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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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: Yes

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dark informative 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: No

It took a while to see it but I understand now why this book is so popular and why people say it is so important and relevant to the world even today. In that way, I found this to be a rather interesting read for it's political ideas and warnings of how the future could go.
However, the story itself was simply not something I could get that interested in. I didn't like the characters, the plot was very lacking and I found it hard to care about story. I respect the story for what it is which is a vessel for exploring this fictional world and the ideas that make it so horrible of a society but I barely enjoy it simply as a story.

In summary: Uninteresting story, well-handled subject, disturbing (good) worldbuilding and a dark warning that needs to be heard.

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark reflective medium-paced

Well… that was a bummer! I knew it would be a bummer but it was even more bummer-y than I expected. Obviously it’s a classic for a reason, the story was both sharp political essay and dystopian fiction. I will say the middle portion felt preetttyy boring to me, and I personally don’t love hanging out in a middle aged man’s mind in books. But I’m glad I finally read it, as a fan of dystopian novels it felt important to eventually get around to a foundational text.

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Really good book that captures many aspects of authoritarianism with meaningful insights and tactics of a totalitarian government. Horrifying and real. 1984 illustrates what fascism does to a society and the lengths those in power will go to exert that power over others. 

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challenging dark funny informative tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Yeah, this is still my Bible.

Upon re-reading, this is book is oddly more minimalistic than I remembered. But I think its simplicity is its strength as a manifesto. It's time to stop deeming texts like these as weirdly prophetic and recogize that we know exactly what we're doing wrong and always have.

Here's to 13 more years of never being able to shut up about this book.

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Orwell writes a sharp-eyed disturbing vision of a future that shares der real unsettling similarities with the world that we live in right now. There are the technological aspects of Telescreens that are always on, always watching, or machine generated works of literature and music that aim to entertain and are completely soulless. There is also the simplification and radicalisation of language that result in things like a two minute hate to fuel inequality towards the “other” instead of striving for change within. 
But Orwell himself writes with deep, furious empathy, at times giving us an intimate view of poverty and torture that forces you to feel the injustices committed on paper. 
It’s an impressive, exhausting, amazing novel. I feel like I need to almost adjust my other reviews to give this one the rating it deserves. 
10/10. Read it if you haven’t. 

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings