1985

[Unregistered]

Those looking for an insightful and intelligent critique of Orwell's 1984 should try and obtain a copy of 1985 by Anthony Burgess. I suspect unfortunately that this book may be out of print, but it really is worth tracking down. It successfully teases out all the key themes of Orwell's work and provides a good deal of illumination on his inspiration for penning 1984 in the first place, namely the post-war, austerity hit Britain of 1948. Furthermore Burgess explores Orwell’s own ambivalence towards the working class, the labour movement and the opinions of his leftist cotemporaries, many of who’s views on societal progression were a good deal less Fabian in origin than his own. Some readers may find Burgess' assertion that 1984 is a good deal more reflective than it is predictive rather provocative, though as you might expect from such an accomplished intellectual his ideas are presented in a highly persuasive and engaging manner. That said his own novella which occupies the second half of the book, using Britain in 1978 as a jumping off point for the formulation of his own satirical dystopia is largely bigoted pants.