1984
by George Orwell
1984 is an important book. Not just because it’s a great story, brilliantly constructed, incredibly revealing of its time, and a cautionary tale (much of it became true, sadly), but also because it’s the book that taught me to read books. It’s the first “real” book I read after I wasn’t forced to read them anymore. That was way back in high school. But in my twenties, I’m not sure why (inspired by punk rock, maybe?), I found a copy of it at Ducky Waddles Emporium (100 points to you if you know what/where that is) and slogged through it. I say “slogged” because I was a philistine and didn’t know how to read books yet. It’s weird how it’s a taste you develop. But, I got through it and was moved by it. It opened my eyes in a lot of ways. I couldn’t understand why Orwell went with THAT ending, but now I get it. I was also exposed to a fair amount of world-building which I think I enjoy a lot more than I did back then.
1984 is just a story that deserves to be studied, and of course it has. It drives the point home that we have to look internally In situations where we are stuck, and think of solutions: how do we function or survive under certain oppressive circumstances, how do we get out, what can you get away with now that you’ve accepted your fate? What Orwell tries to drive home is that a system that is so much larger than ourselves, that is structured in a way to secure its own survival, will do that at any human cost.
After 25 years, I still find these characters relatable, these circumstances fascinating, this world both recognizable and completely alien. Many of us live or work under a lot of the conditions of Oceania, and what Orwell has done here is to show us what happens when we take these conditions to the absolute.
This book is about Stalinist Russia (or maybe inspired by it in many ways), but it also shows us the components of such a system and how we’ve already adopted many of these components and could easily slip past the point of no return. I liked 1984 back then, I love it now and find it more relevant than ever. Wow.
