You might think you “get the idea.” You might think 1984 is too old and better things have been written. Or perhaps you think you already know the bad guys in our world and are already living in a dystopia, so you need no cautionary tales. You’d be wrong on all counts.
No 1984 summary would be adequate
Speaking about Orwell’s 1984, people usually mention how it shows the horrors of the totalitarian state, highlights the importance freedom of thought and expression, and so on.
And you might conclude “well, I know these things already.” And you won’t be wrong. If 1984 was just trying to communicate the importance of basic human rights, it’d be quite a simplistic read. Instead, I’d consider the following description: reading 1984 will allow you to live in a totalitarian state, and this experience will change you forever.
I grew up Russia, but I’m too young to have truly experienced the Soviet regime. One thing that’s always been puzzling me is a story my mom told me about my grand-grandma. She despised Stalin, despised the senseless cruelty of his rule, and yet when he passed away, she cried.
She despised Stalin… when he passed away, she cried.
It’s a paradox I could never understand until I read 1984. There’s no other book I know of that can even remotely express it.
No good book can be replaced with a summary, and for 1984 it is exceptionally true. Because it’s an exceptionally good book.
No, it’s not too old
I feel ridiculous having to explain this, but I do think some people might consider 1984 outdated or no longer relevant. Of course they’d be wrong, but why?
It’s true that in some genres, the new might supersede and obviate the old. For example, if you want to watch a high-action blockbuster, you’d almost never pick a 90s B-movie over a modern one, with rare exceptions. Indeed, the 90s movies will have roughly the same plot, but with worse special effects.
Something of this kind happened in Fantasy. Or, at least, some people think so. There are so many Lord of the Rings clones that have a similar archetype, but perhaps with a more dynamic plot or fewer ballads in Elvish. I don’t buy this argument, but at least I can acknowledge that it has a right to exist.
It doesn’t have a right to exist in dystopian fiction, however. In dystopian fiction, the genre development went the other route. 1984 was so influential and did what it did so perfectly that it made certain topics basically impossible to cover. Because if you try, as an author, you’d just be writing a worse 1984.
So if you want to have a lived experience (or come close to it) of the deterioration of love, truth, and self, there is no other source.
No, our world is not “just as bad,” and you don’t know what to watch out for
If you’re in the U.S., you’ll hear both the left and the right accuse the other side of being Orwellian, pushing the U.S. toward Oceania from 1984. One good thing implied is that to push something toward something else, these somethings can’t be in the same spot. And I agree with the implication. No indeed, we’re not quite there yet.
But whatever your beliefs are, if you think you’ve pinned down the “Orwellian monster” on the other side, you are mistaken.
Part of the beauty of Orwell’s 1984 is that it’s not aligned with modern-day left-right division. If you read it, and if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll see elements of many ideologies reflected in the book, most likely including your own.
It’s not just a scary tale about the boogie man on the other side. It’s also a mirror, and I dare you to look into it if you haven’t had the chance already.
1984 and me
As a writer, I have a tradition. I re-read 1984 before my every major project. Literally slept with it under my pillow before the last revision for my debut novel Case Study in Empathy.
So yes, it’s special to me, but in this 1984 book review, I tried to explain what’s so special about the work itself, and why you should read it too. I didn’t summarize the plot for you, didn’t talk about “character” or “prose” or anything of that matter. They are all great. But somehow I felt I’d be missing the point.
I hope I’ve convinced you to read it. If so, here’s a nice edition of 1984 on amazon that one of my friends has (an affiliate link; if you buy the book through it, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you).
But I actually hope even more you’ve read 1984 already and just stopped by to understand why it’s as impactful as it is. If that’s the case, check out some more dystopian must reads. Some of them are almost as good.