Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - 1984

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

1984 by Humberto Eco, Miguel Temprano García, George Orwell, George Orwell

101 reviews

roshnimc's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

The story was built very well and really hooked me at the beginning. I think the dystopian world and all the laws and rules were well described within the story. I didn't find it necessary to have the huge tract of text defining the laws as done later on. The later part of the story takes a very dark turn.

Content Warnings

brethetech's review against another edition

2.5

dark reflective 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

I know it’s a classic for a reason and that it laid the foundation for so much more but please don’t go into this book thinking you’re going to gain much from it like I did.

At several points it felt like I just had to get through it to keep my promise to myself that I would read at least one classic this year.

The pacing was nice it skipped large swaths of time and lingered in moments but it always felt right.

But I was never attached to the main character, or any character at all, I didn’t learn anything, and I wasn’t entertained for more then a brief 50 or so pages where I wanted to know what would happen next.

If you want to read this for antiauthoritarianism, or because it’s a dystopia there are better picks nowadays that are both going to be more interesting and dive deeper into the topic. And in fact that is my main gripe with this that the facts that it presents are not novel to me, and it just keeps hammering them in instead of going deeper. I know they were novel at the time and even perhaps for a while after, or to a specific audience where this is a new topic but not to me, or probably anybody interested in reading books on this topic today.

Or maybe I’m just stupid and am missing something idk.

Content Warnings

cicizzy's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Einen Stern müsste ich bei dieser Version allein schon wegen des Vorworts abziehen. Habecks Vorwort spoilert den Inhalt des Buches. Als Nachwort wäre es weitaus besser gewesen.

Den Schreibstil und die Geschichte mochte ich gern. Es gab zwar auch viele Beschreibungen und wenig "zeigen" aber das hat mich nicht gestört. Christoph Maria Herbst hat das Buch einfach wunderbar vorgelesen (bis auf ein paar englische Teile, die doch sehr deutsch klangen).
Beim Hören des Buches musste ich öfters an Edward Snowden und seine Enthüllungen, die Möglichkeiten der heutigen Technik zur Überwachung oder auch China und Nordkorea denken. Es ist schon erschreckend, wie viel ein Staat kontrollieren und wissen könnte, wenn er wollte.

Content Warnings

glossy_feathers's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's a classic for a reason. It will definitely give you a lot of food for thought. I tried reading it in my late teens or early twenties and I couldn't grasp it. 10 or so years later it's hitting me really hard. I guess you need to be in a certain state of mind or mature enough to understand it. I think this book is relevant today and will be for a long time.

Content Warnings

meglic's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

Content Warnings

lilybarna's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Such a powerful read, and a classic that is still highly readable and applicable to the world today.

Content Warnings

ggcd1981's review against another edition

5.0

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: Complicated

Content Warnings

yaminagabe's review against another edition

4.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

1984 by George Orwell

Doublethink

- to be aware but not to be awre, to hold the truth and lying at the same process. It is defined by having opposing beliefs at once, believing both are true.

- To believed in lies when they were false.

It was like the Type 1 error of our STATS 10 that failed to reject the p > value when it is less than the alpha (a) means, false. Type 2 error indicates the rejection of p > value when it is higher than the alpha (a), simply says that the hypothesis is true but you choose to reject it either accidentally or intented.

My point is, doublethink has a sense of paradoxical hypocrisy.

They are 5 debatable lessons highlighted by Pageperiscope in George Orwell's 1984:

1. Totalitarianism is dangerous and its power lies in controlling every aspect of citizens lives.

That means, no individuality, no freedom of speech, no freedom of expression, no contradiction towards the law. It was governed in a total centralized control by an autocratic authority. You cannot stand-out from the rest of monotony or else you will be vaporized and ceased to exist.

2. Language is a powerful and indispensable tool of mankind but also potentially destructive. It can be manipulated to control people's thought and action.

Language is the medium for us to communicate and interact with each other yet it is also destructive and misleading when coveted with limitations from which ceased by the corrupted authority itself.

How can we able to express our thoughts and opinions when our choice of words was being limited?

3. Individualism is crucial in resisting totalitarianism, even in the face of pressure to conform.

Humans are unique animals that given the rights for individual expressions and creativity. We cannot undo the things that distinguishes us for being different from each other. We are thinkers! We have ideas! Resisting them is unhealthy.

4. Historical revision is dangerous and be used to manipulate people's understanding of the truth

"Control the past, control the future"

One of the most controversial history of all time in the government of the Philippines is the former President Ferdinand Marcos issue regarding with his family conglomerates and the infamous Martial Law he declared during (year). It was all written in the history that Ferdinand Marcos leads as tyrant and dictatorship from his (years) in the Republic. All of the people believed he was powerful, dominant and a corrupted oppressor. People lived in fear during that time, and up until now the Philippines' citizen were convinced that President Ferdinand Marcos was a manipulative and tyrannical figure of terror during (year). Not until when the following historians and accumulated evidence emerged later on proving that none of the following accusations to the Marco's was true. And it was verified by the authority itself that the following records of his life was nothing but the work of fabrication by the Aquino's--the family who had coveted the presidential administration after overthrowing President Ferdinand Marcos of his seat.

History could alter the fact that we were convinced of in our present state.

5. Loss of privacy and constant surveillance are dangerous and can be serious consequences for individuals and society.

Everyone deserves a private life and should values solitude.

Content Warnings

riverofhorton's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

So this was actually my second read of this book, the first having been around 10 years ago. Just as I did the previous read through, I was struck by just how much of this book is relevant to our world today. This is one of the books that I will keep coming back to again and again throughout my lifetime.
The book itself is a somewhat dramatised (hopefully) version of Stalin's Russia/Nazi Germany. It has so many layers to it, and I', still not convinces I've worked out just how deep the 'Party' goes in their propaganda, gaslighting, and plotting against its own citizens.
This is an incredibly well planned out (or perhaps the word is researched) and realised world, where even the bits that are fiction could very easily be real. That, I think, is the true terror of this book: How easily society could go from even today's status, to that found in this book. Thus, Orwell's intention to have this book serve as a warning was fully realised.

Content Warnings

majestictrilobite's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: No

Content Warnings

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