Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

1984 by George Orwell

49 reviews

te_ss_i's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, War, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Genocide, Mental illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

siowan's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Child death, Physical abuse, War, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, Murder, Slavery, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

spookypossum's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Confinement, Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Xenophobia

blynn817's review

challenging dark reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Sexual violence

imaginefishes's review

challenging dark reflective 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

4.5

Terrifying to read and realise some of the parallels between this world and ours in Singapore

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Xenophobia, Death, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

kittygracex07's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, and Rape

kianga_black's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Police brutality

buud_w0rm's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book superseded my expectations

The ending was heartbreakingly realistic. This book should be a requirement for every person on earth to read. The way it tackles totalitarianism, the constructed language  in the book was incredible. especially when the appendix  goes to to much more detail on how oppressive the truth of newspeak really is. you do get the idea while reading the book but even more so at the end. I felt sorry for Julia, Winston even Parsons and Symes surprisingly. The journey through Winstons eyes was sometimes so violent or anxiety inducing or paranoid, i couldn't tear my eyes away from the page. Towards the end i felt like i lost my mimd with him. My heart broke at the realization of the decrepit broken old man he had become. The bleak acceptance that there may never be a change in the minds of individuals because BigBrother has realized every psychological advantage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, War, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Vomit

I think the world can benefit from reading this book and knowing Winston’s story. The amount of commonalities between the book and the world we already live in brings dread to my stomach. What makes me dread it even more is the final message in the book which is that an individual no matter what they believe has no choice but to go with the flow of the collective mind. Even if the collective is wrong, the individual alone can’t fight the current nor can they change the power in which controls the current of the collective minds. An individual WONT change the “party” aka gov’s kind if their (gov) only concern is gaining more and more power. Each day I pray that the small sect of people that want to uprise against their gov will find each other and with all their might (together) push against the wrongness that’s been perpetuated in the first place… I feel sorry that Winston quite literally got the fire put out from him. I think everyone can learn something vital from this novel

sugar_fox's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

(Copied from my Goodreads account)

4.5 stars.

The only possible way to describe 1984, is disturbing. 

It’s not from extreme gore or violence, though there certainly is some. It’s from the ideas that this book presents, and the way in which it was executed. 

1984 was one of the original dystopias, or at least the one that first gained major worldwide attention (as far as I’ve read), and boy can I understand why.

In my opinion, you don’t read this book for the characters alone- though they are extremely intriguing, so much say I could write an essay on the psyche of Julia and Winston- you read it for it’s frankly quite frightening themes.

In the past, 1984 was seen as a possibility. A possible future for the world to take, one ruled under an iron fist, when even thinking your own thoughts become impossible. While this is a far cry from the world that we live in today, it is interesting to compare the two worlds, and see the path that the world could’ve- and could (unlikely) still- take.

The only reason this book misses out on the extra 0.5 stars, is because of the characters. When I read this book, as I stated previously, I didn’t read it for the characters, and perhaps upon a re-read that will change. I will stop becoming fixated on the world that 1984 presents and will focus enough on the characters. And while I still did care for them, I just felt like something was missing, it may even be, that in comparison to the unique masterpiece of world building that 1984 presents there was no way for the characters to compare. 

If this rant somehow hasn’t convinced you to go ahead and buy or borrow 1984, this is your reminder:

Read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Sexual content

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To be honest, I kind of feel like George Orwell gaslighted me. The first half of this book was just---bad. I didn't like it. Not in the slightest.

Winston would randomly get this urge to either rape or kill people who did nothing else but exist in his presence. It was tiring, not thought-provoking. I liked him much better in part three of the book, though! Ironically enough, maybe, but his whole character during part one and two was being a pig. That was completely out of focus during part three! Splendid.

Julia should have been removed entirely. I didn't like her in the beginning, and I didn't like her at the end. Her whole character was having sex and saying foul things. If you try too hard to make a character who's supposed to be controversial and rebellious, you end up with a character I only want to die in a pit.

O'Brien.🫶 He saved the book, to be honest. I genuinely believe that this book would have been 5 stars for me if Orwell had removed Julia and spent more time building on Winston and O'Brien's relationship instead.

All in all, I do believe that this book was worth it. I read it for history, and during the first half, I thought of this book as complete and utter bullshit. But at least I came to like it—really like it towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Body horror, Child death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape