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Goodreads 2020 ~ #2 1984 by George Orwell (1949)


According to Goodreads 2020 Update Books You Need to Read to Be Considered Well-Read, #2 is 1984 by George Orwell. I remember reading this book many, many, many years ago and was enthralled. Written soon after the end of WWII, Orwell was concerned by the rise of several totalitarian governments such as those of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Soviet Russia. He was concerned that other governments were moving more toward totalitarianism and that they might start taking away more and more of people's rights and freedoms. I couldn't believe that it was possible that people in a thinking world would allow this to happen and yet . . .

. . . 1984 was banned. Banning books is a form of censorship and a deprivation of the right to free speech. George Orwell's 1984 has been banned many times and many places for its social and political themes, as well as for sexual content.

In 1950 it was banned and burned in communist Russia for its anti-communist views. In 1981, Jackson County, Florida parents challenged the book for being pro-communist and containing explicit sexual content.

As a much more mature person, I recently decided to reread 1984. I couldn't finish it. Things I would have never thought could happen are happening in our world today. This link will take you to an interesting article on some of Orwell's predictions that have actually come true. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ways-george-orwell-1984-true-article-1.2662813

If you enjoy dystopian fiction or want to know why 1984 is so much a part of our popular culture you should read this book.
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  1. KrisAugust 4, 2020 at 10:03 AM

    Yup, 1984 was a very interesting book and still is because of today's political and social environments!! I am temporarily working for a government agency and on our phones we have to agree to certain terms before the phone app will work. When the folks I supervise ask if they should click continue, I say "yes, that is so Big Brother knows where you are." I then chuckle but it is a cynical, sad chuckle. I would never have believed there were so many sheep that just do what they are told, regardless of the vast consequences!! Thanks for the good post!!

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