Nineteen Eighty-Four is quite arguably George Orwell's best work, finished just before he died, which describes his prophetic vision of the future in haunting detail. Published in 1949, the futuristic story of a dystopian world is a page turner that will be hard to put down.
The novel follows Winston Smith, an average member of the ruling Party in Oceania trying to make his way through a world which offers little back. 'The Party,' which rules over Oceania, enforces its rules with constant supervision by the thought police, who spy on virtually everyone via telescreens installed in every room - small televisions which can't be turned off, blaring propaganda and broadcasting back to headquarters all sound and movement within its range. If a citizen of Oceania lets slip an untraditional response in a conversation, acts differently than is expected or seems anything but completely fanatic with blinding, unrelenting support and patriotic duty to Oceania - they are likely to get a visit from the thought police and disappear without a trace.
Among Winston's duties at his job in the Ministry of Truth - or 'Minitrue,' in newspeak (the crippled and molested version of the English language the Party is in the process of creating) - is deleting all records of a person's name after they are taken by the thought police. Additionally, he edits newspapers in which prominent party members made predictions which turned out to be false, lowers estimates of production goals to make it appear as though everything is in surplus, and destroys or rewrites books which encourage or promote individualistic or other free-thinking behavior.
Orwell also reveals a vision of a world constantly at war - 3 nations in never ending turmoil with each other, not over land or resources, or even ideology, but as a means to control their respective people and generate a need for constant production and scarcity in a world with the means and technology to maintain a comfortable lifestyle for all. This never ending world war is designed as a means to consume goods to create an economy in which everyone is always in need of something which is currently unavailable.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a warning to all about the world a totalitarian mindset is likely to produce. Orwell's descriptions of a fascist system will send shivers up the spine and reveal moments of devastating truth that can make the reader feel as though they are combing through a history book or a Nostradamus prediction as opposed to a novel. The fact that Orwell completed what many call his greatest work just prior to his death lends it a notion of precognitive mysticism which will leave the reader reeling and craving more even after the last page.
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