1984

Rating:
Summary: one of those books...
Review: ...you should read every 10 years of your life

The 1984 and Animal Farm are the best two books I've read recently...they consider totalitarism in the very readable language, and show the frightening future of the world (creating large blocks such as USA, Europe, USSR, and everlasting war between them). The 1984 also talks about basic principles of freedom ("It is freedom to say that 2+2 equal 4") and involves some other thematics such as birth of love and feelings in general in totalitarism which tends to be free of any kind of feelings.

I fully recommend it to everyone!

Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: I was forced to read this in school when I was younger and I didn't really "get it" nor was I even interested in "getting it". I think if you are over 20, you want to re-read this classic novel. It was much better, the second time around.

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Summary: A dark phophency that came ture!
Review: This book offers very compehensive views for people who want to learn about how life inside the IronCurtain is like. IMHO, it is so well written that reading it beats reading tons of magazne articles on this subject. As a former citizen who lived in a communist country, I can testify that almost everything that Mr. Orwell wrote in his '1984' is truth to the point. Reading this book brings back all those nightmares that I had experienced and witnessed there myself. The thing I really like about this book is that although it's a very detailed piece of work documenting on the evils of a communistic social system, but the large amount of information presented in it had not bogged down the pace of the book at all. In fact, this book is a relative easy and fast paced read, thanks to the good writing skill of the author, the good structure of its presentation, and that sparkling but doomed romance that Orwell had geniously imcorporated into the story. All in all, this is a very worthy book for everyone to read about.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent 1st half; Over thought 2nd half
Review: The first half of this book was excellent with a sound plot and a great setting. However, the huge essay from "The Book" would have served better outside of the story, as a companion book. The ending itself was wishy-washy with the character become a Big Brother enthusiast in only a few pages. Although, I didn't like the end, I must say it was a lot better than many books in this "future gone wrong" genre.

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Summary: for the good of the country
Review: Bonnie Ryder Mercy High School Students Mindy Sheehan Humankind has not been deliberately questioning its government for the past seventeen years, or fifty- two years, but, however, since the beginning of time. 1984 by George Orwell simply expresses the fears and anxieties felt by all people towards their government. At all times, society must worry whether government is too large and controlling or too small and unproductive. In 1984, however, the government is extremely small in how many have power but extremely large and authoritarian in its pervasive domination while actively and purposely promoting unproductivity. After reading this book together, my friend and I have a better understanding of how government can grow so large and bleed the soul out of a society. Yes, we can learn about factual historical events but by reading the extreme we have a better understanding of the norm. For instance, how much of today's media is censored and controlled? What information am I not getting? Fifty- two years ago when Orwell first published this book, the United States government had still not apologized for its treatment of Japanese Americans during WW II. It still denied that it had done anything wrong. Their actions were for the good of the country. The U.S.A. would never stoop to the same level as the Germans did with their interred (or would we). Orwell should have felt lucky to live in such an honorable time in history under the motherly wing of all- mighty protective, militaristic of the United States government. Even today history books very rarely even mention this portion of US history. All hail the mighty and glorious past, but do not forget; whoever controls the present controls the past, whoever controls the past controls the future. Again we ask, what of the past has been changed for us? What do we not know? Is Big Brother still watching? 1984 is appropriate for mature Juniors in high school and older. To read the book, one must have patience because most of it is a narrative. Despite the groaning, whining complaints which often accompany the news that a book is a narrative, the personal intimate thoughts are essential to the book. The reader must know how deeply the vein of ignorance runs. The reader must experience the complete metamorphosis which Winston, the main character, undertakes and his personal opinions about his surroundings. How much of our daily lives is spent thinking only to ourselves and analyzing personal thoughts and actions? Because Orwell wanted to create a realistic man, he needed to have intimate thoughts which the reader must understand in order to understand his actions. How many times do we wish that the world could just read our mind to understand us? The reader cannot be bored with the book if he reads every sentence with a grain of salt and tries to fully envelop himself into Orwell's world.

Rating:
Summary: BORRRIIIIING!
Review: I read this book in 8th grade. It was fairly easy to read and was not too hard, but it was by far the most boring and pointless piece of literature that I have ever read in my 15 years of life. I MUCH would have rather read a Case Note!

