Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - 1984

This was by far one of the boringest books I've ever read. It wasn't until about 60% through the book that I was actually hooked and wasn't until 80% that I started enjoying the book. Thats not to mention that the book really ended at 90% completion. So why such a high rating? It is a very intellectual book that is very influential on how we view politics. Despite how boring Winston is, he is the best narrator for this story. Just a completely average guy with very little intelligence is exactly how people need to consume a story like this. To really feel the true hopelessness of the situation, they need to see it through the eyes of the average guy who can and will always lose.
This book could have been a hundred pages shorter. The writing was so bland and atrocious it made me want to peel the vision from my brain word by word. And that is an inforgivable offense which makes me reluctant to give this book anything more than 2.5 stars.

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thehollyking's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book took me a long while to read, but thats more to do with my changing mood than the book itself. I'm glad I kept coming back to it.
Its a classic for a reason. It still rings true today and I don't know if thats good or scary. If you're not into politcal books, than this one won't be for you. It does get slow in places and a couple bits I had to audiobook and read along to keep me going, but its well worth it in the end. Lots to think about and to talk about afterwards.

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nikireadss's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

First, I want to acknowledge the importance of this book and its status as a dystopian classic. However, I didn't quite enjoy it. I found the narration and how it reads very boring. Some parts felt like the author didn't want to create a plot so he just put pages-long monologues and retrospections to explain the world. Unfortunately, I read this book a while ago and can't remember my critique points besides that I found this book boring. I remember Orwell's writing being very dry.

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