1984 (NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR)

by George Orwell
This is a frightening and depressing vision of the world with no freedom to do what you like or speak about any subject with anyone you wish, not even the freedom to think…

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

That was the slogan of the Party.

Winston Smith is a man, living in Oceania a totalitarian country. The Party has incredible power on the people living there. They are like robots that do whatever the Party and Big Brother wants them to do. No one dares to disagree with the Party. They are watched by the police day and night who control their every thought; they are betrayed by their families and loved ones. They are forced to believe, agree and obey, and love their leader - Big Brother. Winston Smith is watching all this nonsense around him. The past can be changed and no one would notice it, he feels like he is the only one person who can see the reality. He wishes he could find other like minded people to join against the Party. He meets Julia, a girl at work who hates the Party as much as he does. So both of them join a group of people, whose leader is Emmanuel Goldstein, the enemy of Big Brother. After seven years in that group, Winston and Julia are betrayed by O’Brien, the man they trusted and believed was against the Party as well. O’Brien’s men arrest them and torture them in the most horrific ways. It’s all because the Party doesn’t just kill their enemies, they change them…

I loved “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, so I couldn’t wait to read 1984. I must say this is one of the scariest and most powerful books I have ever read. There was many times I wanted to stop, it was so negative and depressing, especially all those descriptions of O’Brien torturing Winston. I couldn’t imagine there could be so much cruelty in one book… This book will stay on your mind all the time you are reading it and will change the way you think. It really makes you appreciate the world we are living in. This is not a book for everyone.

Animal Farm

by George Orwell


One night all animals at the farm had a meeting. That night a vision about new better living is given to the animals by a pig named Major. They were being mistreated by Mr. Jones, working hard and badly fed. All the animals would be equal, not working too hard; they would have a day off and a better food. Everyone saw it like a great idea and so the animals overtook the farm. Their leaders were two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. For some time all was well, every animal was content with the changes, but then, after a while they noticed that they were working as hard as before, food was not enough except for the pigs. So when the animals spoke up, they got the answer from the pigs that it’s all right and most likely your memory is bad. ..

I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but it is funny, sad and rich with allegories, a truly brilliant fairy tale for adults. It is a short read; you can read it in a couple of hours. Classics, that everyone should read!