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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Animal Farm: the premise for this is really cool but I just didn’t love it
1984: George Orwell is a time traveler, and this book is absolutely fantastic. It’s a classic for a reason, and I loved it. I read it a long time ago and had honestly forgotten so much about it, but now reading it as an adult it hits so much harder and in different ways.
1984: George Orwell is a time traveler, and this book is absolutely fantastic. It’s a classic for a reason, and I loved it. I read it a long time ago and had honestly forgotten so much about it, but now reading it as an adult it hits so much harder and in different ways.
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The original, unabridged texts composed by [a:George Orwell|3706|George Orwell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1374989696p2/3706.jpg], accompanied by an introduction supplied by [a:Christopher Hitchens|3956|Christopher Hitchens|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1334621246p2/3956.jpg] in 2003, when he had only a few years to live.
The two main stories in this volume, Animal Farm and 1984 respectively, are of course fascinating on a moral as well as intellectual level; the insight supplied by Hitchens in his introduction only confirms their place in the pseudo-political canon, and adds enlightening details about Orwell's personal and professional life that make the books, if possible, even more provocative than they are as texts without amplification.
Although the introduction is helpful, in terms of describing the circumstances of their publication, each story in this collection should be required reading for those growing up in Western culture - as Hitchens mentions, Orwell's warnings still stand against modern governments and societies no less strongly than they did when he wrote the stories during the 1940s.
The two main stories in this volume, Animal Farm and 1984 respectively, are of course fascinating on a moral as well as intellectual level; the insight supplied by Hitchens in his introduction only confirms their place in the pseudo-political canon, and adds enlightening details about Orwell's personal and professional life that make the books, if possible, even more provocative than they are as texts without amplification.
Although the introduction is helpful, in terms of describing the circumstances of their publication, each story in this collection should be required reading for those growing up in Western culture - as Hitchens mentions, Orwell's warnings still stand against modern governments and societies no less strongly than they did when he wrote the stories during the 1940s.
I have no idea how to review this book, except to say it is utterly brilliant, utterly startling, and disturbing on a profound level.
I am fairly sure I got a lot more out of it now than I would have had I read it as a teen. I keep thinking abut the "doublethink" concept in the book, and how that reminds me of so much that is happening now politically, though in a more "unofficial" capacity. What struck me the most, however, was the rewriting of history. While not done in the same manner as the book describes, we certainly do have a lot of it going on nonetheless, and it left me feeling pretty disturbed that George Orwell was thinking and writing this in 1949, and we seem to have learned nothing since then.
I am fairly sure I got a lot more out of it now than I would have had I read it as a teen. I keep thinking abut the "doublethink" concept in the book, and how that reminds me of so much that is happening now politically, though in a more "unofficial" capacity. What struck me the most, however, was the rewriting of history. While not done in the same manner as the book describes, we certainly do have a lot of it going on nonetheless, and it left me feeling pretty disturbed that George Orwell was thinking and writing this in 1949, and we seem to have learned nothing since then.