《一九八四》首次出版于1949年。故事背景设置在假想中的1984年，彼时世界分成三个超级大国，英国已经更名为“一号空域”，是大洋国的一个省。故事主人公名叫温斯顿·史密斯，是一名外围党员，在真理部工作。他外表勤奋努力，却逐渐对独裁统治者“老大哥”产生怀疑，希望能够推翻他，并违背统治者意愿，与另一名外围党员茱莉亚产生了爱情。通过严密监控，统治集团发现了二人违反统治意愿的情况。经过友爱部的严讯逼供和思想清洗，二人终于被洗脑，温斯顿也承认自己爱老大哥。
One
I
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled① into his breast in an effort to escape the vile② wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty③ dust from entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag④ mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked⑤ to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly⑥ handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The fl at was seven flights⑦ up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose⑧ ulcer⑨ above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived⑩ that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption? beneath it ran.
① nuzzle ['n?zl] v. 触碰
② vile [vail] a. 恶劣的
③ gritty ['ɡriti] a. 含沙砾的
④ rag [ræɡ] a. 破布做的
⑤ tack [tæk] v. 用平头钉钉住
⑥ ruggedly ['r?ɡidli] ad. 粗犷地
⑦ flight [fl ait] n. 【建筑工程】阶梯步级
⑧ varicose ['værik?us] a. 静脉曲张的
⑨ ulcer ['?ls?] n. 溃疡
⑩ contrived [k?n'traivd] a.不自然的
第一部
一
4月里的一天，天气晴朗而寒冷。时钟正敲响十三点。温斯顿·史密斯把下巴抵在胸前，想躲避掉寒风。他快速溜进了胜利大厦的玻璃门内，但动作还是不够迅速，一股夹带着沙尘的旋风随他刮进室内。
门厅里散发着一股熟卷心菜和破旧地毯的气味。一端的墙壁上钉着一幅彩色宣传画，对于室内装饰来说显得过于宽大。画面上只有一张硕大的面孔，宽度超过一米。这是一张四十五岁左右男子的面孔，他蓄着乌黑浓密的胡子，五官粗犷而英俊。温斯顿朝着楼梯走去，等电梯也没什么用。即便在状况最好时，电梯也极少运行。而且目前，白天还停电。这项措施是节约运动的一部分，旨在为迎接“仇恨周”活动做准备。温斯顿住在大厦七楼的一套公寓里，他今年三十九岁，右脚踝上方出现了一处静脉曲张性溃疡。因此他上楼时步伐缓慢，中途歇息了好几次。每层楼梯的过渡平台处正对着电梯口的墙壁上都贴着那幅有着硕大面孔的宣传画，凝视着来往的人。绘画者往往想方设法让宣传画产生这样的效果：观众不管如何移动，画面上的目光都会如影随形。这幅宣传画便属于这种。画面下方的说明文字是：老大哥正注视着你。
One
第一部 003
Two
第二部 183
Three
第三部 395
APPENDIX The Principles of Newspeak
附录：新话的原则 525
在基础阶段后期，或高年级，要努力背诵名篇，譬如，背50-100篇。无论从语言还是内容上来说，这都是精华。背熟了，对了解西方文化，研究文字的运用都有好处。
——梅仁毅 北京外国语大学教授、博士生导师
作者渥惠尔（奥威尔）的政论、文评和讽刺小说久负当代盛名。……至于其文笔，有光芒，又有锋芒，举的例子都极巧妙，令人读之唯恐易尽。
——钱钟书
一面是荒诞不经的情节，一面是入情入理的预警，一面是无与伦比的刺激，一面是难以否定的逻辑，读之触目惊心之余，大有思考回味的余地。
——王蒙
1980年，我在大学里读到了乔治·奥威尔的《一九八四》，这是一个终身难忘的经历。这本书和赫胥黎的《美丽新世界》、扎米亚金的《我们》并称“反乌托邦三部曲”，但是对我来说，它已经不是乌托邦，而是历史了。
——王小波
保持着一个处于尖刻、冷峻、严格律己、抱有克己理想主义的左派人士的形象。
——英国传记作家诺埃尔.安南