Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Nineteen Eighty Four: Anniversary Edition by George Orwell

111 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

1984 is a deeply upsetting book. It does not give me hope for the future. By the end of this book, the reader is left with the feeling of having finally reached a handhold at the top of an almost insurmountable summit only to have the bones in your hands systematically crushed by someone you had assumed loved you.
1984 almost makes the unwavering patriotism/belief in a singular person/undefined political ideology, that some of my older family members feel understandable. To see the hero worship for an untouchable ideal that contradicts itself and causes harm without room for critique or progress is painfully relatable for me as an American reader in 2022. I think that crushing dread that there may never be a better world than the one you currently live in with all of its flaws and hardships has been one of the few, traumatic, incorporeal heirlooms that's been passed down for generations.

I really enjoyed the character of Mr. Charrington. I loved the idea of someone lovingly curating ephemeral garbage from generations passed to create a museum of unsellable antiques, and I loved that that persona was an artfully constructed façade for a nefarious character. Orwell drew a brilliant parallel between the telescreen being concealed behind one of the few truly valuable antiques and the thought police officer being behind the studious looking façade that made him look almost like a relic from the past. Behind one of the last few images of the long dead world Winston longed for, which gave him hope for the future, was the symbol and force of the omnipotent presence they thought they were momentarily free from. 
I was genuinely convinced that Winston's fear of rats was going to have stemmed from his baby sister being eaten by them. The repeated mentions of proll women not leaving babies unattended for fear they be eaten by rats combined with the thing Winston had been blocking out, the poverty his family lived in in his early childhood, and his mother and sister's disappearance made that thought a tangible possibility.
Winston's character development before his time in prison was quite interesting. Initially, he was internally quite violent and held a deep hatred for the people around him, especially the women. His dreams of bashing in Julia's skull and his distaste for his neighbor's wife mixed with his misogynist internal monologue made Winston an intensely unlikable character for the first part of the book. Julia's complacency with party rules and regulations so long as they didn't interfere with her sex life, her zealously performed orthodoxy that she performed fluidly and without thought made her similarly unlikable at the beginning. Their pre-prison development made them into almost beautiful people, in terms of personality. They were both developing forms of self expression and learning to appreciate the small joys afforded to the prolls that their stations did not allow. Winston's longing for familial past he could barely remember and Julia's desire to break the rules slowly morphed into a tentatively explored new way of life and love that pulled from both the pre-party way of life and engsoc orthodoxy. The total destruction of their sense of selves during and after their time in prison was upsetting to read, but gave the book a satisfying ending. Winston's breaking point being something so benign and mortal as rats humanized him in such a way that it felt like the culmination of his characterization throughout the book. To have the thing that shatters his psyche be something so ingrained into him that all the mind tricks and double think in the world couldn't erase was weirdly oxymoronic. O'Brien's promise was that they would want to  confess and die for the party and the love of big brother before they would be killed, and Winston's descent into truly believing party orthodoxy happened in a way that is recognizable in the real world in the reactions of people with zealous, deeply held belief systems.

I'm glad I didn't read this book in high school. I had too much optimism for the fate of the world then. It would have gone right over my head.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism

13m0n5's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

fujo_cat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

f18's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

descriptions of hangings, child labor, tooth trauma,

involuntary shock therapy

liagorash'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Stalking

deadeye's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

jfield351's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Rape, and Sexism

peachtea's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Blood, Excrement, and Vomit

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is one of those books that I've been meaning to read for ages and have always felt a bit guilty about not having read yet. But we never studied it in school or at university, so I never got round to it. Until now.  

Arguably one of the OG dystopian novels, this was as dark and twisting as I expected, but even more sinister. The way the government aims to control people to the smallest degree was disconcerting; their actions down to their very thoughts are monitored and no-one is safe from the Thought Police. 

One of the things that stuck with me the most was the idea that by eradicating 'dissenting' language, the Ministry could theoretically wipe out dissent and rebellion itself. At one point, a character says that if they could remove enough words from the dictionary (which include the language everyone is 'allowed' to use), in several generations' time, people wouldn't know the words for 'freedom' or 'knowledge'. Meaning they wouldn't know the concepts and wouldn't question something they'd never had. 

Orwell is, in essence, demonstrating how language is power. We use it to voice our thoughts, ideas, and desires; if you take away enough words, we lose the ability to express ourselves, including our ability to challenge social, moral, and hierarchical injustices. 

Orwell's narrative is cutting and brilliant, producing an eerie story that's simultaneously surreal and all too plausible. It's a tale that's still resonant today.

Content warnings for violence, murder, dictatorial control, invasions of privacy, human rights violations, torture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Death

martu_pm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, and Colonisation