Revisiting Nineteen Eighty-Four

Two books I have been looking forward to reading this year are Anna Funder's Wifedom (published July 2023), about George Orwell's wife Eileen, and Sandra Newman's Julia (published October 2023) which retells Orwell's Nineteen Eight-Four (1949) from the perspective of the female character. I have pre-ordered both, and with Wifedom on its way to my mailbox, I thought it would be wise to re-read Nineteen Eighty-Four. 

I first read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in the 1980s when I was too young to fully comprehend the tale. I re-read it in the early 1990s when I was studying political science and had a better understanding of totalitarianism. By the time I read it again in the early 2000s, the internet age was upon us, so tele-screens and the cult of personality added deeper meaning to the novel. Now, in 2023 I have re-read it as an adult who has travelled the world and seen the consequences of oppressive regimes and the novel's impact is even more chilling, especially in the Trumpian post-truth era. This time I was also more keenly aware of the character of Julia as I deliberately read with her in mind.

The plot is well-known. In a dystopian world ravaged by perpetual war, the globe is shaped by three totalitarian super-states. In London (part of Oceania) Winston Smith is an Outer Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite historical records and destroy the past. Spies are everywhere, with ever-observant telescreens keeping people in line. Winston becomes a 'thought-criminal', purchasing a diary to secretly record his thoughts about the regime. He then commences a covert affair with Julia, a young co-worker, putting both of them at risk. The couple meet O'Brien who purports to be part of The Brotherhood, a counter-revolutionary, but they are uncertain whether he can be trusted.

Nineteen Eight-Four is riddled with phrases that have become common parlance. Its themes of nationalism, surveillance, classism, and censorship resonate and are terrifying given the current state of the world.

I often read dystopian / speculative fiction and have written extensively about my enjoyment of this genre. Nineteen Eighty-Four is among my favourite novels, one that gives the reader something new on each re-read. On this occasion, I listened to the audio book performed by Stephen Fry as I read along, which really enhanced my experience of the novel. No doubt, in another decade I will read it once more.