George Orwell: 1984 (1949)

    Winston Smith works for the Ministry of truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal (Goodreads).

    When one ignores the large political treatise slapped in the middle of the novel, 1984 is perhaps unparalleled in terms of its poignancy and overall cultural impact throughout the years. Orwell's vision of a dystopian future puts the modern plethora of young adult apocalypse fiction to shame, mostly because it is just so incredibly hopeless (the actual story, that is). Orwell creates a legendary subversion of expectations with his incredibly grey, monotone story that is somehow able to resonate so wonderfully and colourfully with the real world. The parallels between The Party and various fascist regimes of history are pretty obvious, and Winston, our protagonist is, at times, frustratingly dry, but Orwell is still able to craft a novel that seems devoid of all majesty, which in turn, makes it all the more horrifyingly majestic. 8.6/10