Rating: Summary: 1984 Review: 1984 by George Orwell is a story of a totalitarian government and a man living under its power. Winston, the main character, struggles to fight the ruling outer party, even though his works for them changing historical documents to fit the parties needs. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys conspiracy stories. The only negative thing I can say about this book is it becomes slow in some parts, but over all it is a great read.
Rating: Summary: R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D Review: This particular piece of literature, entitled 1984 and written by Goerge Orwell, was 1980 boring. Being a seventeen year old teenager, with a mind of my own, made it extremely difficult to stay focused on something so morbid and [weak] as this so-called "classic." I can sum up my thoughts of this book using few words...Reading this book was like HELL! And for those of you who are more visual, it was like trying to keep a white T-shirt clean while eating spaghetti. This book just didn't grab my attention. I simply couldn't "connect" with the characters (Winston, Julia, Syme, O'Brien and Big Brother). To me, they were all just a bunch of names and not "real" people. Many sections in the book allowed me to connect the book and the real world toegether like abortion and how the government is slowly becoming more apart of everyone's daily life. BOTTOM LINE: From this collection of 245 pages, nothing tickled my fancy. The thought that a 40 foot tall pine tree was but down to print this accumulation of modern day gibberish is sad indeed!
Rating: Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Review: 1984 by George Orwell, is the most BORING book I ever read for school. To me the plot was not interesting, the characters were useless and the time period .... Although the idea of the government controling everything is scary and most likely true it just didn't have any emotions to make it good. For a book to be good it needs to have emotions, and this book lacked them, and there was also no dialouge which to me is important. KNOT
Rating: Summary: 1984 is a book that makes you think so much it's scarey! Review: Orwell is great. 1984 tells the tale of society 30 years into the future from when Orwell actually wrote the book. The fact that he was able to see or know how things could be 30 years later and with so much detail and complexity is awesome. And I mean with extraoridary detail! Concepts of "Newspeak" and "Doublethink" are phenominal. You get into the main character and you start to cheer for him. You too want him to crack the system. The book may possibly get a bit slow or a touch wordy towards the end however I think it's necessary. 1984 can be a brain buster if you free you mind and let yourself understand and follow all that takes place. Your brain will definately get a good workout trying to understand "Newspeak" and the structure of "Big Brother". It is fun! I highly recommend this book. It stands as a warning to us all. Freedom is perhaps the greatest concept we know, it would be devistating if we forgot it! Big Brother claims, "Freedom is Slavery" or "Slavery is Freedom", "War is Peace" and "Strenth is Power". What do you think?
Rating: Summary: World Of Us Review: Through out the coarse of my reading carrier I must say that I have found only a few novels that may compare with "1984". The cunning realism that is embedded upon every page is something truly worth reading. Personally as a writer I feel that after reading this novel I have grown and improved my own writing technique. Not to mention the actually genius involved in contemplating the elaborate world of restricted freedom and no piece of mind. George Orwell completely shatters all walls of possibilities when he introduces many variations of mass control as well as mass acceptance of lies. The complexity of the main character Winston Smith in itself is simply astonishing. So tragic and heart felt is his predicament that sympathy is quickly given to the fictional character. This is mostly because of the fact that certain freedoms that we have are taken for granted. While in "1984" the lack of freedom is equally accepted and taken for granted by the people of the novel. Which reminds us to think and judge for our selves what it is right. This is the utmost reason for me appreciating and taking to heart this novel. >>Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind...<<
Rating: Summary: 1984 - Fascinating and Terrifying (Doublethink at work!) Review: This book is a work of genius. It is so much more than science fiction. In fact, it's bleak vision of the world is scary because of its plausibility. It is so completely credible and convincing. It is brilliant philosophy, masterful thriller, and love story all at the same time. There is enough explanation about the plot of the book in other reviews, so I'll spare you. This book captured me completely. Read this book if you like thought provoking literature.
Rating: Summary: Immortal Review: This is simply one of the most important and powerful books of the 20th century, plus is a great read. A lot of people I know have read 1984, and no one ever considered it less than "great". Buy this.
