The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig iron. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine, and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a meter wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features. At one end of it a colored poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. Leseprobe ONE It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. No one can deny the novel's hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions-a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time. A startling and haunting novel, 1984 creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing from start to finish. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can't escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes.
It was their final, most essential command." Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth.
Written more than 70 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future.
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