You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
sailinginthetea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexism
shauna_murove's review against another edition
dark
sad
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
4.75
It helped me to reflect on society as a whole and my own conforming behaviours. It is a brilliant insightful book that opened my eyes to what society could end up like. Horrifying in a beautiful way.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism
kai_02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexism and Violence
mysimas'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? 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:
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Alcoholism and Violence
Minor: Rape
sianface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Murder
alyssadavis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
“We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Torture
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Minor: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent
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
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,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: Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Sexism
leahmassinghamx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
1.5
Full of plot holes and loose ends. In many places it seems as though Orwell started a subplot and merely forgot to mention it again. Also many things don’t add up within the plot particularly within Winston’s rebellion such as the thought police merely watching him and Julia have sex for weeks before arresting him
Also, the lack of likability for the characters creates a indifference for the reader. I personally found it hard to get the sense of pity for any of them living in this “awful” society as they’re not likeable. Disappointing read particularly since it’s a classic.
Also, the lack of likability for the characters creates a indifference for the reader. I personally found it hard to get the sense of pity for any of them living in this “awful” society as they’re not likeable. Disappointing read particularly since it’s a classic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Sexual content
morgemort's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Alcohol