1984 - Planet eBook

Winston explained about the room over Mr Charrington’sshop.‘That will do for the moment. Later we will arrangesomething else for you. It is important to change one’s hiding-placefrequently. Meanwhile I shall send you a copy ofTHE BOOK’—even O’Brien, Winston noticed, seemed topronounce the words as though they were in italics—’Goldstein’sbook, you understand, as soon as possible. It maybe some days before I can get hold of one. There are notmany in existence, as you can imagine. The Thought Policehunt them down and destroy them almost as fast as we canproduce them. It makes very little difference. The book isindestructible. If the last copy were gone, we could reproduceit almost word for word. Do you carry a brief-case towork with you?’ he added.‘As a rule, yes.’‘What is it like?’‘Black, very shabby. With two straps.’‘Black, two straps, very shabby—good. One day in thefairly near future—I cannot give a date—one of the messagesamong your morning’s work will contain a misprintedword, and you will have to ask for a repeat. On the followingday you will go to work without your brief-case. At sometime during the day, in the street, a man will touch you onthe arm and say ‘I think you have dropped your brief-case.’The one he gives you will contain a copy of Goldstein’s book.You will return it within fourteen days.’They were silent for a moment.‘There are a couple of minutes before you need go,’ said