Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - 1984

I always hate disliking beloved books, especially classics and books where the message is very clear and in your face; 1984′s entire theme is living in a dystopian, censored, totalitarian government where said government (see: Big Brother) is quite literally always watching you. This way of society is feeding it’s civilians with propaganda night and day. I totally get it, and that’s the reason I wanted to read this book so badly in the first place. I can link points and themes from this book to modern society, which is what I wanted to do (because I did that while reading "The Hunger Games" and enjoyed it. Same with "Dune" recently. I love reading sci-fi and dystopian novels for this reason). However, I really can’t stand when the narrative of these stories, where the intent and point should circle around those themes entirely, get lost in misogyny, rape fantasizes, boring characters, and long winded passages that don’t feel like they serve a purpose. Don't get me wrong, I 100% get that this book is bleak and isn’t a “fun read” but I do have fun reading dystopian, bleak novels so that’s not really what I’m getting at, here.

I think this would work better as a academic essay of sorts... Like a Ted Talk rather than a novel.

It isn’t even that this book is a chore to read or that I necessarily dislike Orwell’s writing style (it’s not my favorite, anyway) but these problematic traits don’t even progress the book, in my opinion?? I think had he just continued expressing how the government is anti-sex and how sex is a political act without the “I hate women, I want to rape and kill them” the point would’ve still been made… in this specific case the distasteful commentary doesn’t advance the plot or do anything for Winston’s character and makes this book really displeasing in that aspect, not so much how realistic and true this is.

However....! The ending got me. The last few chapters absolutely drilled in the overall theme and I can't help but give this novel 4 stars. I understand why it's beloved and even referenced in modern media 'till this day. I can't give it 5 stars because of the above but I'm absolutely going to be thinking about this book for a long time.

Content Warnings

mme_carton's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

mdugas's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

While important to read for the cultural significance and interesting moral dilemma behind it, I wasn’t a big fan of this book. It was a bit repetitive and some parts were a bit too slow for me.

The psychological torture may have been realistic for the scenario but it was too graphic for me.

Overall not bad writing, just not my cup of tea.

Content Warnings

lin_reads_things's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I can understand why it's concidered a classic, and the story is interesting, but most of what the book says about dictatorship and politics is pretty underwhelming and nothing you wouldn't know from paying attention in highschool history. This paired with the mid writing style and very in-your-face misogyny really took away from what would have otherwise been a pretty decent read.

Content Warnings

emmalouisereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The story and the world Orwell has created is chillingly realistic as a dystopian.

I knew a lot of the story from what I gleaned from popular culture. The only surprise really is whether there is a happy or sad ending - which I won’t spoil.

I think I would have appreciated a more ruthless editor. There are times where we have the same information repeated to us over and over, and I found myself thinking, I know Orwell, you told me this. There’s also a large amount of a book read by the main character which confirms what the main character knows, which of course we also knew.. so it would have been perhaps fine to say the book confirmed his knowledge?

At any rate, this is a disturbing tale. Too close to possible in some parts.

Content Warnings

rai_con's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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