I have just finished reading George Orwell's 1949 novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In this book Orwell almost writes as a warning, about his vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is a slave to a tyrannical government regime. The main character is Winston Smith, a 39-year old man who is an isolated citizen of Oceania. He rebels against The Party and the all seeing, all controlling 'Big Brother'. He forms his own opinions, questions the party and tries to discover the past and the possibilities that could be, if he was free. With great caution, Winston develops a relationship with a woman he works with at the Ministry of Truth, Julia. The sheer exhilarations of this illegal affair leads him and Julia to reject the oppressive lifestyle they've been forced to endure for so long. This however eventually leads to his arrest, tortures and conversion.
This book is so powerful and in some ways terrifyingly relevant to the world we live in today. Orwell demonstrates fantastic foresight and makes bold statements about humanity. This book will send shivers down your spine, it is
unsettling and bleak and will leave you thinking about the future world we are entering.
Not only did I enjoy reading this book, I think the cover design is fantastic. This new striking design was done by
Shepard Fairey, who became famous in 2008 with his HOPE poster for Barack Obama. Combining the iconic eye of 'Big Brother' with barbed wire and the colour red just immediately puts that feeling of being controlled and trapped into you. There have been so many cover designs for this popular book but I think this is definitely one of the most affective and really caught my attention.
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