Rating: 
Summary: Haunting
Review: The book takes the manifestation of totalitarianism to the worst imaginable degree. George Orwell described a world where people are constantly under surveillance by its totalitarian government. By employing two-way televisions and police in civilian clothes, the government monitors people's behavior, deed, and most frighteningly - their minds. No individualism is permitted, and anyone who remotely opposes the government will somehow be caught and completely distroyed. The idea of the book is as far-fetched as it is realistic. That's what's so haunting about the book. The described totalitarian practices may seem absolutely impossible, while when compared to the world we live in, we see more eerie resemblences than not. Moreover, the writing itself was splendid. The descriptions were so vivid that you literally feel yourself a persecuted citizen of the world described. On the negative end, perhaps in an effort to accentuate the point of atrocity of the negative utopia described, the author employed too much descriptions and time on the actual persecution process. The descriptions were grotesque at some points that you really have to have the stomach for it. My advice is, read it, but read it in small dosages. I read the second half of the book in one day, and was gravely depressed for three hours after I finished.
Rating: 
Summary: the most brilliant book I have ever read
Review: Growing up, I didn't read many books purely out of interest (most were school-assigned), but 1984 is one of the first I ever chose to read. I could not put it down. So much more than a fantasy or a sci-fi tale, it is so real. It says the ironic truths that governments throughout history were afraid to admit. Containing a language within a language (Newspeak) and a book within a book (Goldstein's book), I can't possibly regard anyone as being a literary genius above Orwell. He plays with readers' minds, turns truths inside out, and turns paradoxes into perfect sense like no one else. Reading this book will make you a lot less naive about the world. After reading 1984 and Animal Farm, I will surely read everything else Orwell has written too.
Rating:
Summary: Genius
Review: What an amazing book. It is much better book than both We and Brave New World. Besides, Emanuel Goldstein is the greatest!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Read it.
Review: This is the best negative utopia book of those to choose from. It's much better than Huxley's Brave New World in that it is more creative and inventive. Like Catch 22, elements of Orwell's 1984 have embedded themselves into our culture. His concept of "Big Brother" has not lost strength, in fact it is now the title of a TV show. Whether the show is good or not is another matter. Anyway, 1984 is one of those books you need to read, and it's one you will never forget.
Rating:
Summary: Orwell's Brillant, Scary Foretelling
Review: Just as Edmund Burke, during the French Revolution, predicted the subsequent horrors of Robespierre's Reign of Terror, so did George Orwell brilliantly foreshadow the nightmarish life that was ubiquitous under the rule of 20th Century totalitarian states. In 1984, the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to gain personal freedom of mind under the Big Brother government that has taken over London, England and the rest of Europe. The constant chatter of the "telescreens" (written before the days of TV) and other mediums of propaganda are virtually inescapable in this frightening world. Orwell's monotone (but vivid) narrative demonstrates his genius because it makes the scene so much scarier, yet all the more realistic to the reader as well. The novel races up to the climax, before its conclusion with an ending (and final line) that is among the most famous of any from the 20th Century. If you've never read 1984 and only heard it referenced, you need to read it because you may be surprised to see how similar its terms are to life in the modern, "free" world. At the same time, you will see why it is ranked among 20th Century classics as well.
Rating:
Summary: Effects of Now.
Review: I believe that everyone should read this book. While being fiction most of the book is a political satire. The most similar book that I have read to it is actually Jihad Vs. McWorld. It is the first fiction book I have read that valued the importance of language and the "Love impulse". This is seen even today in advertisements. The importance of the name Big Brother is that it is sononomus with the Christian Father and Son figure although not implicitly stated. Newspeak also culminates the impulse. In 1984 the characters follow the teachings of IngSoc, which by looking at it seems harmless but it a abreviation of English Socialism that can hold connotation's in peoples mind. The same techniques are used in modern government and consumerism. The story is also compelling, and shows both a triumph and a failure of love under certains circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Eerie
Review: Absolutely wonderful book. Could it turn out this way? Could you be stronger than Winston?
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and thought-provoking, the best of the Dystopias.
Review: I consider this one of the top 3 Dystopian works, along with Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Huxley's Brave New World. But I think this is the most philosophical - and the most grim - of the three. All the ingredients are here -- we get the grim, joyless, totalitarian nation that is such a nightmare to the Western ideas of individuality and basic rights. Like in Fahrenheit, we get an obsessive control over language - though here it goes much farther, to the destruction of words. Like BNW, we get government controlled social structure and recreation time, even sexuality. Seems the main point of all of them is how shallow life can become if one obeys the authorities. What's different here - and I hope I'm not giving too much away-is that the rebel doesn't win. That seriously disturbed me at first, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it makes this work stand above the others as a Dystopian picture and a call to fight Power in government and protect individualism and free thought. For if the rebel can beat the Man, then the Man's power is limited, and we need not worry too much about the Man - the rebel can always win, if he wants. But if Big Brother can become powerful enough that no rebel can survive, as is the case in 1984, then we must truly fear and fight the Man-now, before He has that kind of power.
In the end, I think I find this Dystopian work more well thought out, more complete, and scarier than Brave New World of Fahrenheit 451. Yet it still remains incredibly readable, and a disturbingly good time.
Rating: 
Summary: Really weird and hard to follow
Review: I was so lost when I first started reading this book. Orwell uses all these made-up words to describe ordinary things, and I couldn't remember them half the time. The very beginning was weird, and I didn't really understand what was happening. If we hadn't talked about it in my english class, I would still probably have no clue what it was about. There's a lot of symbolism that's really easy to miss, so it'd probably be better to not attack this one on your own. Wait until your class reads it, or your book club, or even just a few friends. Just don't try to figure everything out by yourself. If you do understand the book when you're done, you'll see that it was actually pretty interesting, and neat that Orwell, when he wrote it in 1948, actually had such advanced thoughts. Some parts are a little violent, and I don't really think there would be a point for anyone who's not in high school or older to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Think for a moment...
Review: Get beyond the fact that the book's title is outdated, because some of Orwell's warnings are coming true (watch what you talk about at work or school, it might not be orthodox). Every U.S. citizen should read this to know some of the more sinister possibilities behind the War on Drugs, and why the U.S. had an Arms Race and a Space Race. Most people look for a bright and cheery future for mankind, but chances are that won't happen.
|
