Nineteen Eighty-Four

Description

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU . . . 1984 is the year in which it happens. The world is divided into three superstates. In Oceania, the Party's power is absolute. Every action, word, gesture and thought is monitored under the watchful eye of Big Brother and the Thought Police. In the Ministry of Truth, the Party's department for propaganda, Winston Smith's job is to edit the past. Over time, the impulse to escape the machine and live independently takes hold of him and he embarks on a secret and forbidden love affair. As he writes the words 'DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER', his personal rebellion begins . . .

George Orwell (1903-50), real name Eric Arthur Blair, was a British author and journalist famed for his satirical wit and socio-political focus.

My favourite book is 1984 . . . More relevant to today than almost any other book that you can think of -- Jo Brand His final masterpiece . . . enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history * * New York Review of Books * * The book of the twentieth century . . . haunts us with an ever-darker relevance * * Independent * * Orwell remains the most indispensable English writer of his period * * Observer * * One of the most influential English writers of the twentieth century -- Robert McCrum * * Observer * * Many writers and journalists have tried to imitate his particular kind of clarity without possessing anything like his moral authority -- Peter Ackroyd * * The Times * * Matchlessly sharp and fresh . . . The clearest and most compelling English prose style this century -- John Carey * * Sunday Times * * Orwell's innocent eye was often devastatingly perceptive . . . a man who looked at his world with wonder and wrote down exactly what he saw, in admirable prose * * Evening Standard * * The great moral force of his age . . . It is impossible not to be elated by his literary and political writing . . . the most lovable of writers, someone whose books can make the reader long for his company * * Spectator * *