1984

Please use this sub-forum to discuss any fiction books or series that do not fit into one of the other categories. If the fiction book fits into one the other categories, please use that category instead.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dolphman85
Posts: 1
Joined: 20 May 2012, 02:33
Bookshelf Size: 0

Re: 1984

Post by Dolphman85 »

This is my first review of a book of the second book I have read in its entirety for pleasure, sure I guess it's sad but hey, you gotta start somewhere. I read this book on my kindle for iOS and it took me 3 weeks to read, but it it was worth it. The film doesn't compare to the book although it's pretty good in itself. It really scared me how close this book was to seems to be coming to reality, and it can be applied to many other factors of life in my opinion, such as religion, homosexuality, and financial institutions even. There is really is very little freedom, and there is this huge fight to have it while the government is now even lying to us to get us to think like them as Rachel Maddow has been announcing in her show lately. Yet this book made me appreciate the fact that we can read and write to digest and express our emotions to each other it really is something we take for granted, it made me realize that I've wasted many times reading unimportant things all these years when there are so many books that open your mind and really deserve our attention. I have always wanted to be a reader but there was something scary to me about all those word letter and pages without pictures, and all the time it takes to commit to a book. I just realized the beauty of books, how clear a good book can be be that no movie can ever match. A movie of a book seems to only be a fast forward version of the real thing skipping many good details. Read this book! take it from a newby.
User avatar
mandobanjo
Posts: 2
Joined: 21 May 2012, 18:52
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by mandobanjo »

1984 is one of my favorite books in the western cannon. Beautifully written, and yet so haunting. My favorite part was when Winston read the book about how the world got to it's current state. There were so many parts of that sequence that rang true with today that I got the feeling Orwell wrote 1984 largely so that he could publish the book within the book.
User avatar
Fran
Posts: 28072
Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
Favorite Author: David Mitchell
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
Bookshelf Size: 1208
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
Reading Device: B00I15SB16
fav_author_id: 3104

Post by Fran »

@Dolphman85 A movie of a book seems to only be a fast forward version of the real thing skipping many good details. ..... excellent :lol:
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
User avatar
ouzal
Posts: 8
Joined: 15 Mar 2013, 06:22
Favorite Author: Dan Brown
Favorite Book: Around the world in 80 days
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2452

Post by ouzal »

1984 is the book about which I've heard the most appealing reviews to read, so for me, reading it was an unavoidable task, and despite all of the scary ideas Orwell described in it, I think this was an optimistic anticipation of how life would look like in the eighties, this is an opinion that would be shared only by people who have got the opportunity to visit some eastern countries at that time. So to answer the first question of this discussion, only in personal terms, this book is not the reference in political literature, neither the best ever written about the subject, it is just the most "iconic"
User avatar
lady_charlie
Posts: 1572
Joined: 01 Jan 2013, 19:19
Favorite Author: Isabel Allende
Favorite Book: The House of the Spirits
Currently Reading: Very Valentine
Bookshelf Size: 19
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lady-charlie.html
Latest Review: The Magician's Secret by Charles Townsend
fav_author_id: 16996

Post by lady_charlie »

Have you ever given the cashier your zip code and phone number before you could pay for a sweater?

Have you read The Orphan Master's Son? I don't know how real all that is exactly but it was a terrifying book.

1984 didn't happen in 1984 or 2004 but there are still places where it isn't safe to have an independent thought.

I agree the technology is catching up fast - my dog has a chip in case she gets lost.

News travels around the world in seconds.
It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. J.R.R. Tolkien
User avatar
READING DIVA
Posts: 10
Joined: 24 Apr 2013, 19:38
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-reading-diva.html

Post by READING DIVA »

Wow...my son reading 198
4! He is a graduating senior! His choice..I told him that book scared me like crazy! I always used to tel them Big BROTHERS WATCHING YOU and flip it to BIGMama's Watching You

-- 25 Apr 2013, 22:17 --

Omg yes..! We both agreed that book was crazy! We were chatting. My son says can imagine, books banned? I agreed.8 said if it they were banned..we would be put to death by the Thought Police, if they knew you bought.."SECRET SOCIETIES..The Truth Revealed...by THE MEDIASOURCE.
we love discussing those interesting theories ..
Thank God so far so good..GOT BOOKS?..lol
User avatar
donniedarko
Posts: 38
Joined: 25 Apr 2013, 18:36
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by donniedarko »

I'll be in a minority and say I did not find this book frightening or enjoyable. I found it almost like listening to someone's conspiracies on government for hours. By the end of the book I still did'nt understand what this world was. I do get the point, yes, but I can't imagine it happening. We've never been that uniform, and never will be. Technology isn't satans spawn.
User avatar
READING DIVA
Posts: 10
Joined: 24 Apr 2013, 19:38
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-reading-diva.html

Post by READING DIVA »

