I don’t really know how to write this one as I am not really one of those who report on books.
Just wanna say to y’all who didn’t read the book you should really go get it. It tells the story of a very dark world, where each uniqueness of our world is exaggerated and shaded, where all is inspected, monitored and controlled by a central authority. a centralized world, where nothing is beautiful but one thing - the common truth. How does living in a world like this feels? How far fetched is this world from ours? What is the nature of truth, and freedom?
These are my thoughts. hope that’s working for you.
One of my favorite books. Can be a bit slow at times. But nonetheless is a really neat read.
He is a bit slow, but he builds it up. I’m now reading “Down and Out in Paris and London” by him also. it’s also seems slow, but fun and interesting.
I have not read that one. The only other book I’ve read of his is Animal Farm. Which we were required to read in highschool.
I didn’t read Animal Farm in school but i did really enjoy it as an adult. Social commentary aside, i love the way Orwell tells a story. Even though you know the characters are doomed you can’t help but root for them and have hope they’ll be okay or even win in the end. Which of course makes the revelations all the more heartbreaking.
That’s not something I had noticed when I had read them. But looking back I agree with your statement. Regardless, I really enjoyed both of those books.
A classic book with a central theme that remains relevant to this day. I think it gets interpreted far too literally and it has become a meme to suggest any rules you don’t like are exactly like 1984.
The writing at times definitely reminds you it was written by a man in the 1950s though. I remember there being maybe 2 named female characters and only 1 has a decent amount of dialogue and she’s a sex object the main character fantasizes about raping. Definitely doesn’t pass the Bechdel test.
It’s really quite a terrible book, by quite a terrible man. Yet there are many reasons why it is so highly regarded in our culture, primarily pertaining to its propaganda value.
I didn’t like 1984, there are some cool ideas, but the book is horribly boring with characters that the author can’t get me to really care about. On top of that, I didn’t find it very well written and it seems to me that Orwell has some axe to grind that he can’t let go of, making the book feel a bit like a rant.
I agree that the characters weren’t the most engaging, but to me the engaging part of the story was the description of the society itself. The characters were only there to give the reader a perspective to view the world from.
A rapist, a snitch, a plagiarist, and a racist walks into a bar. The bartender asks; “How’s the new book coming along Mr. Orwell?
Believe it or not, it’s entirely possible to separate the artist from the art. Shocker, I know.
Whatever it is you think about him really doesn’t matter.
I completely agree, it just happens that in this case a terrible person was also a terrible writer. It was simply a joke.
But that’s four people…
Was that supposed to be some sort of joke or do you actually not know Orwell himself was: a rapist, a snitch, a plagiarist, and a racist? One man, four horrible qualities.
No, the joke was the the former. And not the point of the post. Rather than dismiss the reality we’re in, presented by various authors reflecting the cyclical nature of mankind, it would be advantageous to the self to reflect on as well.
I think there are many other versions of the same story that aren’t plagiarized, aren’t written by horrible humans, and are also better written.
Personally, I’m fond of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I haven’t read it, but you can skip Orwell’s plagiarizing and go to the source and read Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We.
