A review by stormlightreader
1984 by George Orwell

"The object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in which to wage another war" 👌🏻

There's a lot of commentary on politics and control. More so on the latter. It's definitely a book that's more about the journey than the destination. 

The descriptions of women are not great and the amount of time spent on Winston and Julia felt inconsequential as they didn't actually strike me as a believable couple - no chemistry and they are both strangely content to betray each other. 

It's easy to see where subsequent dystopian novels have gotten their inspiration and reading 1984 in 2025 shouldn't have felt as unsurprising as it did. There were so many parallels with modern society and that's eerie. 

It did feel a little repetitive but I think that served a purpose, particularly in part 3. However, at only 200 or so pages (for the actual novel) it's forgivable. I wasn't left amazed by the book when I finished it, but the theme of control was ever-present and at times extremely creepy.