Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

1984 by George Orwell

47 reviews

cursed_hal's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, and War

Minor: Child death and Colonisation

elliotcarlisle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

swimfast724's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I read this in high school and I'm so glad I did. It was hard to read, it was very long, and it was pretty sexually explicit. But I'm glad I read it because it opened my eyes. It fascinated me so much that it basically defined the dystopian genre I never knew existed and it's now my favorite genre. It's hard to get through the description but it's so important. Not a word is wasted.
The fact that Orwell basically predicted the future is both incredible and terrifying. We need to stop before it's too late. I have a favorite quote from Einstein that says:  "I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots and the world is doomed." This is exactly where we are as a society today.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Grief

Minor: Body shaming and Abandonment

te_ss_i's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

patchedspines's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, and Colonisation

haiqanoor's review against another edition

it’s so boring, all the main character does is complain and be a misogynist -

the only mildly interesting thing he did was was write in that book and then he went straight back to having beef with some kids

- i don’t remember the guy’s name and orwell is a snitch so

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Torture, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

artmuseam's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

haunting and heartbreaking..this book captivated me from the start with the insanely creepy details of this society and how it functions. while it was a bit slow at times, i still found it to be very interesting and i almost wish it was a little bit longer on certain parts. this book is definitely not a light read and honestly made me feel very sad at the end. 4/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Sexual content and Colonisation

castle_samj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I have both simultaneously and impossibly completely read this book and wholeheartedly denounced its utter existence or potential to exist. 

I think I’m disappointed. I had long expected this book to contain some more SCIENCE to its -fiction, yet mostly it dealt with drama and confusing or blurring the lines of reality. I’d wager this was more intended as a political protest and warning tragedy of the existing world governments in the 1940s than a prediction of what was to come. While a lot of the meta-content has, in fact, evolved to become true, it equally mispredicted some changes, lending to its true purpose of protest. 

I can not recommend reading this book. Read a synopsis or something, or read Part 2 Chapter 09 and nothing else. I’m not even sure if Orwell was antisemitic by making the ‘villain’ be Jewish (

there’s no good closure on the purpose of Goldstein other than to be the scapegoat for the opposition to the Party, and nothing other than hateful rhetoric toward him or his ideology

) but he doesn’t do aftercare for any of the awful things; you just get a tragedy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol

Minor: Antisemitism, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

knjelite's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I am not sure how to accurately describe why or how I loved this book so much especially given the bleak subject matter and even bleaker ending. I think what resonated with me most was O'Brien's description of the purpose of power: not ideological or fanatical or aspirational but just power for power sake. For the torture, defilement, and degradation of others as the end goal. Kind of reframes the current political discourse. Yeah, I don't really have much else to say.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Colonisation

beth_48's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An interesting story, and in some ways scarily believable! Feel like the second half of the story could have been longer though 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, War, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Colonisation