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1984

George Orwell

Start date: August 1, 2013

Finish date: August 31, 2013

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What Members Thought

Nov 24, 2015 Nilesh Rathod rated it really liked it

Fantasy can take a ride to worlds unimaginable on a first read. However, when one dwells upon it, it is so humane and set in reality and time immortal.

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Jul 28, 2011 Angela Blount rated it liked it

Shelves: post-apocalyptic-dystopian, classics

It was probably past time this reader got around to the granddaddy of all dystopians. While it was not on my particular high school's mandatory reading list, it's impossible to escape the cultural references to this warning in novel form.

The Gist:

The 1949 Orwellian vision of the not-so-distant future is dismal, to say the least. The world has been divided into three superstates, which vacillate back and forth in a perpetual deadlock of war, convenient alliances, and isolationism. The story happ ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 S.C. rated it it was ok

My rating is entirely based on my overall enjoyment of the book. Orwell's ideas are amazing as is his grasp on the utter control that can come out of a totalitarian government. I do appreciate his genius I just can't overcome how bored I was while reading it.

This book is a sort of science fiction novel about the horrors of a complete totalitarian society. I recently read the book We which provided much inspiration for 1984 and I actually enjoyed the novel. I was not expecting to overly dislike My rating is entirely based on my overall enjoyment of the book. Orwell's ideas are amazing as is his grasp on the utter control that can come out of a totalitarian government. I do appreciate his genius I just can't overcome how bored I was while reading it.

This book is a sort of science fiction novel about the horrors of a complete totalitarian society. I recently read the book We which provided much inspiration for 1984 and I actually enjoyed the novel. I was not expecting to overly dislike 1984 because I liked We even though I was warned (by my mother lol) that it was a horrible book. I didn't really trust her judgment as we have very different taste in books. (for example she hated Lord of the Flies whereas I marveled at the genius behind it.)I also read George Orwell's Animal Farm which I found incredibly interesting since it used animals on a farm to show what the Russian Soviet Revolution was actually like.

I was very disappointed by 1984 (possibly because I was forced to read this book in English class even though I was hoping to read Frankenstein). I recognized that it is a well written book that accurately displays the astounding possibilities of totalitarian societies yet I hated the book. I am sad to say I have probably never disliked a book more than I disliked 1984. I found the entire book insanely boring. The first part of the book was all about Winston's (the main character)life and the completely disgusting, completely controlled and completely awful society he lived in, the second part was all sex, the third was all torture and the entire book was boring. Chapter 9 part 2 made me want to stab my eyes out (figuratively speaking of course). The ending was as expected. (No good thing could have ever come out of this book).

As much as I personally hated the book I have to admit there were some interesting yet scary premises. Just how complete government control was really came through in the novel. I found the most interesting part of government control was the constant changing or eradication of history. That was indeed a scary thought. (To live in a society where all past events were changed and people just accepted all of the lies even thought they remembered a past occurrence as being different from what "the party" stated.)

Overall I did not like the book and would have abandoned it had I not been forced to read it for English class. The worst part is that my teacher choose this as the class book over Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. ...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Mildred Smith rated it it was ok

Ok, don't shoot me, BUT....this was just OK for me. I mean, I get the whole political meaning and how it eerily could be a reality. But, it wasn't as gripping as I would have liked. I wouldn't put it on my best ever book list, but I can understand why people are so enthralled with the 'possibility' that this could really happen. Or is society headed there, etc.
Glad I'm done. ...more

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