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A review by thekarpuk
1984 by George Orwell
5.0
It's intimidating to comment on a book that's been the subject of so much discussion. People have been throwing around the term "Big Brother" as long as I can remember, but I've wondered for years how accurate the usage actually was.
I read 1984 on audiobook, and I have to admit it felt like cheating. The main issue is there were so many ideas worth remembering that I may be forced to by a hardcopy so I can flip through it highlighting memorable passages.
Most often people mention Big Brother in the context of surveillence, which is really short sighted compared to what Orwell was saying. It's not about the cameras, the cameras are actually a moot point. The government could take you at any time, essentially on a whim, or a suspicion. Cameras were merely a reminder that they could watch you if they felt like it, that they could back up their suspicions if necessary.
There's a bitter relevance to much of the text, because to me it basically an essay on the nature of bullies, and what happens when they're allowed to run any government for too long.
A friend of mine read the book around the same time, and was upset at how bleak the ending was, since the villain of the story essentially wins. The beauty of Orwell's conclusion is that it doesn't allow you to feel smug. All of the protagonists high ideas are bashed into the ground ruthlessly and he's left broken.
You have to create your own counter-argument to Obrien's belief that Big Brother is the correct lifestyle.
My main counter argument is that no matter how bright a despot is, they can not all pick equally powerful successors. All evil men die, and their replacements are often weaker, derivative versions of their appointer. No state of oppression is indefinite by sheer virtue of man's mortality.
That's the beauty of the novel, it demands that you think about what it's saying, it provokes and does nothing to soothe the blow, it doesn't supply answers to its questions, it builds you up, knocks you down, and leaves you to pick yourself up again.
If you ever throw around the term "Big Brother", or are at all concerned about tyranny both at home and abroad, you owe it to yourself to read "1984".
I read 1984 on audiobook, and I have to admit it felt like cheating. The main issue is there were so many ideas worth remembering that I may be forced to by a hardcopy so I can flip through it highlighting memorable passages.
Most often people mention Big Brother in the context of surveillence, which is really short sighted compared to what Orwell was saying. It's not about the cameras, the cameras are actually a moot point. The government could take you at any time, essentially on a whim, or a suspicion. Cameras were merely a reminder that they could watch you if they felt like it, that they could back up their suspicions if necessary.
There's a bitter relevance to much of the text, because to me it basically an essay on the nature of bullies, and what happens when they're allowed to run any government for too long.
A friend of mine read the book around the same time, and was upset at how bleak the ending was, since the villain of the story essentially wins. The beauty of Orwell's conclusion is that it doesn't allow you to feel smug. All of the protagonists high ideas are bashed into the ground ruthlessly and he's left broken.
You have to create your own counter-argument to Obrien's belief that Big Brother is the correct lifestyle.
My main counter argument is that no matter how bright a despot is, they can not all pick equally powerful successors. All evil men die, and their replacements are often weaker, derivative versions of their appointer. No state of oppression is indefinite by sheer virtue of man's mortality.
That's the beauty of the novel, it demands that you think about what it's saying, it provokes and does nothing to soothe the blow, it doesn't supply answers to its questions, it builds you up, knocks you down, and leaves you to pick yourself up again.
If you ever throw around the term "Big Brother", or are at all concerned about tyranny both at home and abroad, you owe it to yourself to read "1984".