For those who have read the book

The book is fabulous. Several years ago, a bookstore chain in the UK polled customers about their favourite books and it came second, after Lord of the Rings. Along with Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, it pretty much invented the strand of science-fiction that deals with dystopian futures.

How does it differ from the film versions? The same way most great books do. The book has much more depth. There's also a lot of political philosophising which couldn't really be translated to film. And the 1956 movie changed the ending, completely negating Orwell's message about totalitarianism.

I've only seen the newer Michael Radford version filmed in 1984, and I'd certainly say it's a good reductive adaptation of the book. That is to say, it keeps the spirit of the book even while it cannot contain it's entirety.

I first read Orwell's incomparable book when I was in junior high in the late 80's; since then, I've re-read it on average every year or two. It's that captivating and enlightening that you can read it over and over again and discover and appreciate new things.

Just my two cents... ~ewall

Well, for one thing, he's supposed to be named O'Brian...

Its one of the best books ever written. Hands down. Its not just brilliant, its a good read just as far as story-telling, too. And fashionably lean.

Since I've never had an oportunity to give my opnion anywhere else on earth, I gotta say I disagree with the ending. Man can be tortured, made to do and say things he doesn't believe it, but the spirit can't be broken like it is in the book.

Actually, while the original book is very good and I highly recommend it, I would also recommend Anthony Burgess' masterpiece "1985" which is half dialogue between author and interviewer discussing the reality of "1984" (which was originally to be titled "1948") and then a novella with Burgess' own dystopia where Britain is ruled by the trade unions and a refusal to kowtow to the unions has terrible consequences equal to Winston Smith's. While the Burgess novella is a little dated now, it does have a scary premonition of the rise of Islam in the United Kingdom.

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I gotta say 1984 was a bit disappointing to me...probably becuase I am reading it in 2011 and the book has been around for over 50 years... The story itself is nothing new to me though it might have been back then. The themes present in the book are hammered into us through music, history, movies, and books. I find it much more enlightening to read something like "the rise and fall of the third reich" which has actual history of something that truly did happen to an entire country which honestly is just as unbelieveable to me as the situation that existed in 1984. Even knowing what happened in Nazi germany truly occurred I still cannot fathom in my mind how a society like that could exist.