Nineteen Eighty-Four

<p><br></p><p>I do not think I have ever read a novel more frightening and depressing; and yet such are the originality the suspense the speed of writing and withering indignation that it is impossible to put the book down. - V. S. Pritchett of <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four.</em></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>One cannot help but be struck by the degree to which he (George Orwell) became in Henry James's words one of those upon whom nothing was lost. By declining to lie even as far as possible to himself and by his determination to seek elusive but verifiable truth he showed how much can be accomplished by an individual who unites the qualities of intellectual honesty and moral courage. ‑- Christopher Hitchens</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>We have cut the links between child and parent and between man and man and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. ... There will be no art no literature no science. ... There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always always there will be the intoxication of power constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always at every moment there will be the thrill of victory the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. -- George Orwell </span><em>Nineteen Eighty-Four.</em></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>This little volume contains one of the most prophetic and chilling novels of the twentieth century‑‑</span><strong><em>Animal Farm</em></strong><em>. </em>Orwell clear-sightedly looks at humanity and human nature and shows us what could go terribly wrong.</p><p>In his compelling dystopian novel <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four </em>GeorgeOrwell created the world of <em>Big Brother</em> <em>doublethink</em> <em>thoughtcrime</em> <em>Newspeak</em> <em>Room 101</em> 2 + 2 = 5 and the memory hole: indeed a complete <em>Orwellian</em> society. In the twenty-first century in a world of fake news and ubiquitous state and corporate monitoring of citizens in which vast regions of the world are governed by totalitarian regimes <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four </em>is even more relevant than when it was written. It is essential reading.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>George Orwell </strong>(born Eric Blair 1903 Motihari Bengal died Jan 1950 London)was a leading British writer of the twentieth century. He studied at Wellington College and Eton (1917-1921) where he was a King's Scholar. After Eton he followed family tradition and joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma until 1927 when disgusted by imperialism he resigned to pursue his boyhood dream of being a writer.</p><p> He published an autobiographical book <em>Down and Out in London and Paris</em> with Victor Gollancz Ltd. under his pen name of George Orwell. This established his literary career. Orwell was a prolific journalist essayist novelist and nonfiction writer. He is remembered for his prescient writing and his unwavering commitment to truth and clarity of expression. His last two novels--<em>Animal Farm</em> and <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four</em>--have placed him at the pinnacle of British literature.</p>