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Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
《一九八四》
出版超過七十年的《1984》已經是文學經典， George Orwell 以犀利筆鋒描述獨裁的極權主義，並預告人類未來，使《1984》與俄國薩米亞丁的《我們》、英國赫胥黎的《美麗新世界》並稱反烏托邦三部曲。
故事設定在 1984 年，當時的世界正處於大洋國、歐亞國、東亞國三國鼎立的局面。三個國家相互交戰頻繁，卻也亦敵亦友，其中被稱作「老大哥」的大洋國是獨裁國家，統治黨的權威至高無上，運用極權體制控制人民行動、言談、生活與思想。
主角溫斯頓在國家的真理部工作，負責改寫報紙，捏造謊言，使歷史支持政黨的發展路線，但他內心實則痛恨著黨，並夢想推翻這樣的極權統治。直至一日，溫斯頓再也抑制不住心中對黨的厭惡，在日記上重複寫著「打倒老大哥、打倒老大哥…」，滿腔恨與怒化為文字，在心中逐漸清晰。
George Orwell 透過溫斯頓這個大環境下的小人物，除批判極權主義外，也展現語言與文字亦能載舟，也能覆舟的力量。
此外，《1984》的本質雖是批判極權主義，但因其對控制人民的方法有詳細描述，讀來如同一本教學手冊，也曾被解讀為宣揚極權主義的作品。
Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101. . .
Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime. The novel also coined many new words and phrases which regular appear in popular culture, such as 'Big Brother', 'thoughtcrime', 'doublethink' and 'Newspeak'.
1984 is one of the most foreboding books ever written. It tells the nightmarish struggle of a minor functionary, Winston Smith, in a totalitarian state, the Republic of Oceania. Smith joins a covert brotherhood in search for the truth only to find himself an enemy of the state.
