1984: The Graphic Novel

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His memory has put him in danger, as he recalls having seen proof, before it was destroyed years ago, of the Party having told a lie: a newspaper article, since re-written, proving that three Party members who had testified to betraying the Party, and who were later executed for it, were innocent. Memories like these cause Winston to constantly fear he will be found out by the Thought Police, that he will be captured and tortured into a confession, and subsequently killed.

The thing is that this graphic version provides an almost complete text of the original book (not simplifying or shortening it much, so the reading is really long and serious, as it is basically the same Orwell’s text), plus it dispels this dullness and “anchors” us to the story with eye-catching artistic techniques. Therefore, it represents the full story of “1984” only in a somewhat more entertaining and easily-digestible form. I should say here that I am not a fan of the original book. I mean: I consider George Orwell’s “1984” one of the GREATEST and most important books written in world literature overall, in all time periods, considering its visionary insights, cultural/historical significance, and landmark messages/memes/characters, but I also think that this is a very boring and dull story. Julia serves as a character foil to Winston, as Orwell compares and contrasts their political philosophies and their styles of resistance. For example, Winston believes that the Party must be resisted and overthrown, but Julia thinks it’s better to evade its authority while pretending to acquiesce to it. Winston, frustrated, tells her she’s “only a rebel from the waist down,” which she takes as a compliment.

But then you read to the end and think, well a sequel would certainly ruin everything, wouldn't it? I learned about this book accidentally, and although the person who showed it was also bewildered and could not say whether it is any good or not, I immediately included it in my priority list. Of course, I did not expect much. Je n'ai pas encore lu le roman (mais ce sera fait car c'était la seconde partie de mon Noël), je découvre donc l'histoire avec cet album (bon bien-sûr j'en ai beaucoup entendu parler et connaissais le contenu dans les grande lignes vu le grand classique que c'est). Winston and Julia are taken to the Ministry of Love, where prisoners are shown begging not to be sent to Room 101, creating suspense about what could possibly happen in it, before Winston is called up and discovers that O’Brien was a faithful member of the Party all along. Through psychological intimidation and physical torture, O’Brien breaks Winston’s will until he cannot answer for certain whether two plus two makes four or five. He concedes that two and two might sometimes make five in certain philosophical or theoretical concepts. Then finally he gives in to accept that the answer to two plus two is whatever the Party says it is.

La verdad que de mi lectura conjunta distópica Orwell-Huxley, creía que no dejaba tanto poso de desesperanza Orwell, y sí más Huxley, pero releído el primero desde luego no lo calificaría de una lectura optimista y agradable, aunque sí muy instructiva, pues te muestra cómo se sustenta un régimen totalitario, y lo que se cuece dentro de éste. Por una parte, que el protagonista Winston en una sociedad distópica ha jincao más que yo en una sociedad pandémica. Ein Buch, das vor allem zum Hinterfragen einlädt und hoffentlich dazu animiert, sich zu fragen, in was für einer Gesellschaft wir leben möchten.Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed - no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull." In a world where emotions are limited, discouraged, and even eliminated, the note changes everything for Winston, and ultimately leads him down a wonderful, but ultimately dark and devastating path... The moral to be drawn from this dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one. Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.” Only by making sure the population was loyal and too stupid to realize it, the real focus, therefore the pressure, is on the members of the Party itself —especially the Outer Party ( the hands) controlled by the members of the Inner Party ( the brains); who work for the Big Brother on the head. Then again the ccp& the North Korean regime are still a thing, perfectly embodying the Orwellian themes of doublespeak, doublethink and 'Big Brother is always watching'. Which comprises of a fifth of the world populace under some totalitarian regime, so I suppose there is still ways for us to go.

Fido Nesti has faithfully adapted the oppressive, hopeless feeling which was generated by the Book. The visuals are simple, but hauntingly beautiful, possessing a rustic, psychedelic quality, and giving you the ever pervading feeling of the walls closing in on you. In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called the Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be. When George Orwell wrote 1984, the year that gives the book its title was still almost 40 years in the future. Some of the things Orwell imagined that would come to pass were the telescreen, a TV that observes those who are watching it, and a world consisting of three megastates rather than hundreds of countries. In the novel, the country of Eastasia apparently consists of China and its satellite nations; Eurasia is the Soviet Union; and Oceania comprises the United States, the United Kingdom, and their allies. Im letzten Jahr durfte ich bereits "Farm der Tiere" und "1984" von George Orwell auf meinen Kanälen vorstellen, woraufhin ich viele Nachrichten von Lesern erhalten habe, die sich anschließend die Weltklassiker gekauft, gelesen und meine Gedanken geteilt haben. Hacía tiempo que había leído esta distopía, con unos veintipocos años, junto a la de Aldous Huxley, "Un mundo feliz".Onto the book itself; 1984 is written to be dreary, depressing and mind numbing read, by design. Life under the watchful eyes of Big Brother is not a pleasant thing. It's a world of war, scarcity, lies, deceit where every aspect of life of controlled. Even the few scant inches of space inside your noggin is not free from interference from the man.