Reviews

1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

sallyavena's review against another edition

4.0

I was lucky enough to have to read this in 2 languages, 10th grade in English and 11th in German. Having to read it in a languange I wasn't quite yet fluent in, yet knowing it from having to read it before, really helped me to see more of the undertones and ideas. Pretty much a right of passage through high school, is having to read this book and understandably so. It really made me think about the theme of oppression, leadership, why we do the things we do, etc.

ewilliams197's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

morv92's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

sparky66761's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

moscanread's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

4.5

jojoestar's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

timverbergt's review against another edition

5.0

Animal Farm, whilst being a good story was in my opinion overrated. I liked it, don't get me wrong, but I was not blown away by it. A great parody of communism nonetheless!

1984 is a complete masterpiece! Unbelievable! I could not put this book down. You can see that this book was ahead of it's time and you will notice that a lot of great thoughts have come from this book. Highly recommended!

salamandraaa's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

wiring_plywood's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

laurenreadsoccasionally's review against another edition

dark medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I read animal farm in school (and thought it was fantastic) but didn't get around to reading 1984 until recently, and my main takeaway was it's a classic for a reason. The writing quality and world building are incredibly good and it's easy to see how Orwell envisioned a world like that coming out of WWII.

I also have a soft spot for dystopian novels which don't have a world disrupting happy ending (Brave New World was one of my favorite books in highschool for the same reason).