Book Review - 1984

1984 

George Orwell 

328 pages
Med-Hard Read
? stars *
Dystopian / Classic / Satire /

This is going to be a bit of a different review, starting with how many stars I am giving the novel. From just a reading stand point its 5.5 stars, I wasn't thrilled with it but it wasn't a bad read.
As a classic novel that I feel people should read its a 7 stars.

Yes it is a dry read, no it is not an easy read, but I think books like these are so important. They really give you a sense of perspective, they make you think, the exaggerated qualities make vague ideas clear. Ideas such as : the importance of education, how much power comes with knowledge, how easy it is for most to turn a blind eye, the easy choices vs the right choices, the concepts and ideologies that drive societies. Power and all its qualities. How the division of society works, the strengths and weaknesses of all forms of societal organization (this one is very biased and driven by Orwell's strong opinions). This is another one of the books that I believe will grow with readers, needing to be reread at various stages of life to get a full appreciation. Winston, Julia, the proles, O'Brian, Winston's neighbour "the good party member", I related and understood different things with each this time through than the bit I had read before and I think that is the strength and value of this novel and other books of the same kind.

Simliar Novels

Book Review - Animal Farm

Animal Farm 

George Orwell 

7 stars
102 pages
Classic, Satire, Communism,

This is a one hour read or a three hour audiobook. My third time reading this novel and I am sure that I will reread it again in the future. It is perfect to get out of a reading slump or to cure a book hangover.
This novel should be a mandatory read for anyone, anywhere. There are so many layers of messages built into so few pages. It is so sad and sarcastic, and so very true. I had to read this in high school and it was one of the few novels that I enjoyed studying. There are no great leaps in logic to understand the symbolism or meaning behind it, its all laid out in a clear orderly fashion : good beginnings do not always mean a good end, good intentions often go astray, The power of fear. the power of an ignorant majority, the ability of a few to rule over the many through manipulation. While Orwell's message was strongly anti-communist it also displays the flaws of any other system, capitalism included.

For the first time I watched the cartoon as well, I found it to be very much along the lines of Watership Down, maybe not the best for a children's movie even though I am sure many kids watched it because it is a cartoon - although I find that many children's movies can be dark and intense, as kids we simply overlook the messages - They changed the ending of the comic so that it was different from the book and I wasn't happy with that so 3/5 stars for that.

This novel is great for book discussions! Leave a comment below if you have read this (let me know what you thought!) or if you plan on reading it.