1984
Author: George Orwell
Amazon info
I read this as a free download on the Sony eBook - taking advantage of the "read 100 classic books free" offer from Sony. The catch is that I have to download all 100 books by Feb 28th (although I don't really understand why). In any case, on to the book review.
Like most people, I read 1984 in high school as an "assigned book" and I surprised myself with how much I remembered. Boy does this book stand up to a re-reading - it was much better the second time through. And in the 30 years since I have read this book, I have not encountered anything that approaches this type of dystopia - such a disturbing vision of the future. Even though the premises of the book are somewhat obliterated by the widespread revolutions of the 1980s and 1990s this is still a compelling read.
One random note - I have now read several "future oriented" books that were written in the 1940s and it is interesting to see some common threads:
* No one anticipated the significant decline in smoking, especially among the college-educates/scientific classes.
* While it is reasonable to assume that no one would have anticipated the computer or a "world wide network" - it is surprising to see that the pneumatic tube was envisioned to play a major role in future communications.
Recommended: All - especially those who read it a long time ago.