1984
Ratings3,572
Average rating4.2
This was a fascinating read that was way ahead of its time. I wouldn't say it was an enjoyable read but it certainly makes you think about society and the way a government acts.
The book is more relevant than ever in this age of smart things.
We can kind of allude to the current state of constant tracking, targeted ads and a feel of lack in privacy to how the characters are being watched in the novel.
The phrase "Big brother is watching you" has evolved from a mere reference to a haunting reminder of these times.
The novel slow in the start but catches on. It's a really immersive read with us feeling attentive and paying close attention to all the small details.
You feel as if something big is going to go down anytime. The author has done excellent job in conveying what the character might have felt.
There is this real eeriness of being watched that you can feel from reading the book.
Overall the novel is really good and it's one of those must read recommendations from me.
I can only hear about a book so long before eventually reading it. Although 1984 is known for it's totalitarian state where everything is watched by the government, what interested me most were the ideas around war involved in the book. The perpetual war idea hits closer to home now than anytime in our countries history – with the Afghan war hitting 12 years.
A very good book that truly shows why it's held in such a high regard among the classics.
A very terrifying utopia where everything we do and think is controlled by the government. There were some passages in the book that really left me speechless and reconsidering everything in life.
In my opinion this book was ahead of its time on so many levels, although to be fair, the story of the protagonist fails to be as enticing. But in the end I liked how things unfolded, it captured greatly the essence of the world the book is trying to depict, with all its grimness and desolate feelings.
I felt this book was the novelization of The Prince, and I loved the execution of it. I'd definitely recommend it to a lot of people and look forward to rereading it in the future.
[Reread 23/05/24] I first read this ten years ago and found it terrifying and reading it now as an adult it's even more terrifying. I hope I don't reread it in ten more years.
I have read this several times in my life and it has to be considered as one of the greatest pieces of literature this world has ever known.
“...and yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one subject to another like the flame of a blowlamp.”
It was very hard for me to read because of all of the long political rants; however, I appreciate the ideas that it brings up and was very happy with the discussions we had in class.
probably one of the most depressing books i've ever read. i read it out of choice, and even now, i have no idea what kept me reading this thing.
I actually had to read this in one of my college classes a few years back, but I appreciate the commentary. A lot of it is relevant despite the book being written in 1949. A lot of aspects haunted me, actually, because they were just THAT relevant to today.
Read it in high school. The atmosphere it creates is profound and very affecting. A true dystopian masterpiece.
Hands down one of my favorite books of all time. The plot is very insightful and interesting as it is a very exaggerated reflection of a “utopian” society that totalitarian governments strive to implement. The diction and rhetoric of this novel is deeply impactful as well - neologisms being some of the most important symbols in the book. The horror and realism depicted is something that makes me reach out for this book every now and then, and the amount of educational value it contains is simply astronomical. Definitely recommend this to anyone interested in world affairs or dystopian literature, but make sure that Big Brother isn't watching while you're reading!
I love Orwell as both a stylist and a thinker. This is one of the most important books ever written and I'm glad it's required reading at a lot of our local high schools. The book has as many quotable lines as Hamlet. Politically brilliant.
I realise this book was written like decades ago, but since I read it now I am going to ignore that and judge it as I see it. Which is that I think it???s a trash book and I hate it. Every book that falls under literature either in English or Dutch that I have ever read is totally obsessed with sex and 1984 is no exception. I get that in this particular story desire is important and the whole thing is that it is suppressed. But why does it always need to be this aggressiveness towards sex. He literally talks about wanting to rape this woman. Then later when he miraculously falls in love with her, he tells her that he wanted to rape her. Her reaction is basically ???haha lol I thought you???d say that lmao???
Which brings me to my next point. The characters are vague caricatures of actual people and feel almost non-human. Their interactions and dialogue seem like badly programmed AI. I could not for one second sympathise with them. Thought it is stated in the book that the characters also feel like fake people themselves as is stated in the book, but making that choice seems hella stupid to me. It was unbelievably uninteresting and boring. Why would anyone chose to write characters like that.
Immersion? What???s that? ??? George Orwell
The setting itself seems interesting at first, but the fact that it has about a million plot holes kinda killed that for me. Many things that were interesting weren???t at all explored and other things were totally unclear or illogical. Like the whole porn department thing, which made no goddamn sense. And the proles were probably mentioned maybe 2 or 3 times, when that???s about 85% of the population.
And let???s not forget the fact that this book is basically dipped in the river of blatant sexism, which some racism sprinkled here and there for extra flavour.
The ending is also boring as hell. There are like no consequences except for that he dies, which was already said about 100 pages before that it would happen. But what was the point of this entire story? That resistance is futile? That is first off bullshit in the real world and a wrong as fuck message to send, but also if there was a universe where that was true why would I wanna read about it.
But lets end on a good note. There is one scene that I really like. Where in the middle of a giant speech at a big event the enemy suddenly changes and all the banner that are made are all wrong. So they all act like it was spies who did it and become enraged. That was a really clever thing and shows really well how this world works.
Why anyone thought this was such a good book for it to be considered literature is beyond me. I have read dozens of book better than this.
This was even better in the reread. The writing is so crisp, the ideas so relevant.
I'd read critiques and was psyching myself up for disappointment, it had been years and years and years since I'd read it. Luckily I found out that - while the critiques weren't totally off the mark - they weren't anywhere near strong enough to take away from the power and timelessness of this work.
Newspeak alone makes this a legendary work: doublethink, facecrime and duckspeak are almost comically relevant today.
Read this for my writing class last year and this was absolutely amazing. It is insanely relevant. GREAT book!
Å sette terningkast på en 75 år gammel klassiker er rart, men den er antagelig mer dagsaktuell enn da den ble skrevet og verdt å lese bare for det. Til tider ekstremt tunglest (imponert hvis noen leser appendikset!) og til tider imponerende velformulert. Å kalle den en «eye-opener» i 2025 er nok en overdrivelse, men det er liten tvil om at denne boken får deg til å tenke over flere nyanser av livet - ikke bare hvordan land styres og krig føres.
1984 instant transfers you to an unfamiliar dystopian world. It started off as an uncomfortable and confusing read, however soon the words make Orwells cold entrapping world all too real. Which I found to be ironic. This society which is a far distant world from our own is yet reminiscent of one that existed. Stalin’s USSR is of course the first that comes to mind. Although the governmental structure and even thick mustache connected to the USSR, my mind went to today.
Although written in 1949, Orwell's book is timeless. Today the idea of “telescreens” watching and monitoring us does not seem impossible. A tv is in almost every home. We are constantly being fed points of views in news, film and even music. We consume ideas we do not even choose to through “doom scrolling” social media. Ideas parents would never allow in their home flood into children's minds though music and videos. Is it really far off for a “Parsons” to exist today. Where his own children call authorities on him for not believing in an idea. In addition, are we really so far from a world where a small group controls the music, film and tv we consume.
At the end of the day I am privileged. Having parents who came from a communist country made me appreciate the world in which I live. Although not perfect, the United States has freedom and liberty. The USSR was certainly not as this book describes Oceania but closer than we are to such a terrible world. God bless big br..i mean America!
Great read:)