50 Classics: 1984 by George Orwell

This post is a few days late, so send me to the Ministry of Love. On Sunday I started my 50 Classics project with 1984 by George Orwell. Although this was one of those books on the list that I’ve read before, I still found myself entranced by the dystopia spell just as I had been almost two decades ago.

Even those that have never read 1984 could probably easily recognized many of the terms and ideas the novel has injected into the mainstream; thought-crime, Orwellian, Big Brother, double-think (double-talk). Not to mention inspired such films as Matrix and V for Vendetta (via a graphic novel).

But the thing that stuck with me the most was just how pertinent to every era the novel was, regardless of the dated nuances, there’s a warning to readers regardless of their decade or location. Then again, I suppose that sort of timelessness is precisely what makes a work a classic.