Great book! I'm glad to see that people are still reading it, but I'm not surprised that it's a Freeper! Have you read The Road to Wigan Pier? It's good too. The second half of the book has Orwell just pounding his fellow socialists. His descriptions and concerns haven't changed at all. And the socialists just hated him--still do.
By the way, I'm impressed that you've read this. If it hadn't been for my thesis, these gems would have passed me by.
I had to find it used. Haven't read the Road to Wigan Pier.
I think Orwell's associations with powerful Fabian socialists such as HG Wells and Huxley were the source of much of his warnings. He wasn't just speculating when he created O'Brien.