Michelle answers “Why do people rate this book so high? ...”

Wilma asked this question about 1984:

Why do people rate this book so high? Surely I am missing something.

Michelle I read this book for school 25+ years ago and again last year. I remembered the plot of the book, but wanted to re-read to gain more perspective. I ju…moreI read this book for school 25+ years ago and again last year. I remembered the plot of the book, but wanted to re-read to gain more perspective. I just about fell out of my chair multiple times when I read about rewriting history, thought control, and not knowing who to trust for fear of being turned in. This is going on today in the LDS church (the mormons).

Even their religion's founding father is depicted as being more beautiful than he actually was. If a member learns something new about the religion he/she has never heard of, another member will say, "Oh, I've always known about that. You didn't know about that?" This keeps members unsure about their own knowledge and teaches them not to trust themselves, but to only trust Big Brother.

I left mormonism 15 years ago and reading 1984 after leaving gives me the heebie-jeebies (but I acknowledge that it is an important work of literature!). I've heard that that the 1984-ish culture of mormonism is similar to other high-demand groups like Jehova's Witnesses and Scientology. If so, that's a shame. Hopefully, members of those sorts of groups will read 1984, wake themselves up, and escape.(less)

flag

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more