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1984
- New Classic Edition
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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Publisher's Summary
George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote.
Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.
The year 1984 has come and gone, yet George Orwell's nightmare vision of the world we were becoming in 1949 is still the great modern classic portrait of a negative Utopia.
What the critics say
- Nominee, 2008 Audie Award, Classic
"It is probable that no other work of this generation has made us desire freedom more earnestly or loathe tyranny with such fullness." (New York Times, 1949)
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What listeners say about 1984
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Emily Bright Kennedy
- 2018-02-04
Excellent Reader
I had a difficult time getting through this one. Such a hopeless tale! Simon Prebble makes it as enjoyable as possible, but this is not a "fun" book.
10 people found this helpful
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- Pablo
- 2019-11-11
A realistic depiction of a point of no return
I lived in a communist country for the first 15 years of my life. Much of what this book is about hit very close to home.
listening to this book ignited a baseline level of uneasiness about our global affairs, especially with the recent rise in extremisim in western politics. I think our current level of technology would be our greatest enemy if our governments were to follow in the footsteps of this book.
8 people found this helpful
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- Jaedy
- 2019-06-15
George Orwell was clearly a time traveler.
his vision was both chillingly prophetic and hauntingly human. depending on where you live, this is a dystopia that already exists.
6 people found this helpful
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- Cadence
- 2019-01-08
A great reading of a terrifying book
1984 drags sometimes, certainly moreso in the first half but the payoff is worth it. As an essay, it's very well done and scary!!!
4 people found this helpful
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- V Brady
- 2018-07-24
Excellent
It appears Big Brother can control your thoughts. Brilliant story and part 3 was excellent
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-07-10
Seriously good
Narration is on point in its tone and pace. Simon Prebble gives a serious treatment to the subject and it comes off wonderfully.
3 people found this helpful
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- Gurupkar Gill
- 2019-12-06
Simon Prebble rocks!
Prebble's a great orator and gives the audiobook great entertainment value. I will most definitely go back and re-listen.
2 people found this helpful
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- Ryupyroa
- 2019-11-24
Prophecy
This book is a prophecy. We live in this society now. It's not coming, it's not around the corner, we're in it. This novel is horrifying, don't read it thinking "what if this happens", read it knowing it's happening.
I knew humanity was a fickle, nonsensical species but people are legitimatly arguing whether 2 + 2 = 5 now. Whatever horrors are bestowed upon us by the acceptance of socialist/commusim are deserved.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-03-27
Interesting book
This is NOT a "fun" book. Personally I found it pretty long to read however I do not regret it . The book allowed me to realize how much I took for granted my freedom of speech (basically all the rights I have). Good book!
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- Karell Ste-Marie
- 2021-02-22
Terrifying
Very nice work of fiction
Or is it foresight?
The chapter where he describes intimacy with his ex wife was amazingly familiar
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- Gohar
- 2017-10-03
So glad I read it again in my 30's
I read this when I was a kid and could not digest the implications and the meaning of this book as a whole. Reading it now, makes so much of an impact and you understand the author's sense of urgency. Really well written with a good story underneath. The premise does not feel so far fetched anymore. The writer definitely saw the power of governance gone wrong early in his career and transformed into an anxiety inducing book.
Thank you Orwell.
The narrator did an amazing job to describe the anxiety in every character's persona.
82 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 2020-06-28
A frank display of a possible dystopia.
I wish this were still, "recommended reading", in our school system, as a true deterrent of communism, But it saddens me that this idea will die with my generation. No longer will our children question the authority, but embrace it as an absolute. All will be transformed, and or be removed from history, In the name of the "greater good"! And as the rest of us scowl, and our children forsake our ideals. All the while turning on their beliefs and morals, as prescribed by their democratic overlords!
73 people found this helpful
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- Kit McIlvaine (GirlPluggedN)
- 2008-02-18
Come one, Come all into 1984!
I previously downloaded a version of 1984 that sounded as if the thought police had shoved the novel where no darkness shines. However, This five star version of Orwell's masterpiece is so well voiced, so expressive that I find it hard to put down. In this novel, we are transported to an alternate reality where history is overwritten and free thought is a crime. Depite the constant threat of the telescreens, spies and thought police, Winston and his love interest, Julia, endeavor to rebel against Big Brother in their own ways. Orwell's insight into history, warfare and mass hysteria reflect the era in which he was writing, and still endure in this classic of science fiction- a piece that anticipates not only future works in the genre, but twentieth and twenty first century issues of foreign policy and state welfare. If you haven't read this book, you owe it to yourself to give this version a listen- it will challenge you and touch you, and I know that I, for one, will never be the same.
