George Orwell: 1984
And another classic. Great, great read and a shame to have missed out on it up to now. Thanks to the very special person who brought it to my attention.
The novel is set against the background of a system of totalitarian one party rule, in a world where the remaining three mega-states, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia are in a permanent state of war. While ostensibly communist, Oceania is organized into a three-class society consisting of members of the inner party, the outer party and the proletariat. Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth, where he is tasked to adjust historical newspaper articles in line with the ruling party's ever changing version of reality. Smith despises the party, but continues to participate in its rituals which permeate every aspect of daily life. As a first act of resistance, he acquires a notebook and a pencil and begins to write a diary. He also falls in love with Julia, a co-worker at the Ministry of Truth. Together, they establish themselves a hideout in one of the proletarian quarters of London. When they attempt to join the resistance, their entire newly created reality turns out to be a set-up by the secret police, whose agents had apparently surrounded Winston and Julia since they beginning. They are arrested, tortured, betray each other and are finally released, broken and awaiting certain death at the hands of the party.
Overall, a masterpiece. The novel convincingly portrays the darkness of living in a totalitarian regime. What I found most interesting is the importance that control over the public narrative has for any authoritarian system. Speaking alternative facts... Equally scary is the idea, well portrayed by Orwell, that totalitarianism also aims at dissolving the social relations that are integral to human nature, such as the relations between lovers or parents and children. Finally, what came as the biggest shock to me when reading the novel was the absolute futility of resistance; the secret thought police seems to have been on the tracks of Winston and Julia since the very beginning.
Random pop cultural reference:
Alternative facts. What else.
Favorite quotes:
"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."
"And if all others accepted the lie which the party imposed- if all records told the same thing- then the lie passed into history and became truth."
"What could you see to attract you in a man like me? 'It was something in your face. I thought I'd take a chance. I'm good at spotting people who don't belong."
"He wondered vaguely whether in the abolished past it had been normal experience to lie in bed like this, in the cool of a summer evening, a man and a woman with no clothes on, making love when they chose, talking of what they chose, not feeling any compulsion to get up, simply lying there and listening to peaceful sounds outside."
"To hang on from day to day and from week to week, spinning out a present that had no future, seemed an unconquerable instinct, just as one's lungs will always draw the next breath so long as there is air available."
"When once you were in the grip of the Party, what you felt or did not feel, what you did or refrained from doing, made literally no difference. Whatever happened, you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again."
"There is no possibility that any perceptible change will ever happen within our own lifetime. We are the dead. Our only true life is in the future."
"Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the party which is collective and immortal."
"The command of the old despotisms was "Thou shalt not". The command of the totalitarians was "Thou shalt". Our command is "Thou art"."
And another classic. Great, great read and a shame to have missed out on it up to now. Thanks to the very special person who brought it to my attention.
The novel is set against the background of a system of totalitarian one party rule, in a world where the remaining three mega-states, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia are in a permanent state of war. While ostensibly communist, Oceania is organized into a three-class society consisting of members of the inner party, the outer party and the proletariat. Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth, where he is tasked to adjust historical newspaper articles in line with the ruling party's ever changing version of reality. Smith despises the party, but continues to participate in its rituals which permeate every aspect of daily life. As a first act of resistance, he acquires a notebook and a pencil and begins to write a diary. He also falls in love with Julia, a co-worker at the Ministry of Truth. Together, they establish themselves a hideout in one of the proletarian quarters of London. When they attempt to join the resistance, their entire newly created reality turns out to be a set-up by the secret police, whose agents had apparently surrounded Winston and Julia since they beginning. They are arrested, tortured, betray each other and are finally released, broken and awaiting certain death at the hands of the party.
Overall, a masterpiece. The novel convincingly portrays the darkness of living in a totalitarian regime. What I found most interesting is the importance that control over the public narrative has for any authoritarian system. Speaking alternative facts... Equally scary is the idea, well portrayed by Orwell, that totalitarianism also aims at dissolving the social relations that are integral to human nature, such as the relations between lovers or parents and children. Finally, what came as the biggest shock to me when reading the novel was the absolute futility of resistance; the secret thought police seems to have been on the tracks of Winston and Julia since the very beginning.
Random pop cultural reference:
Alternative facts. What else.
Favorite quotes:
"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."
"And if all others accepted the lie which the party imposed- if all records told the same thing- then the lie passed into history and became truth."
"What could you see to attract you in a man like me? 'It was something in your face. I thought I'd take a chance. I'm good at spotting people who don't belong."
"He wondered vaguely whether in the abolished past it had been normal experience to lie in bed like this, in the cool of a summer evening, a man and a woman with no clothes on, making love when they chose, talking of what they chose, not feeling any compulsion to get up, simply lying there and listening to peaceful sounds outside."
"To hang on from day to day and from week to week, spinning out a present that had no future, seemed an unconquerable instinct, just as one's lungs will always draw the next breath so long as there is air available."
"When once you were in the grip of the Party, what you felt or did not feel, what you did or refrained from doing, made literally no difference. Whatever happened, you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again."
"There is no possibility that any perceptible change will ever happen within our own lifetime. We are the dead. Our only true life is in the future."
"Reality exists in the human mind and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the party which is collective and immortal."
"The command of the old despotisms was "Thou shalt not". The command of the totalitarians was "Thou shalt". Our command is "Thou art"."