Rating: Summary: 1984 Review: At the time this book was written, in the 1950's, this book was feared as a posssible future for the world. This story is a bleak prediction of the future of man. Whatever they say is the rule, whatever they you think is ungaurdable, and even the smallest change in your apperence is subject for search. The biggest question of all though, is not how you can escapes, but who can you escape from. They know everthing that you are doing because of the telescreens located in every room and any thought of treason is picked up. This is the story about a man in this world, all alone, trying to figure out which is which. He knows the Party lies, and can even alter the past, but in a world where alliances wavor, and there is no certainty about who you are, how does he know he is fighting against the right people. Even if he can trust someone, there is another problem, "Big Brother is Watching"
Rating: Summary: Bedford High School Review: nineteen eighty-four was definitely a book with a storyline that fit my interests. Politics, psychology, love, sex, and unexpected twists of plot make it an interesting read. As one is reading, it's almost as if the reader is stuck in the same kind of darkness and ignorance that is imposed upon the characters. Will the next page be another mundane day in the live of Winston or will there be exciting happenings as the characters defy the absolute authority of the party? The reader must feel around in the dark so to speak, and the chronological jumps only make it more unpredictable. The predominating theme of the novel is the organization known as Ingsoc, or the english socialism movement-usually referred to as "the party." The party rules over one of the three superstates-Oceania. Oceania is constantly at war with one of the other two superstates, which are Eastasia and Eurasia. This war becomes significant later in the book as a vital contributing factor to the success of the party's absolute rule. In Oceania there are three classes. The inner party (approx. 1% of the population) is at the topmost rung of society-afforded all the luxuries one could ask for to live comfortably. They also have the privilege of being allowed to turn off the hated telescreens, through which the "thought police" constantly watch the activities of every party member. The outer party (of which Winston Smith is a member-approx. 18% of the population) are the group of people who are the most psychologically controlled. Most are assigned jobs which involve the changing of historical records and falsifying the media. They are poorly provided for and closely controlled. Anyone smart or ambitious enough to be a danger to the power of the party is eliminated, and through psychological control, even their closest friends (or more appropriately "comrades," as the party has abolished the concept of friendship) can be made to forget that the eliminated person ever existed. The party throughout the book is even hard at work creating a new language that will drastically narrow the ability of its speakers to think. All concepts which might be considered "thoughcrime" (i.e. ideas that might threaten the party) are destroyed by means of their removal from language-no words to describe them exist, and therefore the concepts cannot be grasped. The outer party is the cornerstone of Ingsoc. Third, there are the "proles," or proletariats. They make up the other 81% of the population. The proles are more or less free to do as they please, considered to be harmless, and happy enough to live very simple lives in blissful ignorance. Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, which ironically is in the business of fabricating intricate lies. Through the haze and stupor created by the psychological vice imposed upon him by the party, Winston occasionally has memories that the past was somehow better before the revolution that brought the party to power. Very early on in the book he has thoughts of escaping the watchful eyes of the thought police and living more freely. This eventually leads him to create a hiding place, and to fall in love with the secretly rebellious Julia. From here, Winston's adventure as a member of the secret "brotherhood" begins. For the most part, I had a wonderful time reading this book. I had a lot of trouble putting it down at times. The detailed descriptions, deep ideological explanations and very powerful overall moods that Orwell creates not only make the story realistic, but makes you feel as if you are part of the story-you can feel the misery and quiet outrage under the party's oppression. You can taste the freshness and novelty of the freedom when Winston and Julia hide in their apartment in the prole neighborhood. The ending is rather depressing and disappointing, but getting there is definitely a fun head trip. One final word of advice-don't pick this book up with the intention of only reading for a little while...it's quite impossible to do so.
Rating: Summary: 1984--a look into the future Review: George Orwell's 1984 shows us what he believed the future would be like if mankind did not change and socialism increased. This dark tale tells of a world where Big Brother is constantly watching you, and any act that could come even close to disobeying the Party, meant you were eliminated--which meant, not only were you never heard from again, but you were actually being erased from all records and memories, so that you never even existed. The Party has absolute control over all types of media and print, and in effect, the lives of everyone. Their slogan is "Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." Anything historically that shows that the Party is wrong, is changed in every history book and record and eventually the minds of the people and thus, never happened. This book is in three main sections. It was a bit slow at first, but I forced my way through it. Further through, the book dramatically picks up in excitement. By the time I got to the third part, I could barely put the book down. I am rating this book 5-stars because it has become a modern classic that captivates the reader's attention, not only in the story, but also on the philisophical level above it.
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