1984 (Signet Classics) by George Orwell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of 1984 (Signet Classics)
Book Review: How can we have enthusiasm to grow if we see no wrong?
Summary: 5 Stars
BRAVO! This is my all-time favorite book. Its wonderfully intriguing and sophisticated plot sparks intelligent thought, reexamination of our society, and serves as a warning for our future. This book should be on the "Human Required Reading List" anyway becasue of the every day references to Big Brother and other common analogies. Be prepared to be amazed by the power of the mind!Book Review: I am a fan of this work, but some take it too far.
Summary: 5 Stars
Many of the reviewers on this page are part of the pre-millenium paranoia that seems to have gripped our country in a solid grasp in the last few years. What many of the people who have joined this movement fail to realize is that they have done just what Orwell warned against, becoming part of a faceless movement. All that need be given to form a mindless mob is a galant cause, and the destruction of the evil "new world government" fits that bill perfectly. What these people fail to realize is that the individuals trying to violate our homes, and ultimately our brains, are the pervayors of capitalism itself; that is the owners of huge corporate conglomerates , private individuals that have a larger motivation than world domination . . . greed. So, go ahead and buy this book on a computer built by a huge monopolizing business, over an "internet" that has exposed your personal knowledge to thousands of people (a service wich you pay for), using a credit card which holds you constantly in debt to a group of people which you have never even seen. Know then, that some lessons are never learned.Book Review: Loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
1984 is a really horrifying book, but only if you know the principles of government. It's rather like Animal Farm in that respect. I read the book over and over, never getting tired of it, especially the near-ending. Parts of it are confusing: like, is O'Brien a good guy or a bad guy or what? The ending I found disappointing, but it would have been unrealistic for Winston and Julia to come out on top. I guess 1984 is supposed to show the harshness of totalitarianism and the fruitlessness of fighting against them. Overall, a good book, but not for the young or sensitive.Book Review: You love Big Brother, don't you?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the book I wanted to study in English Lit at school, but I was palmed off with the cloying sentimentality of 'To the Lighthouse' instead. 1984 is a powerful claustrophobic novel that evokes an impression of a post war, brown-grey, totalitarian Britain where a national state of emergency is maintained to preserve the status quo. Everything about this book is original for its time, from the use of Newspeak, to the overwhelming sense of paranoia and fear that infects every thought and movement of the central characters, to the chilling reminder of just how frail the human spirit really is. 1984 can only be judged as a ground breaking literary event. Whether Orwell was writing to warn of the 'horrors' of communism, or the austerity of post war Britain is irrelevant. What he has single handedly achieved is to define the very essence of dystopian fiction. The date 1984 has become a brand term of description for mind control, totalitarianism and the police state. At the time Orwell wrote this, no piece of fiction had been as brutal or as terrifying in its portrayal of ideas and the determination with which a ruling body could obliterate them. It is hard to imagine the effect his novel could have had on its readers at the tail end of the 1940s. The book opened my eyes to a lot of things. I just wish the book had done so when I was 14.Book Review: One of the most powerful novels ever written
Summary: 5 Stars
There's not much you can say about this book that hasn't been said a thousand times before. It is well-written, the characters are excellently portrayed, the themes are strong and compelling... But for me the one thing this novel does better than all that is paint an atmosphere. Orwell draws you into the world he creates so expertly you can *feel* the sense of oppression, it's so real it is perfectly palpable. When the lead characters breaks free, you will him with all your soul to succeed... One of the greatest books ever written. And one of the most affecting.