I’m currently re-reading George Orwell’s 1984, for a variety of reasons. In light of recent events I wanted to be reminded that the we should not take reality as it is for granted, and he is also one of my favourite all-time writers: because of his fierce advocacy for the downtrodden and sharp and balanced view of the world (which pretty much reflects my own, without me being a political writer), but also because his writing style alone is that good. Here’s a poignant quote from the first chapter:

There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live – did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every moment scrutinized.