Opinion

Best of Book Riot: George Orwell’s 1984 v. The Real 1984: Which Was More Gnarly?

Greg Zimmerman

Staff Writer

Greg Zimmerman blogs about contemporary literary fiction at The New Dork Review of Books and holds down a full-time gig as a trade magazine editor. Follow him on Twitter: @NewDorkReview.

View All posts by Greg Zimmerman

Today is Book Riot’s half-birthday–that’s right, we’re six months old today. To celebrate, we’re running our ten most popular posts today. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading Book Riot! This post originally ran on November 8, 2011

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George Orwell’s 1984, first published in 1949, paints a grim picture of a terrifying dystopia. However, (with tongue firmly implanted in cheek), I’d argue it’s not without its charms. Reading the novel again this past weekend made me wonder (not seriously) which would’ve been better to live in — Orwell’s 1984 or the real one. Since I know you love charts, let’s take a brief look in chart form.

Whew — real 1984 wins! I’m a little relieved, to be honest.

What do you think? Any categories for which you’d give Orwell’s 1984 the nod? Why?

 

* “They say that time heals all things, they say you can always forget;

But the smiles and the tears across the years they twist my heartstrings yet!”

(Lyrics have undergone an Americanization from British colloquial English.)