A review by coralinejones
1984 by George Orwell

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? Yes

4.75

I'm so torn right now.

I always hate disliking beloved books, especially classics and books where the message is very clear and in your face; 1984′s entire theme is living in a dystopian, censored, totalitarian government where said government (see: Big Brother) is quite literally always watching you. This way of society is feeding it’s civilians with propaganda night and day. I totally get it, and that’s the reason I wanted to read this book so badly in the first place. I can link points and themes from this book to modern society, which is what I wanted to do (because I did that while reading "The Hunger Games" and enjoyed it. Same with "Dune" recently. I love reading sci-fi and dystopian novels for this reason). However, I really can’t stand when the narrative of these stories, where the intent and point should circle around those themes entirely, get lost in misogyny, rape fantasizes, boring characters, and long winded passages that don’t feel like they serve a purpose. Don't get me wrong, I 100% get that this book is bleak and isn’t a “fun read” but I do have fun reading dystopian, bleak novels so that’s not really what I’m getting at, here.

I think this would work better as a academic essay of sorts... Like a Ted Talk rather than a novel.

It isn’t even that this book is a chore to read or that I necessarily dislike Orwell’s writing style (it’s not my favorite, anyway) but these problematic traits don’t even progress the book, in my opinion?? I think had he just continued expressing how the government is anti-sex and how sex is a political act without the “I hate women, I want to rape and kill them” the point would’ve still been made… in this specific case the distasteful commentary doesn’t advance the plot or do anything for Winston’s character and makes this book really displeasing in that aspect, not so much how realistic and true this is.

However....! The ending got me. The last few chapters absolutely drilled in the overall theme and I can't help but give this novel 4 stars. I understand why it's beloved and even referenced in modern media 'till this day. I can't give it 5 stars because of the above but I'm absolutely going to be thinking about this book for a long time.
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