Essentially, two books in one: (1) A thought-provoking and intellectually-stimulating critique & analysis of George Orwell's "1984"and (2) a mini-novel that's not so much a sequel as a re-write of "1984" (again using the benefot of 30 years of hindsight that Orwell did not have).
In the fiction segment, while there is no Big Brother or Thought Police per se, nor are there superstates like Oceania, Euarasia, and Eastasia, i.e. the UK, USA, Australia, etc. still exist as independent countries, the unions have totally seized power (the cynical joke goes "TUK = TUC," in other words, The United Kingdom is the Trades Union Congress, and Englad is often informally referred to as Tucland), the State is the employer for something like 99% of the workforce, and the unions basically hold governments and individuals alike by the bollocks. The unions (or Syndicates, as they're also called in the novella) don't have quite the total physical and mental control of the people that Big Brother's Ingsoc does, but it's plenty nightmarish. Instead of Orwell's "Newspeak," there is "Worker's English (WE)," which is also a highly dumbed-down version of the language. The only groups with any sense of intellectual and economic freedom are gangs of thugs and petty thieves....or, dare I say, landlocked pirates?
The novella portion starts off with the protagonist's wife dying in a hospital fire due to the firefighters being on strike and refusing to attempt to put out the fire.* An ominous start to an even more ominous story. (*Later on in the novel, there is a reference to an incident where thousands freeze to death in the American Midwestern winter, specifically Minnesota, because the public utility workers are on strike and thus refusing to turn on the heat.)
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
While "1985" doesn't exactly have a "happy" ending, at least the protagonist, Bev Jones, doesn't go down without a fight, and while he is tortured at a re-education camp,the tortures aren't quite as horrific as The Ministry of Love or Room 101 from Orwell's "1984," and at least Jones doesn't go out like a totally brainwashed meek little wussy the way Winston Smith does in Orwell's book, i.e. Jones dies, but he doesn't die loving the State or the unions.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2013
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Maurício Fontana Filho
serviu o seu propósito por um tempo
Reviewed in Brazil on January 10, 2022
