1984 By George Orwell By May Monten By May Monten on Dec 28, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

I first read this book when I was in the 6th grade, and it made a huge impression on me.

More recently, I have been thinking about it a lot because some real-life events seem to be parallelling some of the horrific events in the book.

(A peculiarity of George Orwell is that people on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum believe he is speaking for them.)

This is one book that I can truly say changed my life. The terms "Big Brother," "doublespeak," and the "memory hole" all originated in this book, and I can't imagine how I would be able to think about the world the way that I do without having these terms, and the concepts behind them, available to me.

I would consider this book essential reading for everyone.

And it's a page-turner. Orwell is a clear and vivid writer, and the suspense in the book pulled me along.