The February pick is “1984” by George Orwell. Published in 1949, 1984 is about Winston Smith, a low-ranking party member in a totalitarian superstate called Oceania, where the government, led by the omnipresent “Big Brother,” controls every aspect of life, history, and even thought through surveillance (telescreens) and propaganda. Winston rebels by starting a secret diary and having a forbidden affair with a woman named Julia, seeking truth and individuality in a world where “thoughtcrime” is punishable by death. They are eventually caught by the Thought Police, tortured in the Ministry of Love until they betray each other, and Winston’s spirit is completely broken, leaving him to love Big Brother, symbolizing the ultimate crushing of the individual by the state.