How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Not applicable
Advantages:
A revolutionary epic in the sci - fi mold
Disadvantages:
Quite much too grim perhaps
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
'Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you were clung to the truth even aganst the whole world, you were not mad... "Sanity is not statistical"...'
-1984 p. 179 GEORGE ORWELL
1984 is a novel of a contorted piece of writing that one would find it hard to believe extra-ordinarily that it is written from the post wwII era. Personally it reminds me of Walter M. Miller's brilliant work A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ which is a perennial novel in the science fiction genre written in the late 1950's. I've often heard about this book but for the life of me- I never had come around to read it until just recently.
This fiction sets its story in 1984 - a peculiar year that spins our modern world in its continuity through music, MTV, Video Games, modern fashion - the media, the arts, and the whole of the entertainment industry. A year that blasted its way also with some political intrigues to match as well (but i wont get on with that right here- just read about em in your history books).
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PLOT AND ABOUT THE NOVEL In this novel George Orwell (ie. Eric Blair) pitts the world and turned it into a conceptual barb that is divided into three Super Nations= Eastasia, Euroasia and Oceana, the dominant nation on earth that is quite considerably equivalent to what America has become in its dominance. And its in Oceana where the plotline centers to run its course, through the lead character Winston Smith, who found himself disillussioned with the current status of their surroundings, and found a kindred spirit with the girl she found named Julia, and together they spent some time on some trysts, while thinking of a way to counter their government's ideals-- that in this fiction, a certain Hitlerian-like personality named Big Brother is infused within the citizens to look up to by its beyond-dictatorial goverment. Something about the book is the many varied concepts that its author have tried to imbed within its storyline - kinda like nearly levelling into what J. RR Tolkein had with his mythical netherworlds. For instance - like on Tanith Lee's novels DONT BITE THE SUN and DRINKING SAPPHIRE WINE , the language that became dominant in 2050 in this novel's setting was manipulated by the government known as IngSoc (or the English Socialism) in order to hold control over its subjects along with its other varied means, and thus comes the concept of Newspeak, which have minimized the definitions of words while totally eradicating a number of words in the english vocabulary- and at the same time combining certain words (like the name of its government: English + Socialism = IngSoc) and chopping down terms into certain definitions (such as 'DoubleThink', a criminal label refering to something that whenever someone is having questionable grounds about the government's functions) - implying that the less the words there are, the lesser likelihood of diversity in the thoughts of the government's subjects and its people, and would thus make it easier for them to control their subjects in the process. There are also such terms as The 'Two Minutes Hate' and television screens that are found almost everywhere known as Telescreens -which serves to monitor every person's actions- wherein if anyone is found out to be with a 'Crime' - they are then handled from seemingly out of nowhere by the Thought Police, who are in charge for the surveilance and arrest of any whom they may find guilty of certain actions that are considered against the protocols of the ruling party. Particular departments like the Entertainment industry, finance, news, agriculture and so on are attasked to their corresponding departments known by such names as The Ministry of Truth, The ministry of Love, The Ministry of Peace- and so on. Somehow it also comes a little bit prophetical as well in some ways - such as the way the music is portrayed on the way they went in this novel. Truly the novel is well ahead of its time.
Thus given with these conditions in the book- it would take a little bit of extra amount of work and effort for the reader to dig into. So, from being there, here's ...
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ON HOW TO READ THE BOOK The copy that I own is published by Signet Classics and it provides a fine Afterword by Erich Fromm, which compared the book with other fictional works along with its analyzing of the novel . Also in the book is a portion in the end called "THE PRINCIPLES OF NEWSPEAK" in its Appendix. It is advisable that you should read this first before you get on with the novel.
In reality the book is not that much leaning on the sci-fi mold at all - but it could be considered so given with the tons of influences that it have contributed in the genre, and how those science fiction writers have come around in their ideals for the turns within their plots to picture in their futuristic fictions.
And quite peculiarly- I bet this novel is also the influencing factor behind Philiph K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP which is adapted into the movie BLADE RUNNER and such movies like Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL (most obviously) and even those MAD MAX movies, Pink Floyd's THE WALL and 13 MONKIES.
The movie recieved its own movie treatment in 1984 starring John Hurt, and features Richard Burton in his final feature role. I haven't seen the movie yet myself - I wonder if they only turned the book into a contrived hodgepodge of erroticism that comes similar with LAST TANGO IN PARIS.
However, other than the other novels and movies it have influenced - the book also inspired a lot of recording artists, mainly on this side of the rock music genre - with the likes of Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Annie Lennox, and even YES' keyboard wiz RICK WAKEMAN came up with a concept album devoted to the book. All along I have this cassette of the album called Utopia by Todd Rundgren's band UTOPIA , which have the song 'Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw' ... I also think that CHEAP TRICK's title track to their brilliant LP DREAM POLICE was inspired from this novel.
Quite a classic novel indeed.
And finally , now i know completely well what the lyrics to this song by Todd Rungren completely meant =
We got no razor blades, we got no victory gin I got no tiny alcove to hide myself in To say things weren't good would not be an untruth But I just met a girl from the anti-sex youth We get up in the morning for physical jerks We might pass in the hall as we're going to work
I have found us a place where there's no telescreen And there's no hidden mikes and it's not too unclean While the high remain high and the middle change places The low don't want to know they tell all with their faces She might sit afront of me for the two minutes hate I might see her again if it's not already too late So they will take the book away from me So let them catch me talking in my sleep I guess I never really understood the law So Winston Smith takes it on the jaw
So let's do what we want, it makes no difference now When the thought police find us, we're dead anyhow Kick us out of the party and bust us to parole Then they'll stuff us both into a memory hole So let them haul me off to 101 Public confessions of everything we've done Of everything I heard and everything I saw When Winston Smith takes it on the jaw
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