An Ominous, Prophetic Vision: Orwell’s Novel “1984” Published
British writer George Orwell’s famous 1949 novel, 1984, published on this day, is a prophetic vision of the world of the future, dominated by three vast, totalitarian, ideologically driven, geopolitical forces: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.
Orwell’s vision of societies where there is no personal freedom has had a profound impact on political thinking and the English language. The novel introduced the term “Big Brother” to the English language, along with “newspeak,” “Orwellian,” “doublethink,” “thoughtcrime,” the “Ministry of Truth” and the “memory hole.”
The novel is considered by many to be the greatest political novel of the twentieth century, and not just an anti-Communist work. Orwell’s life and writings make it clear that he was equally concerned about the trends in liberal democracies as well. Orwell is also famous for his short allegorical novel Animal Farm about totalitarian societies.
Orwell, who had been ill for years, died around the time 1984 was published and did not live to see how important his book would become. In the early months of the year 1984, when there was international celebration of the novel, 1984 sold an estimated 50,000 copies a day.
Read the classic novel, and decide how much of it has come true: George Orwell, 1984 (many editions available)
Learn more: Christopher Hitchens, Why Orwell Matters (2002)
And more at the George Orwell web site: http://george-orwell.org/
And don’t forget to read: George Orwell, Animal Farm (1946)
Read the insightful Pulitzer Prize-winning book: Thomas E. Ricks, Churchill and Orwell: The Fight For Freedom (2017)