Reviews with content warning for Sexism - 1984

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

1984 by George Orwell

105 reviews

leonormsousa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

In March 2016, I read, for the first time, one of the most timeless classics: George Orwell’s 1984. I’d been craving a reread for quite a while but I wanted to wait till I owned an English copy so I could now experience the book in its original language since the first time around I had read a Portuguese translation. When I happened to stumble upon the edition I wanted, in March 2022, 6 years later, I couldn’t resist the impulse of buying the book and proceed to, almost immediately, dive into it.

And how incredible this reread was! I remembered only the loose outline of the book, with all the beautiful details forgotten. I remembered how the ending had struck me in such a powerful way. I also remembered how, back then at 16 years old, I was much more interested in the plot itself and had quickly skimmed through the Goldstein’s Manifesto, wanting to get back to Winston’s story. This time though, despite the fact that I still don’t particularly enjoy political themes, I found myself interested in this part of the book and even wanting more!

I had also missed, in my first read, how beautiful Orwell’s writing sometimes was. How even overwhelming it could feel. I took my time with this reread, limiting myself to only a few chapters a day and I delighted myself by slowly savouring each one, while, contradictorily, feeling more and more disturbed by what I read.

I can’t help but comment how in some ways, 1984 reminds me of two books I love, both by the horror King himself: The Shining and Pet Sematary. My favourite thing about these books is how what’s most horrifying about them is not the plot itself or the monsters, but rather the discovery of how human minds work, how they have so much hidden darkness ready to surface or how imagination is a tool for coping with certain experiences. Similarly, in 1984, Orwell plays with the moldability and manipulation of minds. What’s real and what’s just a product of our brain? How much of what we remember, of what we believe is true, is real? What is “real”? If there’s no one to think about things, to perceive them, do they still exist? How can we limit thoughts and by doing so, limit perceptions, actions, beliefs? A book indeed to put in the freezer: the kind of frightening that keeps you up at night!

1984 is not the cup of tea for everyone but nonetheless, I strongly believe it is one of those books that absolutely everyone should read. It’s the kind of book that awakens and shakes minds, that stirs up worlds and forces people to rethink things. It has been banned for being both pro-communism and anti-communism, maybe because, as the book says itself “the best books... are those that tell you what you know already”. And not always is a validation of your thoughts, most especially the scariest ones, welcomed.

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chlonline's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

originally gave this a 4.5 because i felt like the book kind of dragged in the middle (and orwell does NOT know shit about women and how to act normally around them) but i decided to round it up instead.

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sailinginthetea's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.75

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shauna_murove's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

4.75

It helped me to reflect on society as a whole and my own conforming behaviours. It is a brilliant insightful book that opened my eyes to what society could end up like. Horrifying in a beautiful way.

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kai_02's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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mysimas's review against another edition

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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? No

3.5

Over-the-top depiction of an absolutist regime. Last year I’d read a collection of interviews with North Korean refugees, and while their testimonies describe a world not dissimilar to that of 1984, the differences are there. The real-life system doesn’t run as smoothly and the control over the people isn’t as absolute. I also highly doubt any real-life systems would bother to convert someone whom they plan to kill anyway. It costs precious resources. Forcing a dishonest testimony is faster, cheaper and just as effective.

Part 3 was chilling, but over the top. Part 2 had the irritating romance with Julia who happily slept with a man who told her, to her face, he wanted to rape and murder her. I really can’t blame her for ‘betraying’ him at the first notion of torture; the piece of garbage wasn’t worth her time, much less her suffering. I did like their final meeting though, the way they couldn’t go back anymore.

Part 1 was my favourite of the three. Even though the mechanics of the world ran too smoothly, I enjoyed the exploration, as well as Winston’s awakening and his attempts to covertly find a place for himself in an environment that was designed to never leave you alone with your thoughts. I breezed through that part. If only the whole book had been like this.

Final note — I’m firmly convinced that Winston was into dudes. In his marriage with Katherine he would’ve been happy to forgo sex; he obviously loathed Julia as well as all other women; but he was quite enamoured with everything O’Brien. Heck, the following quote could’ve been written about Will and Hannibal, and everyone knows how those two stand with each other:

The old feeling, that at bottom it did not matter whether O'Brien was a friend or an enemy, had come back. O'Brien was a person who could be talked to. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. O'Brien had tortured him to the edge of lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death. It made no difference. In some sense that went deeper than friendship, they were intimates; somewhere or other, although the actual words might never be spoken, there was a place where they could meet and talk.

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sianface's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

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alyssadavis's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? No

3.75

“We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”

Content Warnings

f18's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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jfield351's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

2.75

This book I read between the 24th and 26th of January as part of the Dymocks reading challenge for 'A book adapted for screen'. It was okay. The book was very dense and most of it was internal monologue and not dialogue. I did find it interesting, how the author had devised a whole world, a whole language based on where he thought communism would get to. Obviously the book has issues with sexism and racism, which I can't tell if they're from the author's beliefs or just from the main character Winston's beliefs. Definitely does not pass the Bechdel test. Some of the characters seem so unreal, but perhaps that is just a product of writing about a horrible futuristic world from the forties. For example, how <spolier> Julia just falls in love with Winston and gives him a note almost immediately. Given the political climate this just did not make sense to me. Neither did O'Brien willingly telling Winston about the Brotherhood, but then I read the ending and that part was cleared up for me. . It was a very easy book to read as I found it quite interesting, although, one of the chapters lasted 40 pages and included Winston reading a book, was just a retelling of information that the audience already knew. I did not like that chapter. It's a very different book to what I usually read but I did enjoy it.

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