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1984: Gripping, powerful

1984 has been on my reading list a long time, but only recently did I decide to read it, and I regret not doing so sooner. It's a classic for a reason. The novel is a vision of the future, a warning not to let the world become a nightmare. Here are my thoughts on it.


1984 is narrated by Winston, a member of the communist party which controls Oceania. Winston secretly despises the Party and their rule, but can't say or do anything suggesting his disloyalty else he be taken and killed by the Thought Police. The Thought Police monitor members of the Party with telescreens that see and hear everything that goes on nearby them. Winston writes a diary to record his thoughts and feelings about the Party. He hopes that one day in the future, things will be different, and people will have the right to truth and freedom. As the novel progresses, Winston starts rebelling further against the Party, meeting people who show him what life should be like.


1984 has a slow start, which was primarily what kept me from reading this sooner, but once the ball got rolling, I found that I couldn't stop reading it. I ended up staying up for several hours 2 nights in a row to finish it. The book is full of twists and turns, and ended far differently than I expected it to. I don't want to spoil anything big in this review, so I'll stop here. 


Unless you are bothered by brutality and adult content, I recommend you read this book. It provides a perspective of what it was like to live during Stalinist Russia, and makes you appreciate the freedoms we have more.

Comments

  1. AnkitaSeptember 10, 2020 at 1:45 PM

    This book sounds really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Walter KraatzSeptember 11, 2020 at 7:28 AM

    I think that your description of the ruling party in 1984 as communist is interesting because my interpretation of the story was that it was against any type of stratified authoritarian government.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Zhaoxin SunSeptember 12, 2020 at 11:43 AM

    This book has been recommended to me several times but I've always put it off because I wasn't sure what it was about. Your review makes the book sound perspective-altering. I'll be sure to check it out as well!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ben DeMarcoSeptember 14, 2020 at 2:44 PM

    I read this for the banned book project and I agree with you that it has a slow start, but once it picks up it's hard to put down. It's definitely a classic for the reasons you mentioned and considering the term "Orwellian" now exists among the ranks of "Shakespearean."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shawn S.September 17, 2020 at 6:22 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shawn S.September 17, 2020 at 6:24 PM

    I would say that the most thought-provoking aspect of 1984 is the party's mechanisms for consistently staying in power. However, I wouldn't really call The Party's ideology communist. IngSoc transcends that label and really any real-world ideology. It is a center-authoritarian ideology that has no goals and no obligations to the people except to eternally keep a small group and regime in power forever.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yan LSeptember 19, 2020 at 9:50 PM

    Since I loved George Orwell's other book Animal Farm 1984 has always been on my interested list. However just like you said, it had a slow start so I put it aside for quite
    a while and forgot about it. After seeing how much you got sucked into the story I'll definitely be trying this book sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. StocksBloggerOctober 8, 2020 at 12:03 PM

    Wow! This is a really good description of the book, both in its plot but also you, the readers journey throughout the story! I haven't read 1984 but after reading this, I think that I will read this soon, with this in mind.

    ReplyDelete

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