From the Bookshelf of 101 Books to Read Before You Die…

1984

George Orwell

Start date: September 1, 2012

Finish date: September 15, 2012

Why we're reading this: This is my (Catherine) choice for September. This title has always had me curious, I was born in 1984. So…more
[close] This is my (Catherine) choice for September. This title has always had me curious, I was born in 1984. So here goes the first book.

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Jan 11, 2015 Kressel Housman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, fiction, science-fiction, leonard-lopate-book-club, dystopian-fiction

The first time I attempted this book was in the real 1984, but I gave up on it pretty quickly. The prose style just didn’t grab me. So after all these years, I figured 1984 would be one of those classics I would never get around to. Of course, the book has had such a strong cultural impact, you don’t have to have read it to know about the concept of Big Brother. That very concept is what finally prompted me to read the book. In this Internet Age with NSA surveillance, is Big Brother watching? Or The first time I attempted this book was in the real 1984, but I gave up on it pretty quickly. The prose style just didn’t grab me. So after all these years, I figured 1984 would be one of those classics I would never get around to. Of course, the book has had such a strong cultural impact, you don’t have to have read it to know about the concept of Big Brother. That very concept is what finally prompted me to read the book. In this Internet Age with NSA surveillance, is Big Brother watching? Or is it just a whole bunch of little brothers trying to sell us stuff? I’m more inclined to believe the latter, but I recognize the possibility of the former. In any case, it seemed high time I read the book.

Just as happened decades ago, I found the prose style of the first hundred or so pages boring and difficult to get through, but now I understand that Orwell did that deliberately. Winston, the protagonist, is supposed to be isolated, so there’s very little dialogue to move the plot along. Things pick up with the introduction of Julia. From there on, it’s as suspenseful and riveting as any other novel.

For me, the best part of the book was Goldstein’s section, even though it was pure narrative and had no dialogue at all. It was such a brilliant distillation of how totalitarian societies operate. The war section reminded me of an insight from Eric Hoffer's The True Believer: “Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a G-d, but never without belief in a devil.” Hoffer and Orwell were contemporaries, and both were writing in the aftermath of World War II. I had a similar yearning for non-fiction in the torture section of the book; it made me want to read some real prison memoirs to find out what it’s really like. Fiction can give us a great window on reality, but I like to combine its lessons with reality itself.

1984 definitely deserves its status as a classic. Everyone alive should read it at some point. But ultimately, I’m not as pessimistic as Orwell. The kinds of power plays he describes most definitely exist, but I believe that the spirit of Winston is stronger. And really, since 1984 is more cautionary tale than reality, in writing this novel, I guess Orwell believed in the Winston in all of us, too.
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Jan 09, 2009 Irene rated it liked it

Not sure how I feel about this one. The propaganda was a bit irritating, the chapters on torture were difficult to read, the writing was masterful, and the ways it has been woven into current culture quite ironic.

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Mar 06, 2012 Alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-to-film, classics, political, sci-fi, boxall-s-1001-books, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, thriller-horror

1984 is the quintessential futuristic dystopian novel. It is so chilling, even more so today than the time in which it was written. It is not subtle, but it is frightening to imagine. A must read for all.

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Mar 29, 2016 Jill rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, classics, dystopian, boxall-1001

I know this book is supposed to be a classic. I tried it on two separate occasions and after making my way half through this time, I gave up. It's just so boring.

[Edit: I finished this book the third time I read it, because I read it with my son for school. He found it about as depressing as I did.] ...more

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