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manish_ladla's review against another edition
5.0
Today 24/3/22 , I have started reading this novel. I have heard a lot about this novel It was one of my "to read " novels since 2019. In the present regime, I think it is more important to read it. I consider it to be written as political agenda against USSR . It was published in 1949 (cold war period). So this novel attained maximum attention especially in the west. What gains attention in west, the oriental countries automatically imitate it. Since USA had been always against Russia, This book remained in popularity. Recently with rise of North Korea and China, I believe this book retained its worth despite being written half century ago. In overall propaganda against Communist countries, this novel fits . The communist countries are shown in a gloomy and bleak
Everything is controlled by party. Your thought, your action , news you consume, the food you take, the social relations you make. Every aspect of life was controlled and regulated. Their were killing/ silencing of the rivals, indoctrination of youth from early age so that they follow the guidelines of the party. Family members were turned against each other. Each one is spying each other and there is general sense of fear and being watched . This was c0mpouned by telescreen , thought polic and hidden microphones and ruthless torture to bring out truth.
A telescreen in house mean a psychological fear in mind of occupant of house. The occupant is in state of fear of being watched. This is just like how our live location works. Nobody is watching it but it instills a fear in mind that what if , someone is tracking our location. What we today consider an insignificant i.e. a book and a pen holds a significant value in the life of protagonist.
Party was controlling the news which was fed to people. I believe the principles of correction and manipulating the news is still being done. How every discovery / invention's credit was given to Big Brother and the party, same is being done today as every invention/discovery is credited to one particular religion and is held high. eg aeroplane as pushpak vahan was made by Indians in way ancient time. The reality has been already distorted. The party had set a elaborate mechanism to distort the truth and manufacture the false lies. Same way , present regime is cooking up lies. these lines sums that up " Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." Just like how the comrade Ogilvy was made up , it raises questions of the autenticity of mainy important figures which the present regime often bring forward as a saviour of Hindus against Mughal rulers.
Party is trying to control the emotions, thoughts and the way of living. "Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten" of Newspeak is regulating the flow of emotion. If there is no vocubulary to express emotions , there can't be any revolution/ rebellion/uprising .
The protaganist was trying his best to discover the truth. He started unending questionaire from the old man that he met in Pub. He was disturbed that the younger generation was neither having any interest in finding the reality nor are disgusted with what is going on before them. They have been brainwashed by the Party. HIs companion Julia was also one of those. But he had limited resources to find the truth. He also had to maintain low profile in doing so otherwise he will be arrested.
Winston and Julia created a small bubble of love for themselves. They meet and discuss about themselves. It was lovely. They had created a sanctuary for themseleves. But they both knew that it could not be carried forever.
The explaination of the three quotes of the party was found to be reasonable. Similarly the arguments put forward by the O'Brien during interrogation of the William are somewhat seems to be logical. I will have to read those pages again to form a give a logical thought.
Till end , I was thinking that the O'Brien was one of the resistance and was preparing/ testing the Smith whether he is suitable for joining Brotherhood/resisitance . But I was wrong. He had washed the smith through humilition, betrayal, and mental and psysical pain. He made smith to betray Julia and to face his worst fears. At end both Julia and Smith were "cured" and had no interest in each other. The party won. I was expecting an ending at positive note. But that is how this is. I should read the Fahrenheit 451 of Raybradbury of this same genre .
Everything is controlled by party. Your thought, your action , news you consume, the food you take, the social relations you make. Every aspect of life was controlled and regulated. Their were killing/ silencing of the rivals, indoctrination of youth from early age so that they follow the guidelines of the party. Family members were turned against each other. Each one is spying each other and there is general sense of fear and being watched . This was c0mpouned by telescreen , thought polic and hidden microphones and ruthless torture to bring out truth.
A telescreen in house mean a psychological fear in mind of occupant of house. The occupant is in state of fear of being watched. This is just like how our live location works. Nobody is watching it but it instills a fear in mind that what if , someone is tracking our location. What we today consider an insignificant i.e. a book and a pen holds a significant value in the life of protagonist.
Party was controlling the news which was fed to people. I believe the principles of correction and manipulating the news is still being done. How every discovery / invention's credit was given to Big Brother and the party, same is being done today as every invention/discovery is credited to one particular religion and is held high. eg aeroplane as pushpak vahan was made by Indians in way ancient time. The reality has been already distorted. The party had set a elaborate mechanism to distort the truth and manufacture the false lies. Same way , present regime is cooking up lies. these lines sums that up " Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." Just like how the comrade Ogilvy was made up , it raises questions of the autenticity of mainy important figures which the present regime often bring forward as a saviour of Hindus against Mughal rulers.
Party is trying to control the emotions, thoughts and the way of living. "Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten" of Newspeak is regulating the flow of emotion. If there is no vocubulary to express emotions , there can't be any revolution/ rebellion/uprising .
