Ergun Ahunbay 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.

Ergun Ahunbay I love its' philosophical nature, smartness, imaginative power, and how well it was written. The prose is nice fluid, but at the same time never empty…moreI love its' philosophical nature, smartness, imaginative power, and how well it was written. The prose is nice fluid, but at the same time never empty, and never repetitive. There is always one interesting sentence after another, and always something not typical or expected. It is full of bumps and jolts but still flows beautifully and everything holds together. You feel Orwell had everything fully worked out before he started the first sentence. Although it gives you surprises, twists, and contradictions, the whole thing is very well consistent in a strange way. It keeps challenging you and makes you doubt stuff. It creates a wonderfully interesting world. It is such a horrific world, but so beautifully constructed, you almost want to be there. To me the theme of this book is more than just about oppression, tyranny, political ideologies, etc. It is more about philosophy, and big questions such as the limits of logic, epistemology, reason, consciousness, reality, etc. (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