(book review)

The novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell is definitely one of the most popular and best dystopias of the twentieth century, and it has not lost its relevance. The author of the work has been called a prophet, but objectively speaking, the book was published in 1948, so he wrote about events that were already happening, only slightly adding his own predictions about the future. This work became a protest against the totalitarian tendencies of the era, in particular Stalinism and the threat of mass control over society.

The plot of the book tells us about an imaginary totalitarian world, namely the country of Oceania, where the Party is the undisputed power, and Big Brother is a symbol of constant surveillance and an all-powerful leader. The protagonist is Winston Smith, an employee of the Ministry of Truth, who gradually begins to doubt the authenticity of the reality around him and strives for freedom of thought. His small struggle for his own identity is not a proto-struggle against the state, but a gradual realisation of the world order and the conspiracy of the “party elite.”

G.Orwell constantly tries to draw the reader’s attention to the existing problem of totalitarianism by using the party’s exaggerated slogans, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is power.” Also, one of the main ideas of the book can be highlighted by a quote: “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, everything else follows.”

This is not just a novel — it is a warning. It makes us think about what is happening around us, how free we are, and who controls our reality. And one of the most important recommendations for reading this book is that, unfortunately, it is still relevant, even in the modern developed world. My rating is 9/10.