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A review by nathanjhunt
1984 by George Orwell
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
This was my 80th book finished in 2025.
What a tale! It's such a clever book, with so many fascinating and terrifying ideas; I really felt like I was trapped in Winston's shoes. Some of the ideas got lodged in my brain: Newspeak, the Ministry of Truth, doublethink, thought crime, Big Brother. Wow, wow, wow - so clever.
It was so interesting to see Orwell "predict" the future, in terms of the Cold War and the KGB. Isn't it haunting that these dystopian ideas actually became a reality?
I have to say that the torture scenes were the most memorable and unsettling part of the whole book for me. So visceral, raw and uncensored. Terrifying.
I found the book very engaging, aside from when Winston read "the book" about 3/5ths in. This became a bit of a slog with a lot of info dumping, and I wish Orwell came up with a more clever way of getting the exposition across, like he did at the beginning. The pacing of the whole book got messed up here.
My biggest gripe was the way Orwell writes women. I don't think any woman is particularly well-written, and any mention or description of a woman is rather gross; it's a shame because I didn't really like Julia that much, even though I really wanted to.
This is a very highly rated book for me. It will stay with me for a very long time. The end broke my heart.
What a tale! It's such a clever book, with so many fascinating and terrifying ideas; I really felt like I was trapped in Winston's shoes. Some of the ideas got lodged in my brain: Newspeak, the Ministry of Truth, doublethink, thought crime, Big Brother. Wow, wow, wow - so clever.
It was so interesting to see Orwell "predict" the future, in terms of the Cold War and the KGB. Isn't it haunting that these dystopian ideas actually became a reality?
I have to say that the torture scenes were the most memorable and unsettling part of the whole book for me. So visceral, raw and uncensored. Terrifying.
I found the book very engaging, aside from when Winston read "the book" about 3/5ths in. This became a bit of a slog with a lot of info dumping, and I wish Orwell came up with a more clever way of getting the exposition across, like he did at the beginning. The pacing of the whole book got messed up here.
My biggest gripe was the way Orwell writes women. I don't think any woman is particularly well-written, and any mention or description of a woman is rather gross; it's a shame because I didn't really like Julia that much, even though I really wanted to.
This is a very highly rated book for me. It will stay with me for a very long time. The end broke my heart.