Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - 1984

Winston is a bitch ass motherfucker L + ratio haha imagine getting yourself fucked over so bad what a fucking loser

I found the book quite satisfactory. Its concept really captivated me and the whole setting of it was quite haunting, yet alluring to me. I found myself sitting the book in hand just reading for hours. My only critique would be that

the *book* sequence could have been cut a little shorter. It might just be a pet peeve of mine, but I absolutely can not stand that long of explanations of things, especially if it all could be expressed in much shorter ways. I had to dig myself an audiobook version on the side to get through it and that too, was great misery to me even in 1.75x speed.

Nontheless my slander, I enjoyed the book quite a bit.

What surprised me though, was when I was shocked to learn Winston was a huge misogynist. Of course, this is a book from 1949! What else could I have expected, you may ask. And you are right. That was my mistake and I will learn to think better in the future. Either way, I quite honestly started to want dreadful things to happen to him, as one would when they come across a misogynistic white man. Reasonably, he was a motherless, never felt the love of a woman idiotic little -dipshit in my eyes. Absolute fucking wanker. And well... I was right. That's what he was. His mother- no his whole family was gone. I started to understand him, yet could not redeem him in my eyes just because of a sob story. Regardless, he did get some character development after getting a girlfriend. (common case) And I did realise that he in fact is not the worst of the worst.

I can not say, that I like Winston, but I can respect his growth.

Maybe he's not so bad. I would like to apologize and redract my ratio.

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tupsukorva'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? No

4.0

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marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Interesting ideas, still relevant and all that jazz, but why does Winston need to be so disgustingly misogynistic?? I especially thought the idea of how censorship can literally erase the past/truth is relative was interesting (although not necessarily new) but didn't really vibe with the notion of inequality being necessary in the past (I guess they are referring to the agricultural/green revolution but that doesn't excuse or explain aristocracy and medieval class societies/caste systems).

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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? No

5.0

My first time reading 1984! I was extremely impressed by Orwell’s level of detail. I almost want to call it world-building, though I suppose it’s still the same old Earth Orwell found himself on too. I think it’s important to note that Orwell was not a fortune teller. He was commenting on certain facts of his current reality and extrapolating a possible future, which happened to be remarkably true for a number of reasons. It makes me wonder if he was alive today, what might a 2084 book look like? The reality of this fictional work is scary and depressing, but still fascinating. I was most struck by the relationship between media and memory. Can’t help but think of the modern phenomena of fake news. I particularly enjoyed this audiobook narrator, and I think it added a whole new layer of complexity.

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anna26's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.75

I hated Winston (the main character) because of the way he talks about and to women (he fantasises about rape and murdering women, etc) but aside from this "character flaw" (wich ultimately represents the way women are treated in this dystopian society, so it's fine) i really liked this book, it's somewhat inspiring but equally terrifying and overall really "entertaining" (as entertaining as a dystopian, terrifying novel can be)!!!!

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bella_01's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

2.0

I didn't enjoy this book much. The story is well written and easy to read (besides searching the meaning of a few words). I was not a fan of the antisemitism woven through the book.

I did not enjoy the 'book within a book'. I begrudgingly read it because I was unsure whether it was important to the story or not. I found the ending of the book a bit trash too. I have searched for an explanation of it, but haven't felt satisfied.

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toodeadtoread's review against another edition

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

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nikenacs's review against another edition

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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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