In English class we have seen an extract from Animals Farm, a novel written by Georges Orwell. So I wanted to look into the autor’s bibliography and I saw 1984. I already knew this novel, obviously (as a lot of people I think !) but I never read it.

I think I will because this novel looks really interesting. I will write a little summary for you and it maybe will convince you to read this book.

The story takes place in London in 1984 (obvious ahah). The world, since the nuclear wars of the 1950s, is divided into three « blocks » : Oceania (Americas, the Atlantic islands, Oceania and Southern Africa), Eurasia (Europe and URSS) and Eastasia (China and its southern regions, islands of Japan, and a little but variable portion of Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet) that are in perpetual war against each other. These three great powers are directed by different totalitarian regimes required as such, and based on different ideologies but almost similar : Angsoc (or  » English Socialism « ) for Oceania , the « neo- Bolshevism  » for Eurasia and the  » cult of death  » (or  » obliteration of me ») to Eastasia . All these parties are presented as Communists before their rise to power, until they become totalitarian regimes and relegate the workers they claimed to defend the bottom of the social pyramid

The concepts and characters invented by Georges Orwell (Big Brother, Doublethink, Newspeak, O’Brien …) became archetypes, which are almost part now of the nomenclature of political science jargon.

And you ? Have you read this book ? What is your opinion ?