Reviews with content warning for Rape - Nineteen Eighty-Four

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

225 reviews

vero_ica's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-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

Winston is like disgustingly misogynistic

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veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective 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? Yes

3.75

Finally read this book after reading so much about it. It's definitely worth it. It's scary how much it resembles the current climate in Russia, Trumps America, the extremist right-wing party in Germany, the political system in China and North Korea, corrupt politicians in Nigeria.........
The book was inspired by Nazi-Germany and Russia.
I mostly heard extremist right-wing media talk about this book, like Candice Owens, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro etc.
It's kinda ironic, because after reading it, it really is the opposite of what they are saying.

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lucys_library's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

4.5

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

In March 2016, I read, for the first time, one of the most timeless classics: George Orwell’s 1984. I’d been craving a reread for quite a while but I wanted to wait till I owned an English copy so I could now experience the book in its original language since the first time around I had read a Portuguese translation. When I happened to stumble upon the edition I wanted, in March 2022, 6 years later, I couldn’t resist the impulse of buying the book and proceed to, almost immediately, dive into it.

And how incredible this reread was! I remembered only the loose outline of the book, with all the beautiful details forgotten. I remembered how the ending had struck me in such a powerful way. I also remembered how, back then at 16 years old, I was much more interested in the plot itself and had quickly skimmed through the Goldstein’s Manifesto, wanting to get back to Winston’s story. This time though, despite the fact that I still don’t particularly enjoy political themes, I found myself interested in this part of the book and even wanting more!

I had also missed, in my first read, how beautiful Orwell’s writing sometimes was. How even overwhelming it could feel. I took my time with this reread, limiting myself to only a few chapters a day and I delighted myself by slowly savouring each one, while, contradictorily, feeling more and more disturbed by what I read.

I can’t help but comment how in some ways, 1984 reminds me of two books I love, both by the horror King himself: The Shining and Pet Sematary. My favourite thing about these books is how what’s most horrifying about them is not the plot itself or the monsters, but rather the discovery of how human minds work, how they have so much hidden darkness ready to surface or how imagination is a tool for coping with certain experiences. Similarly, in 1984, Orwell plays with the moldability and manipulation of minds. What’s real and what’s just a product of our brain? How much of what we remember, of what we believe is true, is real? What is “real”? If there’s no one to think about things, to perceive them, do they still exist? How can we limit thoughts and by doing so, limit perceptions, actions, beliefs? A book indeed to put in the freezer: the kind of frightening that keeps you up at night!

1984 is not the cup of tea for everyone but nonetheless, I strongly believe it is one of those books that absolutely everyone should read. It’s the kind of book that awakens and shakes minds, that stirs up worlds and forces people to rethink things. It has been banned for being both pro-communism and anti-communism, maybe because, as the book says itself “the best books... are those that tell you what you know already”. And not always is a validation of your thoughts, most especially the scariest ones, welcomed.

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nicoan's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense 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

2.0

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chlonline's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

originally gave this a 4.5 because i felt like the book kind of dragged in the middle (and orwell does NOT know shit about women and how to act normally around them) but i decided to round it up instead.

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faemp3's review against another edition

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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

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laramlr_05's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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mysimas's review against another edition

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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? No

3.5

Over-the-top depiction of an absolutist regime. Last year I’d read a collection of interviews with North Korean refugees, and while their testimonies describe a world not dissimilar to that of 1984, the differences are there. The real-life system doesn’t run as smoothly and the control over the people isn’t as absolute. I also highly doubt any real-life systems would bother to convert someone whom they plan to kill anyway. It costs precious resources. Forcing a dishonest testimony is faster, cheaper and just as effective.

Part 3 was chilling, but over the top. Part 2 had the irritating romance with Julia who happily slept with a man who told her, to her face, he wanted to rape and murder her. I really can’t blame her for ‘betraying’ him at the first notion of torture; the piece of garbage wasn’t worth her time, much less her suffering. I did like their final meeting though, the way they couldn’t go back anymore.

Part 1 was my favourite of the three. Even though the mechanics of the world ran too smoothly, I enjoyed the exploration, as well as Winston’s awakening and his attempts to covertly find a place for himself in an environment that was designed to never leave you alone with your thoughts. I breezed through that part. If only the whole book had been like this.

Final note — I’m firmly convinced that Winston was into dudes. In his marriage with Katherine he would’ve been happy to forgo sex; he obviously loathed Julia as well as all other women; but he was quite enamoured with everything O’Brien. Heck, the following quote could’ve been written about Will and Hannibal, and everyone knows how those two stand with each other:

The old feeling, that at bottom it did not matter whether O'Brien was a friend or an enemy, had come back. O'Brien was a person who could be talked to. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. O'Brien had tortured him to the edge of lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death. It made no difference. In some sense that went deeper than friendship, they were intimates; somewhere or other, although the actual words might never be spoken, there was a place where they could meet and talk.

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zykx's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.5

To answer, "Is this book mainly plot- or character-driven?": neither, it's driven by the setting. The setting is the main highlight of the book, but it doesn't have much else going for it. I didn't like the characters and I'd have difficulty describing what the plot is. The main tension is the fact that Winston is a dead man, figuratively speaking, from the beginning. This isn't a spoiler as it's established in the first couple of pages. He commited a thoughtcrime. A boring exposition and I spent the entire time waiting "for the plot to start". I didn't understand the book while reading the beginning, but I get it now. The middle did not have to drag on as long as it did and some parts that were up to ten pages long, simply did not have to be in the book. For example,

when Winston starts reading Goldstein's book and we get excerpts from chapters one and three to read for ourselves, we don't learn anything new. Similar to how Winston phrases it, it clarifies what we already knew, making it boring and redundant. I wish it wasn't in the book at all. In my opinion it would have made it feel less like a chore to read.

Because of these redundant and unneeded parts, I was counting the pages I had left to read, literally.

The end was good. It gave a much better perspective on the setting than any of the long winded exposition parts did and I appreciated the dive into

how the Ministry of Love worked

as most dystopian novels don't go into

the gory bits of their punishment/brainwashing systems

(that stuff).

The plot twists at the beginning (parts one and two) made sense, and they were believable. Part three was the opposite. In a way, you could argue that was done on purpose, but I didn't feel anything (because I didn't like the characters) and it didn't dwell on it either. Just onto the next thing. This I suppose was just a preference thing similar to how I didn't like the emphasis on sex which, again, made sense, but was kind of mood-breaking because of my immature sense of humor.

(i DIED when O'Brien said "we will abolish orgasms" like bruhhh T-T)

Now onto Winston: I hate him.

Why are you having rape fantasies, you creep. Please leave, exit, and i wish you died. The way he thinks about women is gross and so uncomfortable. Let me just barf right now.

He fits as narrator though. He grants us a good perspective to see Oceanic London through.
Julia was forgettable and slightly annoying.

Controversial opinion that I have decided to hold: we stan Mr. Charrington

As a political commentary, it's good. It's the whole reason why people like it, recommend it, etc. I'd much prefer to get all of this information from a youtube video essay, however. I suppose from my background of learning about the Gestapo in world history class and the thought provoking video essays I've watched, nothing feels new here. The ideology of Ingsoc was well developed and interesting along with the history of Oceania.

2.5 stars because it wasn't enjoyable. I would recommend people to read it though, just once to get it over with. 1984 is definitely very fun to talk about and the discussions that stem from it are some of the more fun ones I've had over books.

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