A review by howlou
1984 by George Orwell
4.0
I think '1984' is a very good read that is sophisticated yet accessable in it's articulation. Orwell paints the the grey and dingy picture of dystopian London very well, giving the setting a lot of character.
The book says a lot about its own time, the time it was written in, our times and frankly every other time in history. It is very much about the human spirit and what it means to be human by taking that statement to extremes. I often found myself drawing parallels between events and phenomenon in the book and in real life - character traits, archetypes who have only in later years been labeled as much, historical motifs and social changes. I'm not gonna point them out as I feel that would diminsh their value. I would also say that I think it's short sighted to say that Orwell "predicted" anything in this book. In fact I think he did the opposite, he... post-dicted (I guess). He saw the trajectory of the world based on observations in the past and basically re-told it.
My biggest gripe with the book is that it often seems to get lost in its own - for lack of a better term - agenda. Orwell's historical and social commentary sometimes seem to take precedent over the story he is telling.
I think this book provides a lot of perspective on human behavior and self - if one is willing to see and acknowledge it, which is part of the problem. I don't know how convincing or compelling this book would be to someone who disagrees with it. I mean not many people expressly admit to being pro-dictatorship, but is someone who is blind to their own complicity going to see or even be willing to consider to consider themselves mirrored in the events and characters? I hope the answer is yes but I have strong doubts.
I would say this is worth a read for most people. It can get heavy handed and requires a bit of abstraction when reading it but I would definitely recommend it to a friend.
The book says a lot about its own time, the time it was written in, our times and frankly every other time in history. It is very much about the human spirit and what it means to be human by taking that statement to extremes. I often found myself drawing parallels between events and phenomenon in the book and in real life - character traits, archetypes who have only in later years been labeled as much, historical motifs and social changes. I'm not gonna point them out as I feel that would diminsh their value. I would also say that I think it's short sighted to say that Orwell "predicted" anything in this book. In fact I think he did the opposite, he... post-dicted (I guess). He saw the trajectory of the world based on observations in the past and basically re-told it.
My biggest gripe with the book is that it often seems to get lost in its own - for lack of a better term - agenda. Orwell's historical and social commentary sometimes seem to take precedent over the story he is telling.
Spoiler
For example, when Winston is reading Goldstein's book towards the end of Part II, I couldn't help but feel like the rest of the novel was Orwell's excuse for writing these 20 or so pages on dictatorship. That fairly long and tedious part of book honestly caused me to put it down for almost 3 months. Even though I personally agree with a lot of the sentiments and theses that Orwell presents I don't enjoy being endlessly preached to.I think this book provides a lot of perspective on human behavior and self - if one is willing to see and acknowledge it, which is part of the problem. I don't know how convincing or compelling this book would be to someone who disagrees with it. I mean not many people expressly admit to being pro-dictatorship, but is someone who is blind to their own complicity going to see or even be willing to consider to consider themselves mirrored in the events and characters? I hope the answer is yes but I have strong doubts.
I would say this is worth a read for most people. It can get heavy handed and requires a bit of abstraction when reading it but I would definitely recommend it to a friend.