The protaganist was trying his best to discover the truth. He started unending questionaire from the old man that he met in Pub. He was disturbed that the younger generation was neither having any interest in finding the reality nor are disgusted with what is going on before them. They have been brainwashed by the Party. HIs companion Julia was also one of those. But he had limited resources to find the truth. He also had to maintain low profile in doing so otherwise he will be arrested.
Winston and Julia created a small bubble of love for themselves. They meet and discuss about themselves. It was lovely. They had created a sanctuary for themseleves. But they both knew that it could not be carried forever.
The explaination of the three quotes of the party was found to be reasonable. Similarly the arguments put forward by the O'Brien during interrogation of the William are somewhat seems to be logical. I will have to read those pages again to form a give a logical thought.
Till end , I was thinking that the O'Brien was one of the resistance and was preparing/ testing the Smith whether he is suitable for joining Brotherhood/resisitance . But I was wrong. He had washed the smith through humilition, betrayal, and mental and psysical pain. He made smith to betray Julia and to face his worst fears. At end both Julia and Smith were "cured" and had no interest in each other. The party won. I was expecting an ending at positive note. But that is how this is. I should read the Fahrenheit 451 of Raybradbury of this same genre .
delnevodan's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.0
nataliemac95's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
francog53's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely exhilarating! A near-perfect portrait of the human nature and society, its desire for power and domination. I finished reading this book a handful of months ago, and it still haunts me. Day-to-day situations where one would see nothing suspicious can trigger a revival of the lessons learned through those pages. It is - and will remain - a favourite.
taykai1314's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse
memethereader's review against another edition
5.0
*Not sure if this is a review, or a rant, or just me spilling everything that's on my mind*
This is a book that nearly most of my international affairs teachers keep talking about. This is one of the books that you cannot graduate from IR major without hearing about it. I picked this book because this is one of my favourite teacher's favourite novel. Before reading this book, I already had a vague idea about some of the concepts in this book, but I never knew that this book was so scary, and devastating. The scariest part about it is that some of the things in this book apply to our modern time. I have always heard the phrase "Orwellian society", but I never exactly knew what it meant only after I read it. Imagine living in a world where you're being constantly monitored, every move, every word, every thought...That's crazy, but unfortunately, we do live in such a world. We are being watched both indirectly and directly. Imagine not being able to have your own thoughts, and your own beliefs. For me, the one thing that I don't want to be stripped off is "freedom of thought".
The book tells the story of a 30-something guy called "Winston Smith", who happens to work in one of the ministries in the Party "The Ministry of Truth". His job in that ministry was to alter the past along with the truth, and fabricate them so that they can suit the Party's desires. Winston happened to deviate from the Party's path, and he started to "THINK", and thinking was a punishable crime in Oceania. It was a crime so dangerous that you'd get wiped out of existence for doing it. Going against Big Brother wasn't the only thing Winston did, he also fell in love, which was also a crime according to the Party. Within the Party, you could only be with someone else in order to bear children FOR the Party. Winston also kept a journal with him which he used to write in, and this was also considered a crime. The book focuses on totalitarianism, and how it is like living under a totalitarian rule. I have read before that it may refer to Nazi Germany, and Russia under the rule of Stalin. The book is very depressing, but I really loved it. The story is very powerful, and I like the characters. The only thing I hated was the long descriptions in some parts of the book. I thought that since this is a classic, then the language would be a bit difficult to understand, but it was really easy to read (English is not my first language). Obviously, my favourite part would be the last part of the book, especially when he was talking about the "war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength". I can say a lot about this book, but I feel like this is enough. Oh, and I liked the concept of 2+2=5, it's really all about what you believe in. For example, Donald Trump claims that he'll make America Great again, I could believe that if I wanted to, just like believing that 2+2=5, however, we all know that Donald Trump will only make America even worse. (sorry for using this example, but this was the only way for me to understand it). 2+2=5, that is true, because I believe that it's true. The thing about beliefs is that they can be changed easily....
Quotes I liked from the book:
"He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face"
- I like this quote because when you really think of it, nowadays such things happens. There are people who are too smart, they know too much, and what happens to them eventually ? They get wiped out by the CIA for example...
