One of the most important novels ever written (Nineteen Eighty-four - George Orwell)

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Nineteen Eighty-four - George Orwell
Date:	31/08/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scarily prescient, still relevant

Disadvantages: None

Nineteen Eighty-Four is without a doubt one of the most influential and scarily prescient books of the 20th century - George Orwell's opus observe a dystopic surveillance state that very much serves as a disturbing warning regarding the nature of government-sponsored surveillance.

The story unfolds largely in London - a desolate, hopeless place, where humans are segeragated, whilst the elite rulers run society, and threaten even the slightest hint of dissention with death. Beneath this elite class are the "drones" (a metaphor that has been argued to resemble the middle class, slaving away), and below them further still, the working class/proletariat, presumed to be simply too brainless to even consider them as cogs in the machine. If you've ever seen Fritz Lang's superb and influential film Metropolis, it becomes evident pretty early in the book that he has borrowed his mood, tone and aesthetic at least in some degree from that film. Winston Smith is the book's protagonist, an Outer Party worker, who works to maintain the face of Big Brother, the representative of the entire government. However, his hatred for the system overpowers him, sending him hurtling towards a devastating climax.

The book itself has been studied in countless University courses, and has served to inspire further literature and many films such as The Truman Show, with its ideas of the dual systems of panopticism and synopticism that were most recently considered by critics like Michel Foucault.

1984 is one of the most important novels ever written - it is a warning against the power of governments to transform into something beyond their intentions. Orwell's writing is at its best here - this is a frighteningly realised vision of the future that provides thorough characterisation and a clear message about one possible future. If only Orwell knew how his notions of surveillance had come somewhat to fruition in our surveillance state today.

Summary: A disturbing look at a possible future