FEB 7 - 1984 by George Orwell

The discussions are free and open to all. BookTalk is funded by the BSC Library and a BSC Foundation grant. This event will take place using Blackboard Collaborate.

Discussion Leader: Tayo Basquiat, BSC Assistant Professor of Religion/Philosophy

1984 (first published as Nineteen Eighty-four) by George Orwell

Chances are you have read this one before. It is definitely worth a re-read! 1984 (first published in 1949) has become a dystopian classic that focuses on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of all persons and behaviors within society. Orwell intended it as more warning than prophecy. Even though its title date has passed, its lessons about the dangers of conformity, mental coercion, and verbal deception retain their validity and relevance. As part of the BBC’s “The Big Read” campaign in 2003, the British public voted it one of Britain's 21 best-loved novels. It was also voted one of America’s top 100 best-loved novels (coming in at #18) by PBS’s The Great American Read in 2018.

1984 depicts a world divided into three totalitarian superpowers that are constantly at war with one another. The main character, Winston Smith, is a writer for the ironically named Ministry of Truth, in Oceania. His chief job is to assist in the constant rewriting of history so that it conforms with the predictions and pronouncements of Big Brother, the possibly mythical ruler of Oceania, whose minions in the Inner Party are nevertheless omnipotent and omniscient.

• “Nineteen Eighty-Four is a remarkable book; as a virtuoso literary performance it has a sustained brilliance that has rarely been matched in other works of its genre…It is as timely as the label on a poison bottle.” – New York Herald Tribune
• “A profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book…Orwell’s theory of power is developed brilliantly.” – The New Yorker