posted 01-02-2003 11:15 PM            

Welcome To www.orwelltoday.com

Orwell Today is a work in progress and will have additional features as time goes by. You are invited to visit regularly to read news stories*, articles and commentary posted under the heading "Today's Orwell". The postings are chosen for their similarity to concepts presented in "1984".

(*After a period of weeks or months the links to many of the news stories will expire and will no longer be available).

I've divided "1984" into the 45 themes listed down the left-hand side of the HOME PAGE and to which each posting is linked. I arrived at the themes by reading through the book and separating Orwell's words into concept piles (themes). In one pile I put Orwell's references to BIG BROTHER. In another pile I put Orwell's references to THOUGHT POLICE and so on and so on. I then placed the themes as much as possible into the order they appeared in the novel.

The themes comprise what I believe to be the essence of "1984" but do not encompass the whole story. For that a person still needs to read the entire novel. Versions of the novel vary somewhat. The one I used was the Penquin edition printed in Great Britain in 1966.

The themes provide an overview for people who haven't yet read the book or a review for people who read it "years ago". The words in bold and underline emphasize what I consider to be key points.

A person reading the themes from top to bottom (the ideal way) experiences the story unfolding as Orwell told it. Or, a person can go directly to a theme that catches their interest and read all at once most of Orwell's references on that particular concept. The themes thus provide a solid base of knowledge to help people recognize for themselves the amazing similarities between "1984" and present day.