On June 8, 1949, a book by George Orwell ‘1984’ was published.

Already quite a successful novelist, he struggled against death and disease to finish it (literally). No one expected it to blow up so big that ‘Doublethink’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Room 101’ would still be a part of our dictionaries.

1984 is not a regular dystopian novel, no, it’s different, good

different. No matter how much you want to, you just can’t stop

reading it once you begin. It shows us a totalitarian future where thoughts and actions are controlled, freedom of thought has its repercussions and individuality is supressed. This may not sound very scary or anything but once you start to read it and understand it, it’ll send chills down your spine.

The novel is about Winston Smith – a low Party member in Oceania – a super state controlled by the Party and their omnipotent leader Big Brother. Unlike others who are under the full control of the Party, W has a dissenting side which he keeps to himself, for the sake of his own safety. The story revolves around him and his young lover, Julia who rebel against the party together, in silence but little do they

know that the Big Brother is always watching.

1984 is not just a story about power, revolution or a theory. It is much more than that. It is a story of love, hate, betrayal, horror and everything in between.

It talks about the necessity of war, what makes a society work, how easy it is to break even the strongest of men and how a well-built society can never break apart because of one man’s resistance. Not only does this require a lot of thought, but it also makes you wonder if in fact, all of it is true or not.Even though the book has got to be one of the best I have ever read, it falls short in certain aspects. The book lacks in much action and out of what it has, nearly all of it occurs in the third part. Even though these new theories and ideas were fun to read about, it soon got boring. It was just explaining a particular theory.

Overall, it’s a beautifully written piece of art and is the sort of book which you can read over and over again.

1984 has to be one of the most influential novels ever written.