineteen Eighty-four by |
|
|
George Orwell
|
|
| The author | George
Orwell (June 25, 1903–January 21, 1950) was the pen-name of
Eric Arthur Blair, a British author and journalist best known for
his allegorical political novels,
Animal Farm and
Nineteen Eighty-Four. The latter, which describes a futuristic
dystopian society,
led to the use of the adjective 'Orwellian' to describe
totalitarian
mechanisms of thought-control.
|
| The book |
Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984)
is a darkly satirical political novel and love story by
George Orwell. The
story takes place in a nightmarish
dystopia, in which an
ever surveillant State enforces perfect conformity among citizens through
indoctrination, fear, lies and ruthless punishment. The bulk of the novel
was written in the year 1948 (although Orwell had written small parts of it
since 1945), and it was first published on June 8, 1949. It is Orwell's most
famous work, and is the source of the word "Orwellian." The novel introduced the concept of the ever present all-seeing Big Brother, the notorious Room 101, the thought police who use telescreens (televisions that contain a surveillance camera — found in almost every room of the apartments of members of the party), and the fictional language Newspeak (pronounced 'new-speak'). Orwell had originally chosen the year 1980 for his work. But as the writing dragged on due to illness, Orwell changed it to 1982 and then to 1984, simply switching around the year 1948. Along with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the world of 1984 is one of the first and most cited characterizations of a realistic dystopia to have appeared in English literature. It has been translated into many languages. (From Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org ) |
| The book online | http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79n/index.html
|