Kristy's Reviews > 1984

good luck. hopefully you'll enjoy this more than me

seems like almost everyone else really likes it.... i'm not really feeling it though!

Nope I tried it a looooooooooooong time ago and I can honestly say I didn't like it. I think if you read it in a class it must be cool to discuss what happens but by yourself it just kind of sucks.

agreed

Oh. My. God. Does this book ever end?!?!!?!?

Kristy, you bring up some interesting points about classics and how some people feel the need to "like" these works of literature. I will tell you, there are some classics that just aren't for me. Give me a YA book instead and I'm a happy girl. Not embarrassed to admit that.

However, this book... I gave 4 stars, not because I thought it was up my alley, more like because it left a lasting impression for me.

It really gave me the creeps that somoene over 60+ years ago could draw such a daunting picture of society gone wrong in more ways than one and present it in a way that's almost plausible to the world we live in now with the whole Big Brother/voyeuristic practices that currently exist.

Imagine a society with no existence of privacy, preservation of history, or freedom of thought, words or feelings... is it possible? I sure hope not, but Orwell scared the beejeezuz outta me with his portrayal of a messed up society.

Sorry this book wasn't for you. Personally, I wish I never read it because I don't need more stuff to worry about. LOL

But like you, it did take me a while to get through it, but not because I didn't like it. Small doses worked better for me. hahaha

Sorry for the ramble, but I really see your point about owning the fact if you just don't care for a classic. Own it! :)

I know what you mean about the lasting impression, it is a truely haunting book. I don't think the book is garbage, it's just not one that I enjoyed reading.
I think it would make a good movie; the story itself was not bad, I think it's his writing style that I just don't like.

I would not recommend this to someone, but on the other hand I would not want to discourage one from reading it.
This might be one of those books i like better in a couple of days... i just finished it this morning!

I tried reading this book about 5 times (or more, I lost count to be honest) now and I still haven't been able to finish it. I am going to one day.

Arlene, reading is supposed to be fun. I hate people who act like being a 'good' reader means you should have read Dostojevski, Tolstoj, or Dickens. Preferably at a very young age. Because only then you are also a 'smart' reader.

*eyeroll*

"I hate people who act like being a 'good' reader means you should have read Dostojevski, Tolstoj, or Dickens. Preferably at a very young age. Because only then you are also a 'smart' reader."

That's what I should have said instead of my rambling review :)

So true! Reading is suppose to be fun.

My reading preferences change from time to time. Sometimes I'm in a mood for a grown up fiction, most of the time it's YA, never in the mood for a mystery but I will admit that I read classics because I almost feel like I "have" to... being an avid reader. People know I read alot, but when they ask me... have you read War & Peace? I mumble no. What about Little Women... more mumbling... not yet, but I have it on my shelf! Have you read all of Jane Austen's works?? My response is Persuassion was great! Then they end with... well what DO you read? Ugh!!

So I guess I try to read about 5 or so classics a year to build my credibility as an avid reader...lame reasoning... I know, but I'm just being honest.

same here Arlene!! Some of them turn out to be suprisingly good though, you really never know.

I think i'm on book 104 this year and I believe 15-20 have been classics or non-fiction. I believe you can't just stick to one genre or you will get bored!

i think some books are out of place past it's time. i had to read it in high school around 1984...and at that time it was thought provoking...now, looking back 25 years later...well...

I've read 1984 twice, once with a class, and I'm glad I read it. I didn't exactly enjoy it, as a matter of fact I may be mentally scarred, but I thought it was an extremely valuable read.

I'm still in school, so I have to read about a classic a month, and I'm kind of glad the teachers make me read them. Although I don't always enjoy the books, I usually always find the value in them in the end.

Look. Just because someone says that they like/enjoyed a well known book doesn't mean that they are lying just to sound smart and well-read. Maybe they did genuinely enjoy it. Obviously contrary to your sadly deluded beliefs, just because their opinion is different from yours doesn't make them a liar. And if you hated this book THAT much, then why did you continue to read it? So that when people referenced it you would seem smart and well-read, when in reality you forced yourself through it for the sake of fitting in with literary society?

It's not true that just because you did not like this book, the rest of the world hates it too. I don't think that a lot of people say they like certain books just because they think they should. Have you ever thought of the possibility that all those other people truly liked the book and that maybe people can have other opinions than you do? I honnestly think it was an amazing, interesting, exciting and well-written novel, which I enjoyed a lot.

Kristy, I read your rant of a review up there and looked very hard for some reason you didn't like the book. Why do you type something that long without saying nothing about the material you read? For instance, what did you think about doublethink, newspeak, the constant 'wars' between Oceania and some other country. Do you think there are warnings in there that is relevant for us today?

