Reviews

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

rumay's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

styxis's review

5.0

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

This book affected me more than I thought it would. It truly is horror on another level. The author did an amazing job with creating a world in such detail that it invokes fear of a world that could exist in the future of our reality.

For a second, two seconds, they had exchanged an equivocal glance, and that was the end of the story. But even that was a memorable event, in the locked loneliness in wich one had to live.

How depressing must it be to not be able to form meaningful connections with other humans anymore, just because the state forbids it so. George Orwell captured the loneliness and helplessness of Winston beautifully.

He had moved from thoughts to words, and now from words to actions. The last step was something that would happen in the Ministry of Love. He had accepted it. The end was contained in the beginning.

This too, was well written. Winston was always so sure that he would end up at the Ministry of Love and kind of foreshadowed his own ending in the book, but as a reader I still wanted to hope that it would end differently for him and that he wouldn't have to experience being sent there at the end.

I've got a wife and three children. The biggest of them isn't six years old. You can take the whole lot of them and cut their throats in front of my eyes, and I'll stand by and watch it. But not Room 101!"

God this scene, and honestly almost any scene in Part 3 of the book, broke me. To imagine how cruel torture can be that a man would rather watch his own family die, than experience the torture himself is beyond me. The whole Ministry of Love thing was just so captivating, revolting but interesting to read.

"Does Big Brother exist?" "Of course he exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party." "Does he exist in the same way as I exist?" "You do not exist," said O'Brien.

Okay so first of all FUCK THAT GUY. The betrayal that I felt when he appeared in Winstons cell was immense. And finding out later that Winston even saw that as a possibility hurt but made sense in a world like that.


And secondly, I LOVED the whole metaphysical conversations the two had. It made my ethics-loving heart jump. So sick and interesting at the same time. Trying to control every single aspect of a human life is just so fucked up. At the end it even seemed like O'Brien managed to read Winston's mind but I think it might have just been Winston saying things out loud without noticing it because they just completely broke his mind.

To die hating them, that was freedom.

I'm so upset Winston didn't even get to hate the Party at the end of the book. Everything he liked, everything he hated, his whole identity and being was taken away from him and filled up with Big Brother and the Party.


He didn't get the freedom he hoped for but I hope that somewhere in the future, just as Winston hoped, the proles manage to overthrow the state and help people gain their freedom back.

There are some things that were said in this book that I can't agree with and that irked me when reading them but I think it is still a truly beautiful and terrific book that won't leave my mind for a long time.

reese_lanier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Bone chilling. The last four words are like a gut punch. Not a lot happens plot-wise but that's okay because the world is just so intricately woven and expansive, and leaves very little untouched. Incredible read that will make you contemplate for hours. So many concepts are introduced that very well exist in the real world that one wouldn't think to notice or be able to put words to, and this book puts words to it.

morganl213's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

dev_poodle's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

whatistasareading's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bennnnjamiee's review against another edition

I got bored 

jonahandthetale's review against another edition

3.0

I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I didn't have to read it for class, and was able to read it by myself. I will likely read it again.

lyssalovereads's review

informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

meroei's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Obviously a very thought-provoking book. I was admittedly a little disappointed, however. I had very high expectations, and it wasn’t as poignant as I expected. Still highly recommend: has important themes and is a classic.