Description
Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often published as is a dystopian novel by English novelist George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centers on the consequences of government over-reach, totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviors within society. More broadly, it examines the role of truth and facts within politics and their manipulation.
Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare and satiric work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life-- the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language-- and his ability to construct such a rigorous version of hell.
The world is gradually changing. The nation which used to be a pleasant place to live and enjoy freely has distorted into an unpleasant and demeaned place. No one is safe. No place is safe to run and hide from the dominating party leader, Big Brother, who is considered equal to God. This is the time where everything is owned by the State. The world was seeing the ruins of World War II. Leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini prevailed during this phase. The basic plot of this historic novel revolves around the concept that no person has the freedom to live life on his or her own terms. And, the present day is 1984.
There is another character Winston Smith, who is leading a normal layman life under this brutal state of affairs, though not in favor of all of this. He works on writing the old newspaper articles in order to make history or past relevant to today's party line. He is efficient enough in spite of hating his bosses. Julia, a young girl who is morally very rigid comes into the fore. She too hates the system of the state as much as Winston does. Gradually they fall in love but have to conceal their feeling for each other, as it will not be acceptable by Big Brother.
It was required reading for students since it was published, it ranked among the most terrifying novels ever written. It was selected for NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books.
Adaptation
Nineteen Eighty-Four has been adapted for the cinema, radio, television, and theater at least twice each, as well as for other art media, such as ballet and opera.
About the Author
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. He was born on 25 June 1903 in Motihari, Bihar, British India. His father worked in the Opium Department of the Indian Civil Services. He was an alumnus of Eton College, Berkshire, England.
His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.
In addition to his literary career, Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922-1927 and fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1937. He was severely wounded when he was shot through his throat.
Between 1941 and 1943, Orwell worked on propaganda for the BBC. In 1943, he became literary editor of the Tribune, a weekly left-wing magazine. He was a prolific polemical journalist, article writer, literary critic, reviewer poet, and writer of fiction, and considered perhaps the twentieth century's best chronicler of English culture.
Orwell is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and the satirical novella Animal Farm (1945) -- they have together sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author. His 1938 book Homage to Catalonia, an account of his experiences as a volunteer on the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War, together with numerous essays on politics, literature, language, and culture, has been widely acclaimed.
Orwell's influence on contemporary culture, popular and political, continues decades after his death. Several of his neologisms, along with the term "Orwellian"-- now a byword for any oppressive or manipulative social phenomenon opposed to a free society -- have entered the vernacular.
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| Goerge Orwell |
Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Secker &Warburg (Original Edition)
Publishing Date: 8 June 1949 (Original Edition)
Edition Language: English
Genre: Dystopian, Political Fiction, Social Science Fiction
ISBN-13: 978-8192910901
ASIN: 0451524934
Pages: 328
