Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

1984 by George Orwell

105 reviews

toodeadtoread's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Body horror

Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual violence, Classism, Misogyny, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

sevenantidotes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

This is my favorite novel of all time. Despite a few flaws, every thing is so deeply profound, emotional, and compelling, and I do mean literally every even tiny element of this novel, from the history of its writing and its author to the novel itself and its impact on pop culture and journalism is, as I described before, deeply profound and emotional and compelling. To be honest, almost every book I've read since has disappointed me since I read it, it's just so impressive. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Rape, Torture, War, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

coramorton02's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

I think that the setup of the world and political system is genius, and I thought part I and part 3 were disturbing but really great reads. It really made me think about the meanings of loyalty, history and memory. However, I thought that the middle section of the novel was a huge drag and I really struggled to get through part II- it felt more like a political manifesto from Orwell than a novel with a plot. That’s not to say that I didn’t find the ideas interesting, and the commentary on totalitarianism is relevant even today, but I think I would have preferred the book if the political elements were wound throughout rather than presented as an info dump. 

I also think that the female characters were badly fleshed out, used as plot devices rather than characters in their own right, and I was uncomfortable with the presentation and lack of exploration of misogyny in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Rape

Minor: War and Sexism

nikenacs's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

[Book club - May 2022]

I now liked this SO much better than when I read it in school at 15. Also really, really reminded me why I like philosophy. '1984' takes the essential philosophical questions "What is (objective) reality? Who constructs reality?" and builds an entire state on the thought that a government could prescribe reality, fleshed out to the last detail. The society and world-building in this is nothing less than spectacular (if absolutely horrifying, of course). Also a great example for a book that puts plot over characters - Winston, Julia etc are just vehicles for the story, examples of people who have been brought up in the society this book aims to paint. Anyways, this was a tough read, but I'm so glad I did read it, and it will stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Sexism, War, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape

poirot's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Alcohol, Torture, Sexism, War, Classism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Infertility

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

remytherat's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.75

It's easy to see why this is a classic, and why it's so important to read. There were, however, things that I didn't love. It's clear Orwell has never met a woman, for one, and some parts in the middle dragged quite a lot. There were moments where the writing didn't flow as well as it did in Animal Farm; moments that were written to be dreamlike felt a bit too stiff. While this is definitely an impactful book, if only to understand the cultural references and the themes brought up, it's nowhere near my favourite classic.

Somehow, it feels different when a lot of the contents of the book already happen in one way or another; less like it's a dystopian future, and more like it's a worse version of the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Torture

Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts

manu_k's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

Beautifully horrifying, this book is a ride from start to finish. We know it has been a cornerstone for the dystopian fiction genre, but reading it makes me realize just how much this book has shaped this genre.

On the writing style: I thought it was very beautifully written, descriptive but not very much so, the exact kind of thing I like. The way it was written and the analogies and the non - linear storytelling in some parts came together so well, it was immersive in the best way.

On the story:

the first part was almost boring, which I thought was the point. It showed us how the regime worked, some background to Winston, but didn't actually contribute to advancing the story line as such. The second part was much more fast paced and actually exciting in regards to the advancement of the story, and by far some of the chapters in this part are my favorites. I didn't appreciate the whole 'I love you' debacle in the beginning, but I guess it shows how much sexually and emotionally repressed these people are. I believe it seems very fitting that Julia is introduced as a central character at the start of the second part and her role ends at the end of the second part. The third part was one of the most difficult parts to get through, despite me having experience with reading torture scenes (I read The Surgeon when I was 15, it still haunts me). It was brutal no holds barred kind of writing, with the descriptions, O'Brien's almost - almost - loving teacher like treatment of Winston, and then the change in the way of Winston's thinking, how different it was from the other two parts. The ending was surprising to me, despite knowing that it won't end happily as other dystopian books I have read.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit

esem's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

Finally read this book after reading so much about it. It's definitely worth it. It's scary how much it resembles the current climate in Russia, Trumps America, the extremist right-wing party in Germany, the political system in China and North Korea, corrupt politicians in Nigeria.........
The book was inspired by Nazi-Germany and Russia. 
I mostly heard extremist right-wing media talk about this book, like Candice Owens, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro etc. 
It's kinda ironic, because after reading it, it really is the opposite of what they are saying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Rape

metanoialaxy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Gore, Gaslighting, War, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, and Abandonment