1984
Ratings3,857
Average rating4.2
I've changed my mind on 1984 substantially since I read it in high school, which was about 2013. At the time I was turned off by the blunt messaging and allegorical nature, which at that point I tended to interpret as flat or one-dimensional. In an old review from years ago I wrote; "There's little 1984 says that hasn't been said better since. Most of its insight boils down to catchphrases that you can apply to any political agenda you see fit. It's a weird mix of blatant, artless messaging and a Promethean moral that even right wingers can take to say 'hurr durr government bad' - which I know Orwell wouldn't have wanted."
In the intervening years I've soured a lot on the idea of nuance for its own sake and all that liberal New School nonsense about Writing and Good Novels, which is in fact often a guise for political inaction. That sort of thing has a place, but not everywhere. What nuance is there to be had in authoritarian rule? There is none. And a portrait of authoritarianism does not require nuance or both sides-ism, in fact would suffer from it. Now that I've lived it, I know it. And 1984 is exactly the kind of polemic you need to lay bare its cruelty, twist the knife.
Over the years, the part that sicks with me the most comes at the very end, where it's implied that only hope for revolution lies with the common people - the uneducated, belligerent poor, who are too wrapped up i. the struggles of their daily lives to give half a shit about Big Brother, and who are too large and unruly to be individually brainwashed, as the privileged few like Winston and Julia can be. Free thought lives with them, who are too numerous to control - except through deprivation. The common people are suffering, ignorant, deprived of material stability and support from the upper classes among whom independent thought is, again, thoroughly extinguished. So the chances of a revolution are very slim. But if it lies anywhere, it is with them. That's the politic I missed when I read this as a kid, and I think a lot of people miss it, which is a shame. Orwell was not broadly anti-government: he was explicitly antifascist and, prior to my initial interpretation, that does come across here for anyone willing to see it.
Summary: In a dystopian future, low-level government worker Winston Smith lives under the authoritarian rule of the Party, which maintains control via constant surveillance of its citizenry and war with other nations, as well as regulation of the information its populous can access and the speech they can use. Winston, having grown dissatisfied with the restrictive life he and his fellow citizens must live, begins taking steps to break free from his oppressive reality.
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:)
Morale du livre : la bonne hagra bien épicée, bien piquante, bien veloutée peut te faire croire que 2+2=5
2 + 2 = 5
En su día me gustó bastante, pero conforme más ha ido pasando el tiempo creo que menos recomendaría este libro, aunque en realidad es un buen clásico.
Además, es el libro favorito de mi coleguita Matt Bellamy que tanto le ha inspirado en sus canciones así que lo tenía que leer sí o sí.
…now I hate to say this, but not my favourite george orwell read by a long shot, but I'll forever give it its flowers because holy shit is it brilliant; I forget that this was literally written in the 1940s. admittedly the story is pretty slow to start, but I will never give mister orwell less than 4 stars I love you king x
Not much I can add here - you know the score on this book already. It still feels fresh and prescient, even decades after its publication. The pages of Goldstein’s book could have been someone reading the current news.
I started with the physical book, but switched to the audiobook version on Spotify. This was the first time I ever listened to an audiobook as I was doing a lot of driving. It won’t be my last (although I guess it might depend on how one likes the narrator). BTW, 1984 is free on Spotify because the copyright has expired.
book & cook club September Banned Books choice!!
I definitely read this in middle school but forgot most of it- this read through was great!! my fellow book club peeps thought it was boring, but I just read through it so fast that I didn't get bored. I can understand why it's a classic, and think people should keep reading it!!
Putting aside the strange, confusing, occasional thoughts of sexual violence against women by the main character......... it's quite an interesting and enjoyable read.
I still can believe how George Orwell thought of this perfect masterpiece. It's a perfect dystopian novel although the ending breaks you but that's the motive. To make you understand the horrors of a totalitarian government. Ingsoc Party means English Socialist Party
một trong những cuốn sách hay nhất. Xuyên suốt truyện đưa đẩy cảm xúc từ lo sợ tới thở phào rồi lại cho tia hy vọng và cũng dập tắt ngay… 10/10 for new readers ✨
6/10
Libro incentrato sulla censura e, ovviamente, sul totalitarismo. Ma quello che mi lascia riflettere è soprattutto la dinamica della neolingua: come il togliere (riduzione all'osso del numero di parole, applicazione ferrea di regole senza eccezioni, rimozione di sinonimi, ...) porti ad una riduzione di quello che è possibile fare (niente letteratura, il pensiero è limitato dalla lingua).
Proprio perché sono sempre stato un fan della rimozione delle cose superflue e semplificazione massima di qualsiasi sistema, la principale riflessione che mi porto via è che non sempre è adeguato e porta a benefici questa pratica.
Detto ciò, ho trovato il libro un po' troppo lento, con alcune parti molto ripetitive seguite da grossi salti temporali. La storia in sé forse addirittura prevedibile.
Read for school so it got annoying fast but the actual book is quite good. The three sections are distinct and contribute contrasting and cohesive insights. Unlike other school read dystopians (cough cough brave new world) it didnt take the storyline in a weird way and fully engaged with the world building in a interesting storyline that for the most part was a good, easy enough to comprehend read. Glad all the analysing for class forced me to appreciate it more than I would have on an independent read
I would like to start out by saying that I'd have given this book a 4.5 stars if possible.
1984 is a truly frightening look at totalitarian regimes taken to their logical conclusions, where the Party controls everything, the Past, Present, and your mind. Even though it was written 75 years ago, much of what Orwell writes about could have been lifted from the news and social media today, especially in the US and the UK where the past is being erased, statues torn down, sweet names changes, cctv follows you everywhere and where you can be imprisoned for Thoughtcrime. This makes 1984 a disturbing, but necessary read today.
I would like to start out by saying that I'd have given this book a 4.5 stars if possible.
1984 is a truly frightening look at totalitarian regimes taken to their logical conclusions, where the Party controls everything, the Past, Present, and your mind. Even though it was written 75 years ago, much of what Orwell writes about could have been lifted from the news and social media today, especially in the US and the UK where the past is being erased, statues torn down, sweet names changes, cctv follows you everywhere and where you can be imprisoned for Thoughtcrime. This makes 1984 a disturbing, but necessary read today.
The cast did a great job with this audio drama and it’s a quick, easy listen, but I forgot how ridiculous some of the plot points are.
