10 Reasons Why the Book 1984 Still Matters

Learn more about George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: http://www.abebooks.com/books/collectible-authors-animal-farm-1984/george-orwell.shtml 10 Reasons Why 1984 Still Matters 1984 is much more than just another famous book. It's a novel of immense political and social significance that's never going to date. Whenever you hear about another scandal concerning government surveillance and state censorship, think about George Orwell's book and its impact on the past seven decades. 1. 'Big Brother is watching you' is one of the most famous slogans ever written and has entered everyday conversation as a throw-away phrase. Famously Big Brother became a reality TV show where contestants are watched 24 hours a day. 2. Is there a more famous opening line than 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen'? 3. Like many pieces of important fiction, there is a book within the book - Emmanuel Goldstein is the author of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism and Goldstein, real or not, is the symbolic Enemy of the State and the target of the daily Two Minutes Hate. 4. The major themes of Nineteen Eighty-Four are censorship and surveillance, and the book ultimately warns of the dangers of totalarian states. Orwell had the Soviet Union in mind but the fictional evils of 1984 have been seen in many places from Chile to China and Cambodia. 5. The ultimate secret police is the Thought Police. Based on the Soviet NKVD, the thought police punished thoughtcrime and arrested anyone who potentially could challenge the state -- therefore branding citizens as criminals before they committed a crime. 6. Room 101 is arguably the most horrific room in fiction. The torture chamber where a prisoner endured their worst nightmare was modeled on a BBC meeting room in London. 7. Technology is an important plot driver. Telescreens are everywhere. Every sound is recorded. Citizens are never free of the watching eyes of the state. 8. Winston Smith worked as a historical revisionist, deleting unpersons from the records. Orwell was recounting a common occurrence - the Nazis, the Soviets, the Japanese and many others have altered records and rewritten history to their ends. 9. Perhaps only Klingon eclipses Newspeak is the world's most famous, or infamous, fictional language. 10. Spin doctoring is taken to its extreme. Ministry of Truth tells lies, the Ministry of Peace wages a war, the Ministry of Plenty rations food, and the Ministry of Love tortures dissidents. Subscribe to the AbeBooks Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AbeBooks You will see book reviews, bookshops, top 10s, rare and beautiful books, tips for book collectors, author profiles and much more. We love books and are glad you do too. AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books. Millions of new, used, rare, and out-of-print books are offered for sale through the AbeBooks websites from thousands of booksellers around the world.