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Nineteen Eighty-Four

Penguin Modern Classics

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Nineteen Eighty-Four

By: George Orwell
Narrated by: Peter Capaldi
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party.

Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party.

In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow worker, Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

Public Domain (P)2019 Penguin Books Ltd Classics Dystopian Science Fiction Fiction Freedom

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Last time I read this book was in 1984 so revisiting it has been very worthwhile. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, I’d encourage you to listen or read 1984.

It is an outstanding book.



The reading of Capaldi is superb and stood out when I compared it to samples by other readers.

An important book and an excellent reading

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Peter Capaldi reads Orwell's intense and harrowing novel so well, and with so much passion, feeling and intelligence, that the listening often becomes unbearable and one needs a break from the relentless darkness, pain and horror, especially in Part Three. Orwell is a superb writer, which is why this is a very powerful and worthwhile read/listen, even if his vision and ideas are at times so extreme and monochrome as to become unbelievable and almost tedious.

Disturbing Listen and Lesson

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A must read. A terrifying and grim example of what is possible when speech and thought are controlled via legislation and threat. In our own society these messages are certainly relatable given the extreme views of the political far left activists and the same on the far right, with the left being far more prevalent today in the West. It makes this reader appreciate that we do live in the fairest society the world has ever known and we should aim to keep it as such.

An increasingly important book

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excellent story,do apt for today's climate,makes you think .For my first classic story book am so pleased I picked this.

must read as well as listen

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Like a lot of people, I read this first as a teenager and very much took it as the story of Winston’s life in 1984's Airstrip one . A love story with some politics attached, with a lot of skipping over the political bits. I've re-read several times since and increasingly see it as is a great but very strange, complicated book - there is so much to discuss about it as a novel, as a warning, as piece of history, as science fiction, as political polemic. But in terms of this audio version - Capaldi was brilliant, brilliant!. The performance gets to the heart of what I now feel this book is about - the dialogues between Winston and O'Brian. Throughout the reading it felt like there was a cast of people involved, rather than a single narrator. Capaldi is so good at make subtle changes in tone and pacing for each character. This is at its most skilful and intense in the O'Brian interrogations and gave me a whole new insight into what is happening in this part of the book. Again, I can say enough, how impressive I found this reading.

Outstanding reading of a very special book

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Capaldi delivers a brilliant and intense telling of a classic novel. My favourite audiobook version.

A classic brilliantly performed

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Excellent narration, downbeat and miserable, just as it should be!
Finally got round to this, perhaps of its time in it's telling but scarily close to things happening today, but perhaps a bit too 'conspiracy theory' for me.

Excellent narration

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One of my all time favourite books, and the narration takes it to another level! There’s something about Capaldi’s voice that suits Winston so well - would gladly listen on repeat.

Brilliant, Brilliant, Brillianf

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What a compelling and engrossing book superbly narrated by Peter Capaldi he adds such drama to the performance and subtlety and emotion when needed that transport into the nightmarish world of Orwell's writing. If there was more stars 🌟 l would give them.
Andrew

Brilliant

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