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A review by enf87
1984 by George Orwell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
I was excited to read this book - it's a classic, plus I'm always interested in a book that's ever been "banned." However, the narrator, toward the beginning of the book (page 15) describes his hatred of an unnamed woman ("the dark-haired girl") he's had no contact with, and goes on to describe in great detail how he'd like to rape, torture and murder her, simply because she's an attractive young woman. Note: this scene is NOT why the book was banned!
As a survivor, I'm admittedly picky about scenes of sexual assault in my reading materials, but it's certainly not a deal breaker. (Toni Morrison is one of my favorite authors and she wrote some truly upsetting rape scenes.)
In this case, the fact that the narrator simply continues the story as though these types of fantasies are standard to the male psyche, while I'm supposed to look to him as my reliable narrator, made me uneasy.
No shade to anyone who enjoyed this book, but I felt ok just taking the cliff notes route here after that scene.
As a survivor, I'm admittedly picky about scenes of sexual assault in my reading materials, but it's certainly not a deal breaker. (Toni Morrison is one of my favorite authors and she wrote some truly upsetting rape scenes.)
In this case, the fact that the narrator simply continues the story as though these types of fantasies are standard to the male psyche, while I'm supposed to look to him as my reliable narrator, made me uneasy.
No shade to anyone who enjoyed this book, but I felt ok just taking the cliff notes route here after that scene.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture