“1984” – George Orwell

A world run by Power for the sake of power.
Written at a time when Stalin controlled Russia – his face “Big Brother” was everywhere (Mao later took the same idea). Intellectuals, people who think, are dangerous to dictators – in “1984” these are the party members; the rest of the population, though life is hard, are content to wallow in the squabbles and comfort of their ordinary selves and are no threat – ‘just there’ in the book. It is a world controlled by propaganda and brutality. It is interesting to note that during World War II when the book was written Orwell’s wife, Sonia, worked for the Ministry of Defence in the Propaganda department called “Ministry of Information” (Minitrue) which happened to be in Room 101. “1984” is a satire of our times.