1984 : Signet Classics

Written more than 70 years ago 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever...• Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read •“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final most essential command.”Winston Smith toes the Party line rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching...A startling and haunting novel1984 creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from start to finish. 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. About the Author George Orwell (pseudonym for Eric Blair [1903-50]) was born in Bengal and educated at Eton; after service with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma he returned to Europe to earn his living penning novels and essays. He was essentially a political writer who focused his attention on his own times a man of intense feelings and intense hates. An opponent of totalitarianism he served in the Loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. Besides his classicAnimal Farm his works include a novel based on his experiences as a colonial policemanBurmese Days two firsthand studies of povertyDown and Out in Paris and London andThe Road to Wigan Pier an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil WarHomage to Catalonia; and the extraordinary novel of political prophecy whose title became part of our language1984. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. ONEIt was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a colored poster too large for indoor display had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face more than a meter wide: the face of a man of about forty-five with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up and Winston who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle went slowly resting several times on the way. On each landing opposite the lift shaft the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU the caption beneath it ran.Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen it was called) could be dimmed but there was no way of shutting it off completely. He moved over to the window: a smallish frail figure the meagerness of his body merely emphasized by the blue overalls which were the uni- form of the Party. His hair was very fair his face naturally sanguine his skin roughened by