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Summary: 1984 is the best book in the world
Review: THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK!!!! I was born in 1987, so reading about what someone thought the world was going to be like now in 1949 was very interesting. George Orwell is me favorite author and this is one of his best. If someone is considering buying this book- do! you'll be glad you did.
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Summary: Cleverly imaginative yet unbearingly boring
Review: As a summer reading assignment, I was assigned this book to read and appreciated Orwell's sense of imagination. I reccomend this novel to anyone who is interested in the world of make believe. People who appreciate descriptive writing will certainly enjoy reading this novel. However, this novel will probably not appeal to people who enjoy novels that tell stories. I found the novel extremely boring because it is all about Orwell's vision of an unstable society, it does not give the reader the desire to read on.
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Summary: monotony
Review: Attempting to read this book is worse than watching the grass grow. At least the grass will become something you enjoy. The title and plotline of the story intrigued me to read it. Don't get me wrong, if well-written, this storyline could be very interesting. But even after just ten pages, the only thought going through my mind was "When will this guy shut up and tell the story???" The plot comes in a distant second to the narrator's monotone, seemingly unending monologue. If I could withstand this, I believe I would have enjoyed it. But forgive me for not having that kind of patience for hundreds of pages.
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Summary: Nightmarish Society
Review: In a terrifying atmosphere of totalitarianism, Winston meets Julia, and a romance begins. What follows is a description of the triumph of human depravity. The government, which seeks power for its own sake, destorys any human relationship that can be interpreted as a conflict of loyalty. Everybody must be made to love Big Brother, even if the cost of this love is the loss of dignity, freedom, and common sense. Based on Stalinist Russia, Orwell's novel certainly has broader implications and is a warning against complacently accepting what is being presented to us as real by the powers that be.The book starts slowly. Orwell tries to set an ominous mood for his readers. Unfortunately, Orwell is best when he does not try to write around too much and goes straight to the point. So I recommend that you press on, even if at the outset the book is not terribly exciting. You won't find many characters in this book, but those you do find are done pretty well by Orwell. The thrust of the book is, of course, social and political. It makes you think. For example, why can't something like this really happen, let's say in 2084? The answer to this, in my opinion, is not simple. Orwell gave us a warning. We would be fools not to heed it.
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Summary: Anyone who thinks this can't happen is not paying attention
Review: While George Orwell felt that the time of totalitarian rule and the state as unanswerable monolith would be the latter twentieth century, the twenty-first century actually represents a better time for a slightly different version of the timeline he would suggest. The technological capability of monitoring almost every single household within a given area is here now, although most people voluntarily share themselves with the world via WebCam. It is not a far-fetched idea, in terms of cost or engineering, to monitor the civilian population of an entire country for illegal behavior. For a small fee, you can purchase your credit history and address from online companies who have no reason to have such information, and nothing bars them from sharing it with anyone who pays that fee. Regardless of advances in fiber-optic communications, _1984_ is first and foremost a story about government that acts solely to perpetuate its own dominance, and this century offers as many opportunities for that as past centuries. Given enough pretext by a state of war or economic collapse, the individual has no real chance against an organized enemy with the power to oversee every aspect of his life. If print journalism and its less scrupulous cousin in television fails to call for an accounting of government actions outside the vision of the individual, then the government can move with impunity against the individual. Is this paranoia? The modern and well-educated American society that won the Second World War allowed a alcoholic senator named Joseph McCarthy to destroy private lives with unsupported accusations, ending only with his accusation of Secretary of State and former Chief of Staff of the Army George Marshall, entirely too respected for the accusation to pass unanswered. It would not happen in this current political climate, but I suggest that it takes a lot less than you might believe to push government prerogative closer to totalitarian authority. With all that said about its cautionary value, _1984_ is one of the most clearly written novels in the English language, and a model for anyone who wants to write with economy and power. It and its companion piece by Huxley, _Brave New World_, should be read by everyone interested in protecting themselves against the worst that social organization and technological progress can offer.
