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Orwell vs Kafka: Nineteen Eighty-Four

3: 'Have you done this before?'

Duration: 57 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM

Available for 5 months

Juliet Stevenson continues a day of readings from Nineteen Eighty-Four, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Orwell's great dystopian novel, as part of Radio 4's 'Orwell vs Kafka' season.

Other readers include: Martin Freeman, Tom Hollander, Samuel West, Rhashan Stone and Adjoa Andoh.

The year is 1984. War and revolution have left the world unrecognisable. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, and its leader, Big Brother, stares out from every poster. The Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal, and no one is free. Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history, but he dreams of freedom and of rebellion. When he falls in love, the affair is an act of rebellion against the Party. But nothing is secret. And Room 101 awaits...

Orwell's cautionary tale was first published in 1949, and is one of the 20th century's most influential novels.

Today: the girl with the dark hair passes Winston a note - and everything changes....

Reader: Juliet Stevenson
Writer: George Orwell
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Justine Willett Show less

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