A review by mysimas
1984 by George Orwell

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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