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Summary: Easily my favorite book
Review: This book caught my attention by the first paragraph. I had HUGE trouble putting it down. The only thing that got me to put it down was the fact that I wanted it to last! This is by far the best book I've ever read. George Orwell put great thought into every aspect of this book. The most amazing thing is the technology that he accurately predicted like the SpeakWrite (program in which you speak into a microphone, and it types up what you're saying). If you like this book, you will probably like Clockwork Orange, and vise versa. They both have reminitions of Communism ruling the world (which was a great fear and quite controversial idea for that time), and they both have new languages, brutal police, and strong governments. My only warning, is that this book contains parts that can depress the easily depressable (like myself). So read it, and enjoy!
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Summary: I hated it then, I appreciate it now. A great book!!
Review: When i first read this book, i was in 9th grade and i was 15, now admitedly, i haven't grown up that much since then, as i just started 10th grade, but my feelings about this book have totally changed. when i read it, i hated it. i thought it was just awful. too sad. but now i look back, and i realize what a wonderful book it was, maybe not happy, but good. so true. it had such a powerful message that couldn't be ignored. i am now so glad that i read it. i think that everyone should read it. you may not find that it is the most entertaining thing that you have ever read, but if you sit and think about the book, and then about society, you would really see things in a totally different light. it really opened my eyes. i really think that everyone should read this book. you will never regret it, in fact, you will be extremely pleased that you read it. there is no way you couldn't be glad you read it. maybe you will be like me, and you won't like it while you're reading it, but once you are done, you will be glad that you read it. so please, read it.
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Summary: 1984 has come and gone
Review: Orwell, for a skinny accountant-looking Englishman who's real name is Eric Blair, you rock for this single shining moment in literature history. Yeah, kudos to you. The nightmarish world of 1984 has yet to hit us yet, though we are getting there sometime. His world of Oceania is completely thourough and believable, with many similarities in today's society. It's an Animal Farm for the real world, no metaphors, no representations, just humans so idiots who didn't understand the latter can feel smart, too. Winston, our hero, is almost a perfect mirror image of Orwell himself, wandering around the plot and pointing out the ways people will try to control you without even really trying to point it out. It is written so well it just speaks for itself. It doesn't need to be explained, it is understood at first glance. The world is alive with sugar rations, forced morning exercises, paroles, betrayals, hipocrisy, and chestnut trees (You'll understand all too well when you finish the book). Winston sees cracks, deep and ominous, in his utopia and eventually tries to rebel against it only to be "re-educated". The book explores the meanings of truth, of history, of what really is for our own good. From the first sentence to the last four words, this book is one that will stay with you forever.
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Summary: 1984
Review: 1984 excellently depicts a negative utopia, a world in which government is everything and everywhere, and individuality means nothing. A man named Winston rises up to find the truth and to see through the government coverups. Since the government is so allpowerful and corrupt, it allows such people as Winston to rise up just for the joy of crushing them and turning them into mindless believers. 1984 is like the other great negative utopias, Brave New World and Farenheit 451, because in all books the governemnt controls all aspects of life. However, Brave New World uses material pleasures such as the drug somna to control it's citizens, Farenheit 451 burns books to keep it's citizens ignorant, and 1984 uses fear. In 1984 there are thought-police, people who can see you at any time through TVs, even in your own home. They would arrest those who would even just made 'face crime,' or not supporting the government even through just one upset glance. These three books are very exciting and while these futures may or may not be happen, it shows us that the human spirit will always strive for knowledge and individualism, even against impossible odds.
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Summary: Greatest book of English lit, candidate for top 5 of world?
Review: Foreshadowing Pynchon's paranoia, this text is well beyond its projected 1984 date. An allagory for all people and all types of government, it is ultimately about the individual and his place in the world. Highly, highly recommended. Feel manipulated while reading it by keeping in mind that Orwell was also a linguist.
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