Reviews

1984 by George Orwell

vibrant_peace's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

aliumair's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

zukko_0819's review against another edition

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4.0

There are multiple songs written about this book, or based on it, my favourite one is Resistance by MUSE. This song references the thought police and other crucial aspects of the book.

molly_vi0let's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

1.0

jennyhickey's review against another edition

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5.0

I think this book is really important and has a lot of opportunity for analysis and interpretation. The books main focus is Winston’s humanity and how it dies at the hands of The Party. His love for Julia is what keeps him tied to humanity but then when faced with his biggest fear tells the Party to torture Julia resulting in a turning point. There are multiple themes including “the dangers of totalitarianism”, “psychological manipulation” and “language as mind control”. My favorite symbol of this book is the glass paperweight which Winston buys in the people district. This represents his attempt to reconnect with the past and also represents the room in Mr. Charrington’s house which was a private sanctuary in which Winston imagined as a separate world frozen in time. The glass paperwork has a tiny fragment of coral embedded inside of it which represents the fragility of human relationships; specifically Julia and Winston’s. When the Thought Police arrest Julia and Winston they smash the paperweight which represents the death of both Winston’s individuality and also his relationship with Julia.

robikn22's review

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challenging emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

05claire's review against another edition

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

4.0

tjreed15's review

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dark tense slow-paced

2.0

randomshai's review against another edition

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3.0

“WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.”

There you go. You’ve now already read approximately 20% of the novel.

In all actuality, I do recognize this book’s contextual importance and find appreciation in the statement Orwell seeks to make. However, I personally can’t see past the dizzyingly unstable opinions of Julia that Winston (our otherwise /seemingly/ morally righteous lead) pinballs between throughout the novel. Perhaps it was an intentional method to show the narrator’s instability in face of the constant governmental propaganda and manipulation, or perhaps simply the author’s own opinions spilling through, but the blatant sexism and outright violence Winston projects toward her left a rather bad taste in my mouth. Regardless, I still appreciate how powerful this novel is, though there are quite a few themes I believe it could have done without.

tamaraguillenr's review against another edition

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4.0

Es una novela algo fuera de lo normal, distópica. La verdad me encantó cuando la leí, sentí que podía analizar esa sociedad desde un punto de vista más objetivo y aplicarlo a la nuestra. Es una novela que merece la pena leer.