The book I am reviewing is 1984, by George Orwell. It was written in 1949, and is an author’s impression of what 1984 would look like. Since it was written in 1949, it has space-age technology, flying fortresses and wars between supercontinents. The three supercontinents are Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. Oceania is ruled by a dictator called Big Brother, who in turn rules the Party, which is a system made up of most middle and upper-class people. The Party creates the laws, which apply to the Party and the lower-class people called the Proles. The Party’s slogan is “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”
The main character of this story is Winston Smith, a Party member who secretly hates the Party and Big Brother. The thing is, he is not allowed to show this, as there are people loyal only to Big Brother called the Thought Police, and will kill you if they find even a hit of rebellion in your mind. Winston eventually meets this person called Julia, and they fall in love and join the Brotherhood, which is a rebellion against Big Brother and the Party.
I have not finished reading the book yet, but so far it is amazing. The only thing I would change about it is that it is quite hard to understand. But then again, it’s target audience is (in my opinion) 20-year-olds and above, and it was written in 1949. It is an amazing book but I would probably not recommend it for anyone in this class, as it is quite a mature book.