Nineteen Eighty-Four

ebook, 283 pages

English language

Published Aug. 9, 2019 by Global Grey.

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5 stars (1 review)

Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel set in Airstrip One, formerly Great Britain, a province of the superstate Oceania, whose residents are victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation. Oceania's political ideology, euphemistically named English Socialism (shortened to 'Ingsoc' in Newspeak) is enforced by the privileged, elite Inner Party. Via the Thought Police, the Inner Party persecutes individualism and independent thinking, which are regarded as thoughtcrimes. Source: www.globalgreyebooks.com/nineteen-eighty-four-ebook.html

156 editions

Review of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The contributions of this book are far too grand for me to go into all details here. To make it short, I believe that Orwell provided a fitting explanation of how individual thought is suppressed under totalitarian regimes. The principles of doublethink are also used in democratic states whenever it is politically necessary to hold two conflicting opinions. I even claim that it is a politician's most essential skill to perform this mental gymnastics convincingly.

However, this propaganda does not necesarrily manage to convince everybody. Regardless of the political system, it seems that generally, the people under its influence tend to root for it. But also regardless of the system, the capacity for subversive ideas can never be eliminated. Whether this capacity is actually of any use, though, depends on the system. The dystopian world of 1984 deals with subversive thoughts in such an efficient way, that revolutionary spirit is …