Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four (2000) – George Orwell – Penguin Classics
Published by: Penguin Classics, reprinted for the millionth time in 2000, because apparently people can’t get enough of misery.

Condition: Crappy, obviously. Pages are yellowed like they’ve been chain-smoked in the Ministry of Truth canteen. The spine is cracked (much like Winston’s spirit), and there’s probably some tea stains where a previous owner cried into it. Cover features the iconic Penguin Classics black band, but with enough scuffs and scratches to qualify as modern art.

Blurb:
Welcome to Orwell’s timeless holiday brochure for dystopia! Big Brother is watching you — though in this copy he might be squinting through a coffee ring. Nineteen Eighty-Four remains the go-to guide for paranoia, government surveillance, and why falling in love is a bad idea when there’s a Thought Police around. This 2000 Penguin Classics edition offers the same bleak brilliance as every other edition, just with slightly worse paper quality.

Perfect for:

• Students pretending they’ve read it.

• Conspiracy theorists looking for a handbook.

• Anyone who wants a grim reminder that things could always be worse.

Price: Probably too much for the condition, but hey — that’s Crappy Old Books for you.

Reasonable copy, but doesn’t appear to have an ISBN number? Why is that?

Keep browsing: See more Modern Classics books Other books by George Orwell