A review by clairebau
1984 by George Orwell

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

This was only a little bit of a chore to get through. I get that it was like, the big thing for its time, but I couldn't get past the messy, disjointed storytelling, the weak attempts at symbolism, and the unlikeable characters. God, the unlikeable characters! Though I will grant them the fact that their god-awful personalities are a result of their surroundings. Julia's only personality trait is being not-like-other-girls. Martyr Winston admits a rape fantasy in the first 20 pages of the book, so I stopped sympathizing with him pretty much immediately.

This book just feels all over the place in a few ways, especially in its pacing. It didn't feel well-rounded or expertly crafted, more like Orwell had a bunch of ideas he slapped together for an excuse to publish twenty pages of grandstanding right in the middle. Yawn.
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