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This book was supposed to be fiction; not current events.
What the hell have we done?
What the hell have we done?

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
I first read this when I was young (what we call a "tween" nowadays) back when the year 1984 was still in the future. I found it to be a powerful book even then. Reading it now, as an adult, in 2017, is quite jarring. Things that once seemed vaguely humorous because they were preposterous have come true.
My adolescent self found this to be a dismal and mysterious book. What I remembered best are the obvious things, the s ...more

During the first half I was interested and then it kind of flopped. The person who wrote the introduction in my edition mentioned that the narrative lacks development, the dialogue is sometimes weak, and most of the people are two-dimensional, existing only to explain a political point. Funny, because those things explain why I didn't like it as much as I would've wanted. Interesting and groundbreaking ideas don't yet make a good novel. Orwell's was more like a ham-fisted effort to shout politic
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I don't know how I made it through my whole education without reading any Orwell, but somehow I did. I'm glad I finally read this book, I feel more well rounded. I liked the beginning, but got a little bored and annoyed with the end.
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Anyone who has heard the reference of "Big Brother" has to read this book. This is also a good book for thinking about how government intervenes in people's lives. Classic
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Jul 07, 2009
Jonathan Perry
marked it as to-read
