Nineteen eighty-four
by George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Blair, 1903–1950)

1984

Welcome to the world of George Orwell’s 1984 — a place where war is peace, freedom is slavery, and your toaster might be snitching on you.

Set in a future that now feels suspiciously like a Tuesday, 1984 is the story of Winston Smith, a quiet man with a rebellious heart and a tragic fondness for diaries, who dares to question a government that responds to criticism with Room 101 and a rodent-based trauma strategy.

This isn’t your average “bad government” tale. Oh no. Here, the government watches you back — all the time. Privacy is extinct, truth is flexible, and even thinking the wrong thing is illegal (a crime known as "thoughtcrime", punishable by re-education, vaporisation, or worse: paperwork).

Winston lives in Airstrip One (formerly known as Britain, now rebranded like a bad airport), under the watchful, never-blinking eye of Big Brother — a moustachioed mascot of oppression who’s always watching and never, ever blinking. The Ministry of Truth rewrites history, the Ministry of Love tortures people, and the only true joy comes from victory gin, which tastes like despair filtered through old socks.

But somehow, Orwell makes it all feel painfully plausible — a bit like reading a government manual written by Kafka during a panic attack.

So if you’re in the mood for:

A love story that will make you never trust anyone again,
Political satire that hits harder every year,
And a helpful reminder that yes, your smart speaker could turn against you,

...then 1984 is your perfect bedtime story — especially if you enjoy going to sleep filled with existential dread and suspicion of your ceiling light.

1984

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

APPENDIX