Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

1984 by George Orwell

77 reviews

kailiyahknight's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Slavery, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

So this was actually my second read of this book, the first having been around 10 years ago. Just as I did the previous read through, I was struck by just how much of this book is relevant to our world today. This is one of the books that I will keep coming back to again and again throughout my lifetime.
The book itself is a somewhat dramatised (hopefully) version of Stalin's Russia/Nazi Germany. It has so many layers to it, and I', still not convinces I've worked out just how deep the 'Party' goes in their propaganda, gaslighting, and plotting against its own citizens.
This is an incredibly well planned out (or perhaps the word is researched) and realised world, where even the bits that are fiction could very easily be real. That, I think, is the true terror of this book: How easily society could go from even today's status, to that found in this book. Thus, Orwell's intention to have this book serve as a warning was fully realised.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

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

yusufmohi's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

After i finished a  dark, surrealistic, gloomy, confusing emotional book known as Kafka on the shore. All i need a break to get out from that Kafka and his world... So i choose randomly sci-fi classic Orwell's 1984 i know nothing aboht this book... I just thought it will be adventurous coz it's an dystopian sci-fi.. But i was Dead wrong...it's like "Thief is released from the prison but arrested again"...right from the beginning this novel is challenging for me, a total nightmare until it's very end.
Kindly know about your novel before you read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and War

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

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

_jennilein_'s review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: War

Minor: Addiction, Rape, Slavery, Blood, and Antisemitism

meesh150's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

1.0

The best part of the book was when

Winston gets tortured.

No but in all seriousness, I do understand the political relevance but I feel like what most people fail to remember or realize is that this was written as a satirical. The world that Orwell created was definitely promising plot wise & probably even more so in the 40s/50s. But I’d say the execution wasn’t perfect or even that interesting for that matter. Maybe I’m biased because of the blatant misogyny (ie. the fact that it sounds like Orwell has never spoken to a real life woman and therefore created a ridiculous fantasy of his in the character of Julia) and seeing as I am reading this in the 21st century but I believe readers can read the introduction or a summary of this book and understand it for it’s main purpose without having to put themselves through the entirety of this book.
Hope this helps. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and War

Minor: Rape

siowan's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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