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.