Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) - George Orwell

I had this book on my shelf for months before I finally turned the pages.

It was actually meant to be passed on from one friend to another.

I was somehow too busy and never gotten around to passing it to its rightful owner.

For months, the book just stared at me (via the eye on the front cover), asking to be read but was outright ignored.

It was until I came across a list of 100 of the Nation's Best Loved Novels. And since the source came from BBC, I went through the list, ticking off books that I've read.

Finally, my eyes settled on 1984 - George Orwell. From the computer screen, my eyes darted to the bookshelf, and it was then that I realized that I have committed one of the biggest sins : I JUDGED A BOOK BY ITS COVER.

The copy that I had was of a monotonous shade of green with a faded set of dull (albeit piercing) eyes staring right at the reader. It seemed too dull to be of any importance, so I figured it was alright that I never gave it a chance.

I was wrong.

Fun fact : The term 'BIG BROTHER' was coined in this book.

When you and I talk about the future, we might picture flying cars and talking robots and buildings in the sky. But oh no no no, Orwell's idea of the future is way more sadistic and visual than clones and TV on the back of your cereal box.

It is a story about war, about government surveillance and public brainwashing. So controversial were the provocations in the book, that it is not allowed to enter the public domain of United States until the year 2044, a whole century after it has been written.

The main character of the book, Winston Smith works for the government. But it is not the government as we now know (though we are well on our way towards being as perverse as it is portrayed in the book). The fictional version of the government is a group of very small people who constantly monitors the public via telescreens that nobody can escape.

In that world, individual thoughts and opinions (as well as anything bad said against the government) brings one punishment with it : DEATH. They even have a term for it - Thoughtcrime. (sound familiar much?)

It is a world in which they believe in war as a mean of achieving peace. And that Freedom is a form of slavery.

Winston Smith works as an editor. His job entails him to revise historical 'facts'. In simpler terms, should the government decide to wipe out a person, that person becomes an 'unperson' and any trace of their existence has to be wiped out, be it on newspaper books or magazines. Records and photographs are constantly incinerated and altered.

One day, he comes across The Book. An anarchist's Bible, you could say. At the same time, he falls in love with Julia, which he was not supposed to do. Because in that world, there should only be love for Big Brother, and nobody else. Sex has become something done solely for the sake for reproduction. Even children betray their parents and spies on them in case there's a possibility that the parents are committing Thoughtcrime.

It's a horrible horrible world to live in. And i presume, if one day 'Freedom of Speech' becomes just another phrase, then we'll know the direction that we're heading to.

Orwell is an insightful visionary. He was way ahead of his time, perhaps even ahead of OUR time. 1984 is a thought-provoking book. It became the ground on which novels, music, comics and even video games were based upon.

In terms of storyline, it is pretty ingenious. But I've read something almost to the same effect that I thought had a stronger narration. but lets talk about THAT in some other post hey?

For the time being, I think this book is the saviour when it comes to creating awareness of the world that we are now living in, along with all the deception that it carries with it.