Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

This is the second of Orwell’s better known works. The other of course being Animal Farm, which I reviewed previously.

We follow Winston Smith, a public servant in a totalitarian regime. His job is to edit newspaper articles to reflect whichever ‘truth’ the Party wants told. As such, the ruling class can always be correct because the past can be modified to suit the present. Winston is just a small cog in a very large machine. Winston is growing weary of life in such a claustrophobic atmosphere and yearns for change, freedom – the whole kit and caboodle. A chance encounter with another Party member piques his curiosity and events follow on from there.

In contrast with Animal Farm, where animals are used to keep an arms length from the characters, 1984 is far more real. Some of the events can be quite confronting because Orwell relates characters whom we build up far greater sympathy for than is possible for a horse or a sheep. At a few points I had to question whether I should keep going. The other part I didn’t really enjoy was the large blocks of explanatory text about the history or philosophy of the 1984-world. Being able to weave these passages into the main story would have been far more engaging.

Read Animal Farm instead.