This is a really wierd book. In the beginning it starts out like any country in a war, but later it delves deeper. The world being controlled by three super-powers that (if you read to Goldstein's book) would supposedly, and I agree, would gain absolutly nothing from all this. The are simply trying to use excess junk. Anyways, Orwell did an amazing job on this book, creating several radically new ideas for the time, including creating Newspeak, Big Brother (which was the basis for the show "Big Brother"), and, the worst, Thoughtcrime. Anyways, this is DEFINATELY not a childs book, so you should keep it out of the hands of anyone ignorant to the world. It makes you think of the present, and the future. If you like Orwell's books you'll LOVE Animal Farm.

The book is a fantastic read of Orwell's projection of a future in which three totalitarian governments (all equivalent) rule the earth. I would say the book has two sections, the story, which follows an Outer Party member's struggle to rebel, and philosophy, which is Big Brother's Manifesto (or, one could say, Goldstein's but really they are one and the same). The book puts the story on hold when Winston, the protagonist, reads the manifesto; I would say that there is flow problem with the abrupt nature of this switch. Certainly the Manifesto is endemic to the book and provides another perspective and history of the rise of Oceania, the state in which Winston lives.

When you finish reading 1984, you don't know what to do with yourself for the next couple of hours. The themes of the novel are so thought provoking and powerful that it leaves you stupefied. However, the book is more than just a philosophical message. One of the reasons that Orwell's message is so powerful is because the characters are rich and the plot (forbidden love in a loveless world) is captivating. Not only did Orwell have some incredibly penetrating ideas, but he knew how to express them in a very well written story. 5 out of 5!

Although I used to read books all the time (mostly teen series like the Baby-Sitters Club), I rarely find one these days that I can stand to read for more than 10 minutes. A few, however, I have been unable to put down and one of those is 1984. This book compelles the reader to think, something so few people do today. It is incredibly frightening to think about living in such a tightly controlled society where one cannot even hold one's own opinions! To live without love and sex and opinions or emotion of any kind is truly terrifying. The book is so enthralling, I could not finish it the first 2 times I read it. Imagining the depths of the Ministry of Love and thinking about what would await me in my own personal Room 101 gave me nightmares. No other book has produced such an effect on me. It doesn't matter how accurate he was about communism or whether or not communism is really bad. The fact remains that it is a wonderfully written and incredibly creative piece of work.

this has got to be the greatest book i have ever read.it kept me in suspence to the very last.it can be taken on so many levels. the best thing about it is the ending, where unlike day of the triffids or any other contemperies,there is not one glimpse of hope which is better than "they live happily ever after" BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!!!!

I read a article about Spycams in MLK Jr holiday. The neighborhood watch was using cameras to protect the neighbors somewhere in CA. Somewhere in the article says " tracing George Orwell's 1984, 'BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU'. " or something like that. Wow. I just can't believe a 1949 novel turns real in 1999, that's 50 years! If you don't know what I'm talking about.... that's because I'm just too exicted. What if a jail turns to a Room 101?