The most famous dystopian novel of all time, 1984 is the story of Winston Smith as

he struggles to survive in the sinister world of Big Brother. This novel has so
defined the twentieth century that many terms from it�Big Brother, doublethink,
thought police�have seeped into popular culture. When it was first published in
1949, the novelist V. S. Pritchett commented: �I do not think I have ever read a
novel more frightening and depressing; and yet, such are the originality, the
suspense, the speed of writing and withering indignation that it is impossible to
put the book down.