"If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love"
"...Some are concerned simply with planning the logistics of future wars; others devise larger and larger rocket bombs, more and more powerful explosives, and more and more impenetrable armour-plating; others search for deadlier gases, or for soluble poisons capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation go whole continents, or for breeds of disease germs immunised against all possible antibodies; others strive to produce a vehicle that shall bore its way under the soil like a submarine under the water, or an aeroplane as independent of its base as a sailing ship; others explore even remoter possibilities such as focusing the sun's rays through lenses suspended thousands of kilometres away in space, or producing artificial earthquakes and tidal waves by tapping the heat of the centre of the earth"
-This is a passage from page 223 that describes how scientists nowadays are focusing entirely on developing new armaments that can be used in war. I like this passage because it reflects the reality of most powerful countries. We have reached a point in history where every powerful country has a nuclear weapon, or is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and why is that ? it's all for power. Having access to nuclear weapons gives you power over other countries. Now, the real question is, why are they spending huge sums of money on developing weapons that would wipe out humanity ? if these weapons are destructible, it is better not to produce them in the first place, but of course that too is impossible. War generates a lot of money, so why should they stop if it is benefiting them ? At the end of the passage he mentions a technology that generates artificial earthquakes, and just when I read this, I remembered the HAARP machine (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), which is believed to generate earthquakes and other weather modifications. This was built by the U.S military, and its purpose is to disrupt the communications. I am not sure whether the HAARP machine exists or not, and I don't want to know anything about it.
This is a book that nearly most of my international affairs teachers keep talking about. This is one of the books that you cannot graduate from IR major without hearing about it. I picked this book because this is one of my favourite teacher's favourite novel. Before reading this book, I already had a vague idea about some of the concepts in this book, but I never knew that this book was so scary, and devastating. The scariest part about it is that some of the things in this book apply to our modern time. I have always heard the phrase "Orwellian society", but I never exactly knew what it meant only after I read it. Imagine living in a world where you're being constantly monitored, every move, every word, every thought...That's crazy, but unfortunately, we do live in such a world. We are being watched both indirectly and directly. Imagine not being able to have your own thoughts, and your own beliefs. For me, the one thing that I don't want to be stripped off is "freedom of thought".
The book tells the story of a 30-something guy called "Winston Smith", who happens to work in one of the ministries in the Party "The Ministry of Truth". His job in that ministry was to alter the past along with the truth, and fabricate them so that they can suit the Party's desires. Winston happened to deviate from the Party's path, and he started to "THINK", and thinking was a punishable crime in Oceania. It was a crime so dangerous that you'd get wiped out of existence for doing it. Going against Big Brother wasn't the only thing Winston did, he also fell in love, which was also a crime according to the Party. Within the Party, you could only be with someone else in order to bear children FOR the Party. Winston also kept a journal with him which he used to write in, and this was also considered a crime. The book focuses on totalitarianism, and how it is like living under a totalitarian rule. I have read before that it may refer to Nazi Germany, and Russia under the rule of Stalin. The book is very depressing, but I really loved it. The story is very powerful, and I like the characters. The only thing I hated was the long descriptions in some parts of the book. I thought that since this is a classic, then the language would be a bit difficult to understand, but it was really easy to read (English is not my first language). Obviously, my favourite part would be the last part of the book, especially when he was talking about the "war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength". I can say a lot about this book, but I feel like this is enough. Oh, and I liked the concept of 2+2=5, it's really all about what you believe in. For example, Donald Trump claims that he'll make America Great again, I could believe that if I wanted to, just like believing that 2+2=5, however, we all know that Donald Trump will only make America even worse. (sorry for using this example, but this was the only way for me to understand it). 2+2=5, that is true, because I believe that it's true. The thing about beliefs is that they can be changed easily....
Quotes I liked from the book:
"He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face"
- I like this quote because when you really think of it, nowadays such things happens. There are people who are too smart, they know too much, and what happens to them eventually ? They get wiped out by the CIA for example...
"If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love"
"...Some are concerned simply with planning the logistics of future wars; others devise larger and larger rocket bombs, more and more powerful explosives, and more and more impenetrable armour-plating; others search for deadlier gases, or for soluble poisons capable of being produced in such quantities as to destroy the vegetation go whole continents, or for breeds of disease germs immunised against all possible antibodies; others strive to produce a vehicle that shall bore its way under the soil like a submarine under the water, or an aeroplane as independent of its base as a sailing ship; others explore even remoter possibilities such as focusing the sun's rays through lenses suspended thousands of kilometres away in space, or producing artificial earthquakes and tidal waves by tapping the heat of the centre of the earth"
-This is a passage from page 223 that describes how scientists nowadays are focusing entirely on developing new armaments that can be used in war. I like this passage because it reflects the reality of most powerful countries. We have reached a point in history where every powerful country has a nuclear weapon, or is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and why is that ? it's all for power. Having access to nuclear weapons gives you power over other countries. Now, the real question is, why are they spending huge sums of money on developing weapons that would wipe out humanity ? if these weapons are destructible, it is better not to produce them in the first place, but of course that too is impossible. War generates a lot of money, so why should they stop if it is benefiting them ? At the end of the passage he mentions a technology that generates artificial earthquakes, and just when I read this, I remembered the HAARP machine (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), which is believed to generate earthquakes and other weather modifications. This was built by the U.S military, and its purpose is to disrupt the communications. I am not sure whether the HAARP machine exists or not, and I don't want to know anything about it.
la_nat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
xingyu's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0