If you are considering purchasing this book, I thouroughly discourage it. If you MUST read something by George Orwell, read Animal Farm. It is a pretty good book...

Rating:
Summary: 1984: Been there, done that; Orwell has not.
Review: 1984: Been there, done that; Orwell has not. I have always attempted novels that do not seem to be the most appealing, however, George Orwell's classic, was in short a disappointment. The book was repetitive, slow moving, and did not hold my interest at all. After finishing it, I was left with a feeling as though I had been ripped off. The general plot was clever, but the lack of interesting characters and events left the novel fruitless and boring. I tried to read the book as though it really was a prediction of the future, however, it was hard for me to understand how anyone could ever think the future would possibly be in such disarray. 1984 has the lay out of other Science Fiction novels including conformity, a heretic, and finally the heretic coming to terms with the conformity, but throughout the story, everything appeared fantastical and this made it hard to relate to. In addiction, the contradictions throughout the novel were frustrating. After the first three chapters I could only hope that Winston would be vaporized as soon as possible, rather I would have hoped to be vaporized as soon as possible. However, Orwell manages to hold out two hundred and forty-five pages before allowing Winston to make any sense of his pointless existence. The novel, in my opinion is a waste of energy, paper and ink. I cannot honestly give this book any merit. I would definitely NOT recommend it to any person with a sane mind.

Rating:
Summary: "You Do Not Exist"
Review: Not for the faint of heart, this book grips you and won't let go. Although written in the 40s (?), Orwell's message of the horrors of what might happen under a socialist government has not staled through the years. I had always heard the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", but never understood all that those simple words entailed until I cracked this one open for a read. What I found was an experience very hard to forget. The description of Winston's world is surprisingly vivid, and one can almost feel the "telescreens" silently watching your every move. The torture scenes and mind games the O'Brien brings along about a third of the way in are nothing if not chilling. And then there's the abrupt and haunting ending... I'm not ashamed to say that when I finished I hurled this book across the room in anger, much to the surprise of my family. A classic that I hope will stay on reading lists for years to come, this book should be required reading for all those who considered themselves "educated". Pick it up. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: ¿ ¿Imagine a boot stamping on a human face ¿ forever¿¿
Review: Orwell does something interesting with this book - more interesting even than Animal Farm, a truly wonderful allegory. While Animal Farm seems to do nothing more than colorfully reiterate history, 1984 provides some amazing thoughts on the nature of the nearly perfect totalitarian society (the exemplar form of such a society can be found in Huxley's Brave New World) and the people who control it.

While the novel feels dated (the overalls, the proles, the characters), it doesn't hinder the book at all. Detailing an alternate society which began to back peddle after World War II, 1984 is meant to feel dated. With no advancements, an inhumane government, and persistent war, it is no wonder Oceania never pulled itself out of pre-war ideologies and modes. It is a poor representation of what we now think of as "the future": that shiny metallic world of Blade Runner or Star Wars (or Amazing Tales in Orwell's time). Orwell never meant to write a science fiction novel, but rather a warning in a world in which totalitarian states had yet to be squelched.

The book progresses through four stages: first there is an introduction to Oceania and its ways of life, beginning just in the same way most science fiction book begins, with little plot development or action; next comes a long character study (I won't provide too many details) which steps away from the descriptions which make up the first stage; then Orwell gives us a nice solid plot which we believe will quickly take us to the end; and finally a finale which would have been difficult to top. The end is exciting, emotional, and thought-provoking, and ties up the earlier stages of the book nicely - something few books are capable of doing.

Oh, and by the way: when reading this one, be sure to buy a cheap copy and to carry around a highlighter. This book is chocked full of great quotes (literally pages and pages). If you're interested in politics, government, and human nature, this very well may become your Bible. I didn't do this and I may just have to go over it one more time.

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Summary: Be Aware! This is where our government is headed
Review: It is a world very much like ours today - no privacy, ignorance of the world and wars around us, everyone conforming to be no different than ones neighbor, and government only telling the public what they want them to know.

Open your eyes and read this warning to what very well could become true if we do not change.