I think that the book was a little hard to read too. But I think mostly it was hard because of the story. I got scared for real. When you put this story into today’s society, it is really scary. I read on a picture somewhere that 1984 wasn’t meant to be an instruction for the future. And with that I agree totally. Like you wrote, it made you feel hopeless. That’s true, but everyone can do something for the future and of course that is not with the book 1984 as a base. I think humans should be smarter than that, and mostly they are. They dare to express how the world should be treated and not. And no need to say that the freedom of speech is important for our future.

Totally agree about the book being bad. Like some other commenter said, I don't see the need to use a story as a backdrop to Orwell's prophecies. After a while, Big Brother was too much and apart from the general concept of how intrusive governments can be, the rest of the prose was utterly lost on me. Also agree about people faking their book ratings. They think it's probably cool, but they're best left to themselves.

I agree, I think it was a rather lame book. Preachy. Dull. Droning on and on.Implausible, too. If you want to read something really deep and philosophical and be able to feel good about your own smartness of reading it, try Mann's "The Magic Mountain."

"Almost everyone of the commenters wrote how much they enjoyed this book and how it was one of their favorite books ever" - why don't you believe thm??? It's a really good book IMO

I think it would be more enjoyable for anyone to read it in a group/class, like I did in 7 th grade in honors English. On my own, I would never have gotten all the metaphors/foreshadowing/ creepy concepts about humanity and control. So for anyone who hasn't read it or wants to, read it in a group.

The novel itself was awful to read -- never ending, torturous, and horrific -- but the thematic concepts within the novel are what won me over, and I gave it five stars as I recognized the artistry and audacity of the raw material. No, it was not enjoyable at all, but it deserves high ratings, in my opinion. I feel like this is how a lot of those "fake book talkers" view the novel, but to make things more simple, they just say, "I enjoyed every minute of it."

I just started this book today. I don't know exactly how I landed on it a couple years ago, I was reading reviews for some other book on Amazon or something and then I got to this. The reviews were all good, and when I asked my friends on Facebook if anyone had a copy, it seemed all of my guy friends did and would lend me a copy. A year later I found it at the library (lately I've been more into reading for sake of reading and improving myself) so I checked it out. I am three chapters in and I already want to give up and read something else. It sounds so redundant to me and I don't know why, like I already feel some of the ridiculous political sayings and weird Newspeak are going to be drilled into my brain. I feel stupid for saying I don't want to go further too, like I'm not good enough to understand it. It's following seems kind of pretentious and exclusive. Should I even continue?

I was gifted this book by a friend and having read Animal Farm. I felt this book too will have hints of that. Same author after all.
I picked it up and from page 1, I felt this book needed much more than just descriptions and explanations of how it will be in 1984. There was no depth to it, I didn't feel for the characters or empathise with them when he was being tortured, because I was being tortured as a reader. I didn't like the narrative style. Not one but and from the beginning O Brien was this shady fellow who would screw him. Anways, it was one of the toughest reads for me to get through.

Im stuck reading this book for an Honors class. Every time a chapter ends I couldnt be happier. This book is a total snorefest and I dont understand any of it. :)

I completely agree with you, this book was torture from beginning to end.

The only problem I had with this book is the characters: they were all pretty bland with little or no personalities. Hell, I can't even remember some of their name. The concept is great though.

Hated it. Kept thinking it would get better and there was some great revelation in the end that would be worth the effort . Alas, no.

I rated the book 5 stars but I think to really understand it you must have experienced communism first hand. Although my country has never been ruled by a 100% communist government it has been ruled by a quasi communist government for some months and during almost a decade communists were powerful enough to make us fear them everyday. So the book appeals to me in a way that can never be experienced by an american reader. If you're reading it just for entertainment and comapring it to "The Hunger Games" or whatever then the book will just sound stupid.

Oh my gosh, yes! There are so many "classic" books that I've loathed and everyone tells me I'm missing the point and there are hundreds of reviews waxing poetic about how beautiful and stunning and thought provoking and blah blah blah these novels are. And I'm like do you love it because you love it? Or do you love it because it's a world renowned classic and everybody else loves it?

Elizabeth, i assure you, lots of people love this book, and other classics legitimately. I cannot tell you, that some do not pretend to like them, such a phenomena is known to exist.

I spent a year in a US high school, and in my experience literature and creative writing classes are strongly biased towards the "romanticist" literary paradigm. That is: expectation for fleshed out, fascinating and likeable characters; heroism; suspense; drama; picturesque setting; minimal information not strictly realted to the exploits of the heroes; a clear and straightforward structure. something that you read in order to immense yourself in the adventures of the characters, to make you feel good. There is nothing wrong with this, but there is a whole different school of literature out there, with a very different rule system, and a different kind sense of reward you get for reading them.

these other kind of books (orwell, huxley, gogol, dostoyevski, kafka, kundera, and countless others), aren't primarily about Exciting Things Happening to People. They are about life, and the human experience in a more general sense. Characters might be understated, because they are merely a means to and end, the real protagonist is the world around them. They might be unlikable, because people often are. Character development might be missing, since not every story is a lesson well learned. They might not be tightly paced, since life itself is erratic.

