George Orwell (1903 - 1950) is one of my favorite writers, and 1984, his portrayal of a horrifying totalitarian society seemingly set in post World War II London, is my favorite novel of his.
I already blogged about Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the novel which 1984 is frequently compared with. It's wonderful that both are available as free audiobooks so that everyone around the world can enjoy these marvelous works of imagination. Although many times these books are categorized as "science fiction" because the authors create alternative future worlds, perhaps the simple term "fiction" would be more accurate. Actually, Orwell and Huxley have many similarities, among them that both novels are set in a futuristic version of the London, England in which they wrote.
The Four Ministries, (Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth), referenced in 1984, are modeled after familiar government buildings, such as BBC's Broadcast House, that Orwell knew intimately, the London of 1948 (that's the year Orwell wrote the book, although it was published in 1949). Far from being an alien world, the world of 1984 was all too boringly familiar to Orwell's readers. Perhaps that's why the book is so terrifying, echoing Hannah Arendt's famous phrase "the banality of evil". Below is the link to the first of 3 parts of 1984, on YouTube.
There are also many thought provoking commentaries on 1984 on YouTube. Here's a link to a thought provoking debate by two leading English scholars, comparing Brave New World with 1984.
For those of you who might need some ideas for your English literature essay, here are some quick summaries of 1984 that may help.
Sparknotes:
Shmoop:
Thug Notes:
Also, you might like to compare the book with a 1954 BBC production of the novel.