Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - 1984

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

1984 by George Orwell

66 reviews

quamarx's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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kejireads's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative 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? Yes

4.0

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enf87's review against another edition

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I was excited to read this book - it's a classic, plus I'm always interested in a book that's ever been "banned." However, the narrator, toward the beginning of the book (page 15) describes his hatred of an unnamed woman ("the dark-haired girl") he's had no contact with, and goes on to describe in great detail how he'd like to rape, torture and murder her, simply because she's an attractive young woman. Note: this scene is NOT why the book was banned!

As a survivor, I'm admittedly picky about scenes of sexual assault in my reading materials, but it's certainly not a deal breaker. (Toni Morrison is one of my favorite authors and she wrote some truly upsetting rape scenes.)

In this case, the fact that the narrator simply continues the story as though these types of fantasies are standard to the male psyche, while I'm supposed to look to him as my reliable narrator, made me uneasy.

No shade to anyone who enjoyed this book, but I felt ok just taking the cliff notes route here after that scene.

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studiouspoppy's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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? No

4.0

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therobinjoyce's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-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

3.0

Winston, the main character, lives in a dystopian country where individual thought is banned and where only the leader, an entity known as Big Brother, is allowed to reason and to decide. He is conflicted by his own thoughts and urged by his natural instincts to question the wisdom of Big Brother. Throughout the pages of the book he moves hopefully toward his own liberation and the liberation of all mankind from Big Brother’s terrifying regime, but in defying Big Brother with his own thoughts, he dooms himself to the full wrath of this totalitarian government.

This book really isn’t for the faint of heart. Obviously, 1984 was written well before our day and the style of writing evidently shows that, but the principles and concepts conveyed in the pages of this book are very thought-provoking (as all of George Orwell's books are) and relevant even today.

Amazingly, he has created a dystopian world far different from what the reality of 1984 was actually like, but one, nonetheless, that is a stark warning to mankind if they continue down certain paths even nowadays.

Throughout the pages of the book, Orwell warns of the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society and goes to extreme lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control which a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain even without the use of much modern technology.

It was truly frightening to behold at certain points and definitely one to read. If you're after a gripping, dark, dystopian tale of seemingly doomed hope and espionage against a totalitarian government, you will most likely be thrilled to read this book. If however, you suffer from any kind of nervous disposition, please do not attempt this novel. One look at the content warnings below will give you a good understanding of why I say this...

TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, Violence, Physical Abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Death, Forced Institutionalization, Sexism, Gore, Sexual Content, Body Horror, Emotional Abuse, Rape, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Thoughts, Murder, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Blood, War, Alcohol, Hate Crime, Genocide, Body Shaming, Gun Violence, Alcoholism, Medical Content, Cursing, Child Death

Content Warnings