- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: BEAUTIFUL BOOKS (7 Oct 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1907616004
- ISBN-13: 978-1907616006
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 443,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Ingenious, chilling and darkly comic, 1985 combines a devastating critique of Orwell's 1984 with a terrifying vision of the future. As memorable as A Clockwork Orange, it is as powerful and unsettling as anything Burgess has written. First published in 1978, its thoughts and ideas still hold very true today.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Linguists will LOVE this book! Burgess' fictional language Worker's English (WE)is comparable to Orwell's Newspeak. Published over 30 years ago,the book is still an interesting,often shockingly direct and sometimes even brutal read. Burgess seems to have anticipated the turn the development of some languages (i.e. English and German)took.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Since his death in 1993, there has been a decline of interest in the wider work of Anthony Burgess, with only a small and predictable number of his works being currently available to the intellectually curious.
This neccesarily means that '1985' (1978) is currently out of print, ignored by the wider public and generally attracting comment only for the apparent portrayal of Britain under an Islamic system of governance. Whilst it is true to say that Islam does figure within the novel, it does so in an entirely secondary way, providing little more than a convenient ideological counterweight to the true target of this short tale, the vision of a hyper-socialised Britain in which the world and themes drawn by George Orwell in '1984' are ruthlessly explored and questioned.
The book should, in many respects, be considered as providing a dual structured commentary on Orwell's earlier work, consisting of a series of short essay type pieces which, in a style similar to that of Borges, are framed within a simple Q and A narrative in which Burgess exaggerates and amplifies ideas and motifs from within the original text. Once this has been completed Burgess presents a short story, following the experiences of Bev Jones (the 'Winston Smith') as he struggles to live according to the stated wish of his dead wife ('Don't let them get away with it'), in a world which can be seen to reflect many of the contemporary concerns at the time of its original publication (the power of the trade unions, oil dependency, Islam, comparative moral relativism) with a broader framework concerned with examining the role of the individual as opposed to the state. Whilst this might not seem particularly original, the work moves swiftly and surely, propelled by the inventive linguistic turns in which Burgess excelled, and an undeniable humour which ensures that the sense of the comic and absurd is always present.
It is clear, obviously, that the particular vision offered by Burgess did not become manifest but that does not detract from some of the key questions posed by the book, which are as relevant now as when originally written. This is a highly political novel, related to similarly written dystopian visions (notably Zamyatin's 'We' and Huxley's 'Brave New World'), but offering a celebration of the individualism and romantic heroic freedom of creative humanism and the unique comedy of human existance and struggle.
This neccesarily means that '1985' (1978) is currently out of print, ignored by the wider public and generally attracting comment only for the apparent portrayal of Britain under an Islamic system of governance. Whilst it is true to say that Islam does figure within the novel, it does so in an entirely secondary way, providing little more than a convenient ideological counterweight to the true target of this short tale, the vision of a hyper-socialised Britain in which the world and themes drawn by George Orwell in '1984' are ruthlessly explored and questioned.
The book should, in many respects, be considered as providing a dual structured commentary on Orwell's earlier work, consisting of a series of short essay type pieces which, in a style similar to that of Borges, are framed within a simple Q and A narrative in which Burgess exaggerates and amplifies ideas and motifs from within the original text. Once this has been completed Burgess presents a short story, following the experiences of Bev Jones (the 'Winston Smith') as he struggles to live according to the stated wish of his dead wife ('Don't let them get away with it'), in a world which can be seen to reflect many of the contemporary concerns at the time of its original publication (the power of the trade unions, oil dependency, Islam, comparative moral relativism) with a broader framework concerned with examining the role of the individual as opposed to the state. Whilst this might not seem particularly original, the work moves swiftly and surely, propelled by the inventive linguistic turns in which Burgess excelled, and an undeniable humour which ensures that the sense of the comic and absurd is always present.
It is clear, obviously, that the particular vision offered by Burgess did not become manifest but that does not detract from some of the key questions posed by the book, which are as relevant now as when originally written. This is a highly political novel, related to similarly written dystopian visions (notably Zamyatin's 'We' and Huxley's 'Brave New World'), but offering a celebration of the individualism and romantic heroic freedom of creative humanism and the unique comedy of human existance and struggle.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This novel, first published in 1978, was Anthony Burgess' vision of how Britain might turn out if trade union power remained unchecked. It is the story of a stubborn, bloody-minded individual, Bev Jones, and his refusal to accept the moral authority of the Syndicalist, trade-union dominated regime that has come to power in the United Kingdom.
In retropect Burgess was proved wrong about the trade unions. Margaret Thatcher broke their grip on British public life. But he does get it right in his depiction of a post-Christian Britain, where Islam is steadily becoming more influential. 'Supernature abhors a super-vacuum. With the death of institutional Christianity will come the spread of Islam.'
The story, like Orwell's original vision of the future,is a bleak one, though with numerous ingenious touches...Burgess foresaw the anti-smoking campaign with gruesome images on cigarette packets. In a sense it is a period piece. This present generation has its own nightmares about the future. But anything written by Anthony Burgess, a deeply humane and spiritual man, is worth reading.
In retropect Burgess was proved wrong about the trade unions. Margaret Thatcher broke their grip on British public life. But he does get it right in his depiction of a post-Christian Britain, where Islam is steadily becoming more influential. 'Supernature abhors a super-vacuum. With the death of institutional Christianity will come the spread of Islam.'
The story, like Orwell's original vision of the future,is a bleak one, though with numerous ingenious touches...Burgess foresaw the anti-smoking campaign with gruesome images on cigarette packets. In a sense it is a period piece. This present generation has its own nightmares about the future. But anything written by Anthony Burgess, a deeply humane and spiritual man, is worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
burgess the bitter
Having glanced at the other reviews I wanted to quickly make some points. This book is perhaps mainly interesting as a example of bitterness in literature. Read more
Published 8 months ago by daddycool
Warning, read before purchase!
A great book in many many ways. It is slightly spoiled by a very poor introduction which includes a massive plot spoiler on the second page. Why do publishers do this! Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jonno
1985
An intelligent and frightening book, which deserves to be in the national consciousness like its predecessors, Brave New World and 1984. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by moonagedaydreamer
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