Nineteen Eighty Four, by George Orwell - Akasha Classics, AkashaPublishing.Com - It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. 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. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted imply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly 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 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. 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 contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

喬治•奧威爾（1903-1950）， 英國著名作傢。主要作品有《動物農場》、《1984》等。

1903年齣生於印度，1907年舉傢遷迴英國，後因經濟原因無力深造，被迫遠走緬甸，參加帝國警察部隊。終因厭倦殖民行徑、癡迷寫作而辭去公職，輾轉迴到歐洲，流亡倫敦、巴黎等地，一邊深刻體驗下層民眾生活，一遍從事文學創作，有多部作品齣版。1936年西班牙內戰爆發，參加左翼組織，因重傷返迴英國，但最終樹立社會主義信念。1939年，二戰爆發，積極參加反納粹的活動。由於西班牙內戰與二戰的苦痛經曆，對戰爭與和平、極權與民主、社會關懷與人類理想進行瞭深刻的思考。

1945年，著名的政治寓言小說《動物農場》齣版。1949年，《1984》問世，在全球産生深遠影響。作品入選多國中學生必讀書目，被翻譯成62種文字，總銷量超過5000萬冊。

1950年，因肺病去世，年僅47歲。