286 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2017-07-15
1984 = 2017?
An absolute classic. and as timely now as it ever was. Great performance by Simon Prebble.
39 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 2018-01-16
Good book. Horrible recording.
Every other sentence the reader speaks it sounds like there is a cut and the first few letters of a word is cut out. At first it is bearable but throughout the book it starts to get on your nerves.
14 people found this helpful
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- Andrew George
- 2008-05-30
Better than the real thing
If you were to read this as an actual book, you would miss out, this audiobook is that good. The narration is perfect; it's bone-chilling. This book is frightening, profound and incredibly relevant.
217 people found this helpful
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- Jim "The Impatient"
- 2015-11-14
ROOM 101
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
This amazing thought provoking, scary, unforgettable?, timeless classic is a must read. The book is divided into three parts. Let me start with part 3. Horror fans do not miss part 3. Part 3 is filled with suspense and torture. Horror is one of my specialties, but no fiction book written with the sole purpose of horror can match the suspense and reality of Part 3. Russia, North Korea and Nazi Germany can not compete with the torture practices of the party. The ability to alter the mind, to control your very thoughts, to make you love what you hated, to turn yourself against yourself. HOW MANY FINGERS DO YOU SEE?
WAR IS PEACE
Part one is the introduction and we learn what it is like to live in this society through the eyes of Winston. Winston is watched his whole life, he has no privacy. His apartment has a camera, his job, everywhere he goes. Everything he says is listened to, his facial expressions are examined and if he does not look and act the way the party expects, he could be vanished. In the morning he is awakened by the television, expected to get out of bed and follow the leader on the TV in morning exercises, if he does not bend over far enough, his name is announced over a speaker in his room and he better perform properly. The TV can not be turned off. Few people are married and sex is frowned upon. Those that are married rarely love each other, they only have sex to do their duty to the party. Their kids usually end up turning against them and reported them to the party. They are then vanished, see part 3. At work, Winston's job is to change history. If the party said something a year ago, which does not agree with what they said today, then all written material from the past must be changed to show that what they said today is what they have always said.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
Winston is lonely and he hates the party. He must hide these facts from the ever watching eye of Big Brother. Somehow, he is able to find places of privacy and to have an affair. Life almost takes on a certain type of normalcy. Yet, he and she know that they will get caught and that they will be tortured. The reader feels for the couple, wishes them happiness, yet dreads the ultimate outcome of them being caught. Part two is bitter sweet.
MINISTRY OF PLENTY
Simon Prebble is excellent, absolutely excellent. I can't say enough about his performance for this novel.
243 people found this helpful
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- Customer Bob
- 2010-08-09
Great Book, With an Amazing Narrator
I'm a regular consumer of audio books, and Simon Prebble's narration brings this book to life with such pitch-perfect, jaw-dropping excellence that I'm at a bit of a loss how to praise him highly enough. Suffice it to say that I got so lost in the story that at times I forgot altogether that this was a book. Do yourself a favor and give this one a listen.
111 people found this helpful
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- T Cyr
- 2017-02-13
Excellent Reader of a Visionary Classic
For first being published in 1949, Orwell had a dire vision into a possible future of our humanity and life on this planet. What's more frightening is that some of his vision has come true. Television has become a big part of what manipulates and controls much of our culture and society. Social media seems to spew hate. This has been one of those classics that has always been on my to read list but I never quite got around to reading. Simon Prebble is an excellent reader and takes us directly into Orwell allowing us direct access to the thoughts of Winston. Was not at all what i was expecting and found parts so anguishing to listen to I had to turn it off and take a break from the intensity of his reading. Well worth a listen.
58 people found this helpful
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- Gary Weston
- 2017-07-29
Absolute classic literature, MUST read!
If you could sum up 1984 in three words, what would they be?
While a delightful delving into the science fiction genre, it still has the societal intelligence to point out a disturbing trend in censorship and commentary. I find that while the book is great on its own merit, the application of social theory hits a little too close to home in 2016-2017.
Have you listened to any of Simon Prebble’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not, but I'm interested in hearing more from his narrative style. I love that his voice is not a "classic" radio style voice, more human and organic. His vocal talent fit seamlessly for 1984.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Absolutely. I've read this in paperback a number of times, but listening was a real treat. Powerful storytelling with serious political undertones.
8 people found this helpful