A great way to experience a forever-vital classic
Nowadays, 1984 might not seem like a must-read. Terms like “Big Brother,” “doublethink” and “the memory hole,” have become bywords for an oppressive big government that’s constantly looking over our shoulder, conditioning us to accept its false premises and rewriting history to suit its needs. We’re so familiar with these concepts that it’s easy to think that reading Orwell’s masterpiece is unnecessary.

But 1984 still has much to offer. The book’s big ideas are considerably more complex than the buzzwords we all so casually employ — you might even be surprised to learn you’ve been using some of them incorrectly. (Anyone, for instance, who thinks Big Brother is just about government surveillance is missing out.) 1984 is also very much worth reading to experience Orwell’s full dissection of his famous dictums “war is peace,” “freedom is slavery,” and “ignorance is strength.”

More than that, though, 1984 is worth reading for its eerie, frightening evocation of a totalitarian society. Orwell saw fascism firsthand in Spain and studied the Soviet Union closely, so his image of an imaginary, fascist Britain is rich, well-imagined, and frighteningly real. His depictions of State-sanctioned torture and brutal police beatings remain chilling. That he can tie these warnings and philosophical investigations in to a riveting, Hollywood-action-thriller plot of one man versus society is a testament to Orwell’s vision and skill. Sixty years later this book is still relevant.