Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

1984 by George Orwell

105 reviews

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

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

Minor: Sexism, Racism, and Rape

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, 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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

strawberrysheepie's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Murder, War, Torture, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

mostpeoplecallmemilo's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.25

Way too long for what the story was trying to convey. Very slow pace and couldn’t keep my attention. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: War

kataka093's review against another edition

challenging sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content

hibou's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

więc no...
kojarzycie te książki, które was połykają, potem wypluwają, połykają po raz drugi i trawią was aż w końcu czujecie się zdruzgotani? to jest jedna z takich książek
wizja takie antyutopijnego świata jest przerażająca, ale tak świetnie opisana że wydaje się jak najbardziej prawdziwa
kiedy nauczycielka historii pożyczyła mi tę książkę, to myślałem, że to będzie kapitalistyczna propaganda
oj, jak ja się myliłem
książka porusza bardzo ważne tematy, jest napisana przecudownie
ja pochłonąłem ostatnią jej część w jednym siedzeniu, a podczas punktu kulminacyjnego (jeżeli przeczytał*ś książkę, to wiesz o jaką sytuację chodzi) dosłownie dygotały mi ręce
bez wątpienia lektura uświamiadająca wiele spraw i zmieniająca pogląd na wiele spraw
5⭐ /5
ZDECYDOWANIE POLECAM
chociaż boję się, że ta książka straci na znaczeniu, bo stała się lekturą szkolną ;///

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Torture

Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Vomit, and War

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was so hard to read! I almost gave it up two out three times... I've read 'Animal Farm', and quite liked it, so I was expecting something similar. But, oh boy, was I wrong... I've found this book really slow paced, long descriptive chapters, so much details describing things that have zero input in the overall narrative.

The story gains momentum when Winston meets Julia and the readers know that is not going to end well. When is actually getting interesting, the story is cut by tons of pages of Goldstein's book (that I skipped forward). The final part was, in my opinion, the best. Witnessing the way O'Brien breaks Winston's mind (and body), and the way Winston fights back. That's brilliant! That's the book I was expecting!

I understand that the first chapters, those big descriptions of that society, are essential to put the reader in the right mindset. But I think that they are way to long and slow and take away the beauty of the ending. I was so bored and eager for the book to end that I couldn't enjoy the ending as much as I would like.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Murder

simixfe's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

2.75

There was no need for this to be this f*cking long. 
The concept was good but the implementation was lacking...
I probably would have enjoyed it if it hadn't been written by Orwell



I read it a second time for my A-level and surprisingly I liked it even less. As for now, I would only give it 2⭐ My criticism from the first time reading it still holds true for me but the second time it felt even more annoying and repetitive...

The plot could be summarised with only a few words

Winston: all women bad, government bad too
Julia: I love you
Sex
Talking about rebellion
More sex
Even more sex
Receives "the book" from O'Brien
Info dump 
Arrest
Torture
Rats
Gives in
End

And a lot more passages with only info dump

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: War, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Slavery