As anyone who has read George Orwell's "Animal Farm" can tell you, George Orwell is a very political person, and this book shows it. Politics is the main subject, and by reading these you know that George Orwell has a deep distrust of any establishment that claims too loudly to be on the side of the people.
The book opens "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.", which alerts the reader to the fact that something is strange right off. The main character is Winston Smith, a worker in the Ministry of Truth of the dark, Orwellian (can I say that or is it self-referential?) dictatorial regime of the future. Winston lives on the territory of "Oceania", the other possible two being Eastasia and Eurasia. There is a perpetual war between all three, with great advances being constantly announced, but no real progress being made by any party. The government is known as IngSoc, or "English Socialism" shortened to a new dialect known as "Newspeak". The purpose of the new language, as explained by one of Winston's associates, is to rid the English language of words that can express dissent towards the government, and the power of "Big Brother", under the theory that no-one can think these thoughts if there are no words to express it. (Which just about sums up the type of regime Winston lives in.

Winston's job is to update past copies of the Times to ensure that what was reported matches what is happening now. A small example: if a production output of 150 units was predicted, but only 86 produced, Winston is tasked with changing the previous figure downward, usually to something like 53 units, so that a claim of overproduction can be made.

A very deep story (made into an almost-equally deep film), Nineteen Eighty-Four is about Winston's longing to change the system, his discovery of a lover who feels the same way, and of the reaction of the system to them.

I started reading this book mostly out of a sense of requirement... it is quite a famous book, and is often quoted from, even without people knowing the origin of the phrase; It is responsible for introducing into our language the notion of "Big Brother", and probably of putting into words feeling many of us have for large bureaucracies. Given that, however, I found this to be a very interesting book, losing me only briefly when huge passages from a "revolutionary" text were quoted.

I can say that some of the sentiments in this book are enlightening to read, today as they might have been back in the 1950's, perhaps more so now that the spirit sapping technology spoken of is possible, and in some cases, it could be argued, in existence.

It probably doesn't give away too much if I end by saying that if you like overly happy endings, this book is not for you. If you're curious as to just what this book has going for it that everyone seems to have read it, I encourage you to go ahead and get it from the library (along with a book of your favourite newspaper comics, so you aren't depressed afterwards. ;-)