1984. Finished 9-18-17, rating 3.5/5, classic, pub. 1949

The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia” -a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions -a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.            from Goodreads

Unabridged audio read by Simon Prebble.  11.5 hours.

I listened to this almost two months ago, but these were my initial thoughts – “a book first published in 1949, has so much to say about today that it’s scary.  The Doublespeak coming from the White House everyday should scare the crap out of everyone, no exceptions.  As a story it wasn’t the best, but the world building and insight into human nature make this a worthy classic.”

Now that I’ve had some time to process, I can say that this should be read and discussed by everyone interested in being more watchful and wary of the powers that lead us.  Big Brother, Thought Police, Doublespeak are ideas we all understand because of Orwell and this warning of a book.  It is bleak and by the end you will feel as caught in the nightmare as Winston, especially in these times that prove Orwell a fortune teller.

“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake.  We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”

“War is Peace.  Freedom is Slavery.  Ignorance is Strength.”

Scary stuff.  A must read.

This was my 17th selection for the Classics Club and I have until January 1, 2020 to get to 50.  I am woefully behind!