Reviews

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

siyalovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I'm pretty young, so some of the messaging may have been lost on me, but that doesn't mean I didn't see how incredibly impactful it was. I also love how this book ended at a sort of anti-climax. The ending made it seem that the only way to ever truly believe in a revolution, one shouldn't be alone and should find some way to be united against something. Winston, even with Julia, was still alone. He was broken and how could he be expected to solve a broken society?
Maybe I'm missing the whole point of the book but it was still brilliant. I will certainly be re-reading this book iny older years. I need to soak in it more.

eridanus88's review against another edition

5.0

served.

carriedoodledoo's review against another edition

2.0

George Orwell was an interesting person--an aetheist and humanist, living off the cultural capital that a grounding in Christian values provided.

I didn't "like" 1984, but the cultural touchstone that it is makes its plot points keep popping back up in my mind. And since I'm a smarty-pants who thinks I have smarty-thoughts, I wanted a place to write them down without bugging my friends and family with random interjections.

Orwell was wrong about God, but he was a keen observer of the human condition. The antinatalism he saw the beginnings of in the 40s has now erupted into visibility as a monstrous cancer. Most recently, I saw a tiktok of a bot who, having binged Katie Perry's catalog, turned out a very passable piece of pop. After the first "whoa that's cool...wait a minute" I was intensely reminded of the "kaleidoscopes" that turned out tons of tripe to keep the proletariat masses appeased.

It's all very depressing. Fortunately, we have a hope in Jesus Christ, and need not rely on this changing world for our happiness. Maranatha!

amberlou105's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.5

alekguerrero's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

libbykerns's review against another edition

the most unrealistic thing about this was that julia was into winston  

finn_thomas's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? Yes

5.0

Wow, one of my all time favourites. Whilst the subject matter is pretty depressing (frighteningly similar to our own society) this is a real page turner. Orwell creates such an established and vividly bleak world that lures one into Winston’s journey trying to navigate this totalitarian state. Orwell is a master at weaving a narrative with political and socio economic themes that hold a basis in our own societies. This piece of work should be read by everybody to enlighten us all on how our lives could be as everyday we move closer to this Orwellian world. He has undoubtedly made ‘political writing into an art’. 

seejeremyread's review against another edition

4.0

Dark-- I was not so much bothered by the anti-Communist message of 1984 (which is perhaps not so clear cut as Orwell's allegorical ANIMAL FARM) as I was disturbed to see how close we've come to 1984 in 2009. Having just finished Will Bunch's TEAR THIS MYTH DOWN about the Reagan legacy, it was interesting (and frightening) to see the parallels in the ideas of controlling the past and how easily being at war has just become part of the background noise of everyday life, as well as the bait-and-switch of enemies (Iraq/al-Qa'ida or Eastasia/Eurasia). Most disturbing of all to me was not they Why? as it was for the protagonist, but the How?...and because the answers were both seemed so simple here in the early 21st century, that perhaps is the scariest thing of all.

pearsandmangoes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

ida03a's review against another edition

4.75

I must say this is one of the few classics I've read that I actually found enjoyable. I feel like this is the blueprint for the dystopian genre and I really appretiate it for that. I really like how the world of this book was presented, and the eerieness of it all. The concept is both far fetched and so close to reality. Loved how it made me rethink things. Why do we think the way we do? Do we really have free will in todays society?
I have to say though that the part where he reads the book dragged on a bit, as the main character states himself; it didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, it just presented the facts in a more structured way. But after several pages of that it got a bit boring. Luckily, it quickly moved on right as I was thinking this. I also found the ending really facinating.
Would recommend :)