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1984

George Orwell

Start date: November 1, 2013

Finish date: November 30, 2013

Discussion: Current Group Reads

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Aug 03, 2011 Barbara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, read-in-2011, fantasy, classics, recently-reread, group-banned-books-club, read-a-long-time-ago, published-in-1940s, group-reads, science-fiction

Believe it or not, I had to stop reading this last night. I just need a break from it for a while. (I made it to page 270, so I only have around 40 or so pages left.)

It's not that I don't like the book. I think I couldn't finish it for a few reasons:

1) Probably the main reason -- I've been very stressed lately due to deadlines at work and numerous other reasons, so I think my concentration level is very short right now.

2) Although I know that this is considered one of the best books ever writte ...more

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Aug 20, 2013 Rosie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013

Years ago I had read Animal Farm and I loved it, 1984 has been on my ‘to read’ list ever since and I have finally found the time to read it. I fell in love with it before I had even finished the first chapter.

1984 centers around Winston Smith, living in a world controlled by The Party and Big Brother. There is no secrecy and no trust, just loyalty to The Party and unquestioning their ways - if you question their ways or seen as a threat you are ‘vaporized’. However Winston isn’t like everyone el Years ago I had read Animal Farm and I loved it, 1984 has been on my ‘to read’ list ever since and I have finally found the time to read it. I fell in love with it before I had even finished the first chapter.

1984 centers around Winston Smith, living in a world controlled by The Party and Big Brother. There is no secrecy and no trust, just loyalty to The Party and unquestioning their ways - if you question their ways or seen as a threat you are ‘vaporized’. However Winston isn’t like everyone else, he secretly hates Big Brother and longs to find someone like him. The novel follows from his rebellion in the form of a diary; rebellion in the form of love to the horrific inner workings of the Ministry of Love.

This society terrified me from the beginning; the thought that these people were being forced to live like this shocked me. Although despite how disturbing I found it I couldn’t put the book down - I just had to find out more about it and more about Winston. What made this novel so frightening was the fact that this could happen. There are always people out there who want to rule; and we’ve seen in the past how people can be brainwashed and follow power blindly. However the characters don’t seem to remember the past, a life before The Party and the war with Eurasia, everything has been erased and rewritten in NEWSPEAK (Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer - all gone!)

The novel is split into three parts, the first is there to introduce the reader to this new society. The second is about a hidden love affair and the third, the consequences. At first it doesn’t seem like there’s anything going on in the way of action - some may find this a little boring but I was so fascinated to hear about The Party and their rules that I didn’t care. The plot beings to thicken in the second part and is in full swing by the third. Even if you feel like giving up I strongly advise that you stick with it as everything starts to make sense and the ending is sensational - it was how I imagined it from the start although it still left me speechless and seldom.

What made this novel even more enjoyable was the characters. It was very easy for me to identify with Winston as I felt the same disdain to this new way of living that he has. This reinforced my opinion that Orwell is such a talented writer as this book just made me feel so much; I could feel myself being manipulated by his words - ironically much like many characters were manipulated by words by The Party. As a reader I wanted him to challenge what was happening and to escape unscathed. He is the only character we’re able to trust (however at times it appears there are other people on our side). Then there is Julia who loves him and they’re both cautiously ecstatic about finding someone like them - for a while it looks like there is hope for our protagonist.

I genuinely didn’t see a lot of the twists coming and I wasn’t ready, or able to predict, the horrors of the Ministry of Love. This just made the book even more exciting for me. There were times when my jaw literally dropped because of various revelations. Everything ties in so well and by the end all the puzzle pieces fit together and you realise what has been going on; you even see what The Party is really like with their methods.

1984 is the first novel, for a long time, that I have really loved. I have read many dystopian novels and none of them has affected me in the way that this has. It has easily made its way onto my list of favourite books and I know that re-reading this will be just as amazing as it was the first time round. I’ve only just put it down and I already want to be sucked back into it.

This is a novel that I will never forget and I think everyone should be exposed to it. ...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Jossi rated it really liked it

Shelves: literature

Perception is reality.
I read on a review that this book should be treated as an essay because of its author's writing style and I will treat it as such because it did feel like I was reading one as far as the characters and presentation of facts go.
I honestly didn't feel like I discovered anything because any time I came to a realization it was explained in the following paragraph. It didn't let you think for yourself, and that may have been the intended purpose as well as (for some) the plainn Perception is reality.
I read on a review that this book should be treated as an essay because of its author's writing style and I will treat it as such because it did feel like I was reading one as far as the characters and presentation of facts go.
I honestly didn't feel like I discovered anything because any time I came to a realization it was explained in the following paragraph. It didn't let you think for yourself, and that may have been the intended purpose as well as (for some) the plainness of the characters was, but it just felt like you were given a bunch of situations and not enough time or space to think about them. And if that wasn't an accident then you only realize it at the end, and are frustrated for the majority of the book. At least that was my experience.
That being said, I did like the book, enough to give it four stars but it had nothing to do with writing style or plot even, it was because of one character's dialogue and rationalization: O'Brien.
(view spoiler)[His insanity is the embodiment of the entire party. His reasoning is so convincing... His talk about power, about reality is what makes the whole book.
"When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else."
That is true. Perception is reality. Our perception is our reality. And it is alterable. Fear can alter reality. Alone in a dark house, we hear things, we see shadows, our senses heighten, reason is blurred because we are scared. All in all, reality is only what we think is happening and if "the external world exists only in the mind, and the mind is controllable, what then?"
That is The Party's weapon: Mind control. They can hear, see and analyze every move made by the population. And O'Brien's rant about power is my favorite part of the book. Though I disagree with some of what he said* he was generally right about how to control people and avoid their rebellion.
"We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them." "One must not make martyrs." He and the party knew they did not need kill, they only needed conversion, for having a martyr, a hero they could look up to as a revolutionary guide would only create doubt, better to have people think they saw the light of Big Brother and the wrong in their actions.
After all the explanation about perception, reality and their ability to control think I knew for a fact that George Orwell voiced his warning with O'Brien's "...power is power over human beings. Over the body but, above all, over the mind. Power over matter -externally, as you would call it - is not important."
Freedom, democracy and equality can only be conquered if we stop thinking for ourselves. O'Brien said The Party didn't kill those traitors before they believed and loved Big Brother because they would still be free. Winston's ultimate betrayal was not of Julie but of himself, when he started believing to save himself he betrayed his own perception (how many fingers do you see?), he stopped thinking and gave the answers he was given and, after stage one and two, he believed what he was told almost without a second thought. Later, he believed what he was told without a thought.
*"We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."
If you are interested, look up the Costa Rican Civil War, 1948. After the results of the presidential elections were annulled, a rebel, Jose Figueres Ferrer, rose against government, ruled for little more than a year with as military dictatorship, abolished the military and elected a Constitutional Assembly which oversaw the creation of a new constitution and later stepped down and handed power to the 1948 election winner. (hide spoiler)]
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Sep 17, 2012 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, classics, 1305

Everyone has heard the phrase "Big Brother is watching you" at least once in their life. If like me, you have made it past your teenage years without reading this novel you are missing out. Couldn't we have subbed one of the many readings of "Animal Farm" for this?

1984 is the definition of dystopian fiction. I would say that it is not as well done as say Anthem or The Handmaid's Tale but still worth the time. ...more

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