These are maybe not as immediately obviously entertaining as those adhering to the aforementioned school of storywriting, but those who like them get a sense of catharsis out of reading these. They are illustrations of a certain aspect of life in a way that goes beyond the protagonists, and you learn something about the human experience while reading them. They also function as the collective conscience of humanity, or a record of it at a given time and geographical location. Some people enjoy tuning into that.

After all, you eat things other than candy, right? Beer, olives, mustard all taste kind of bitter and sour, but people usually grow to like them anyway. Sometimes classics are an acquired taste, but all the more rewarding nevertheless.

I did the same experiment on FB as you did and the comments were the same: that it's a must-read and it's mind-blowing. And I did the same with The catcher in the rye, which I disliked, but people were amazed with this boring book.

Not a good read but I do recommend reading it at least once.

I totally agree with you. This book was a painful read.

most of the time, the book is extremely boring. except for some vivid mottos, the book is purely exaggerated, garrulous, repeated and boring.

Amami wrote: "most of the time, the book is extremely boring. except for some vivid mottos, the book is purely exaggerated, garrulous, repeated and boring."

I think the idea was to echo the propagandist methods coming into the forefront of politics when it was written.

I agree with you but I do get what he was trying to do. Honestly, if this were a book of lesser philosophical import, I would not have completed it.

I believe all of you who say you disliked the book . . . why in the world would I not believe the myriads more who say they liked it. I suppose readers disagree about the worth of many books. 1984 averages over four stars here on Goodreads because it is an outstanding book in which an over controlling government is essentially the subject. The human characters, while necessary, are just window dressings..

Robert: There is a difference between not liking a book and not finding it of value. I find value in plenty of things I don't like.

I find it painful to get through it. DNF

agreed, I didn't really enjoy it either. there were parts that were entertaining but for the most part I was bored...ESPECIALLY reading The Book by Goldstein, that wasn't needed. it was 30 pages of nonsense and did nothing for the plot. I didn't find anything in The Book helpful or useful to help me understand The Brotherhood...I would argue leaving The Brotherhood a mystery would have been better.

Kim wrote: "Arlene, reading is supposed to be fun..."

I disagree. There is plenty of value to reading outside of fun, and that value can still lead to enjoyment.

I bet she’s a feminist.

Elizabeth wrote: everyone tells me I'm missing the point

Yes, that is so annoying. I do get the point of this book. It's not exactly hard to get, since the author is hitting us over the head with it on practically every page. Which is one of the reasons I dislike it. Books shouldn't be like sledge hammers.

It's presented as a novel, therefore I judge it by the standards of novel writing. I don't give brownie points for political merit. Having an important political message to convey is no excuse for piss-poor world building, piss-poor character development and piss-poor plotting. This book is full of clumsy, ham-fisted devices and instead of talking to the readers it screams at them. Animal Farm is just the same.

Yes, Kristy, you are right. Sometimes I also get the feeling that people claim to love a certain book (usually classics) in order to appear literate or because it's "cool" to like a certain book. Finding it bad could perhaps be embarrassing and equated with stupidity.

I didn’t think this book was s$!T. It’s good in a few aspects. And I mean a few. like two or three. Maybe four. It was hard to get through and I didn’t feel like I gained anything from reading it. Glad it’s off my list though.

I also find it a bit suspicious when a large majority of readers heaps nothing but praise on ‘smart’ books. 1984 is a smart book. It gives you a lot to think about. But the characters are awful, especially Julia. I suffered through the entire Part 2 because of the ‘romance’. It was so bad that I actually felt relief when the focus shifted to Goldstein’s book lmao.

Ucho wrote "1984 is a smart book."
Dunno. I think it would have been much smarter had the author realised that he didn't have material for more than maybe a medium length short story. There is stuff to think about, but not really all that much.

Hi Kristy! I didnt read it, yet.
But I was curious because in your post you really don't mention why you didn't like.
You mention lots of things but no why you think it is not a good Book. Or it is only that it made you feel bad?
Thank you! And im sorry for the interruption 🙂

It’s kinda slow but the story is relevant and always will be.

While this book is dark, I truly do love it. It was one of the first books I’ve read, that was dark, depressing, and an ambiguous ending to a point. I usually hate sad endings. But, with this novel, it felt right for an odd reason. I read it in 2020, I feel it fit the time, and maybe that’s why I loved it. Now, looking back 2 years later, I’m on my rereading of it, I want to see if it leaves the same impression on me.