Agreed. It has been said that the two "points of no return" for Communist-loving intellectuals were the Spanish Civil War and the Hitler/Stalin pact. After 1939, anyone who could still believe that Communism was not evil had to be totally blind and beyond hope. Unfortunately, many could and did.
These books are available as cheap, very cheap, paperbacks in almost all bookstores. Usually less than $5. I have read a lot of good literature in these "pocket" sized books. Not just Orwell but many other classics as well. They are great to carry around in your back pocket and read when you are in line at the bank or waiting for your wife to finish shopping at some mall store. In fact, I remember clearly reading 1984 at a hockey rink while my son was practicing. I think it took me maybe four practices to finish it.