Right on donnie d....pray its true...hope freedom really doesn't mean slavery!! Omg!
PEACE WORLD..
User avatar
abk4lizife
Posts: 8
Joined: 30 Apr 2013, 19:44
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by abk4lizife »

I have this book sitting in my Kindle queue waiting to be read. Can't wait to tear through it. It's a classic :)
User avatar
READING DIVA
Posts: 10
Joined: 24 Apr 2013, 19:38
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-reading-diva.html

Post by READING DIVA »

..Happy Reading! 8)
Totoro
Posts: 65
Joined: 18 Sep 2013, 09:56
Bookshelf Size: 3
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-totoro.html
Latest Review: "The Crystal Heart Volume 1" by Anthony Swinsinski

Post by Totoro »

I think this was the first Dystopic Fiction I ever read. At the time(maybe 1988) I thought it was interesting, but unlikely. As the genre has grown I have to tip my hat to Orwell for writing something that even though it did not come to pass in 1984, still has frightening possibilities for today.
Latest Review: "The Crystal Heart Volume 1" by Anthony Swinsinski
User avatar
omgully
Posts: 7
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 15:26
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-omgully.html

Post by omgully »

Orwell wrote 1984 for our generation. The book shows how the government can control society if we allow it. In America, we have to be careful what we let the government do. We can't let them make laws prohibiting what we can say and do. Ted Dekker in his book Sinner proposes the idea of a National Tolerance Act. Basically, if anyone even says anything that could offend someone (he was thinking religion, but this could spread to other areas), we can be prosecuted or even killed. Many would like people to believe whatever the media at large says. We must actually think about what we believe and know why we believe it. We need to be informed and not conform to what everyone thinks we should think. We need to stand up for our liberties.

-- 29 Sep 2013, 20:54 --

Orwell wrote 1984 for our generation. The book shows how the government can control society if we allow it. In America, we have to be careful what we let the government do. We can't let them make laws prohibiting what we can say and do. Ted Dekker in his book Sinner proposes the idea of a National Tolerance Act. Basically, if anyone even says anything that could offend someone (he was thinking religion, but this could spread to other areas), we can be prosecuted or even killed. Many would like people to believe whatever the media at large says. We must actually think about what we believe and know why we believe it. We need to be informed and not conform to what everyone thinks we should think. We need to stand up for our liberties.

-- 29 Sep 2013, 20:55 --

Orwell wrote 1984 for our generation. The book shows how the government can control society if we allow it. In America, we have to be careful what we let the government do. We can't let them make laws prohibiting what we can say and do. Ted Dekker in his book Sinner proposes the idea of a National Tolerance Act. Basically, if anyone even says anything that could offend someone (he was thinking religion, but this could spread to other areas), we can be prosecuted or even killed. Many would like people to believe whatever the media at large says. We must actually think about what we believe and know why we believe it. We need to be informed and not conform to what everyone thinks we should think. We need to stand up for our liberties.
L_Therese
Posts: 588
Joined: 25 Sep 2013, 05:21
Currently Reading: American Psycho
Bookshelf Size: 1970
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-l-therese.html
Latest Review: The Middle Ages by Jane Chance

Post by L_Therese »

I read 1984 a few years ago, and I was highly impressed at the time. What struck me as the most poignant element was Newspeak. (For any who haven't read the book or have forgotten, Newspeak was the reduction of language in order to restrict thought.) To me, this was the greatest threat - much more dangerous than constant surveillance. If people are ill-equipped to learn to think creatively, how can they ever hope to better their situation? This prompted me to explore language and learn to see its beauty and potential. Since that time, I have studied a particular language that has a somewhat limited vocabulary. (To be fair, virtually all the people who speak it are multi-lingual, so this does not necessarily have any reflection on their ability for creative thought.) At present, I'm teaching English in this culture, and I find it nearly impossible to communicate connotative differences between synonyms! My experiences thus far have only served to solidify the lesson I learned from 1984: language has both power and beauty, and to revel in language offers freedom - at least in thought.
User avatar
omdtitanic
Posts: 6
Joined: 02 Oct 2013, 17:39
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by omdtitanic »

Orwell indeed had a very brilliant imagination. Think of how intricately he disguises the Russian Revolution in about 100 pages in Animal Farm. 1984 has a dynamic that is unlike many other novels. However, I feel that books such as 1984 and Brave New World have left Yevgeny Zamyatin's We in the shadows. While We is a very dry read filled with idealogical goodies. 1984 takes these same themes and makes them more prolific and fearsome.
User avatar
Jenn+books
Posts: 94
Joined: 26 Sep 2013, 04:50
Favorite Author: Anne Tyler
Favorite Book: Jane Eyre
Currently Reading: Always a Shakespeare
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jenn-books.html
fav_author_id: 6534

Post by Jenn+books »

Bighuey wrote:I read it in 1955 in high school, and even back then it was a frightening book. Even more so now. I think you will like it.
@Bighuey: I know it's been a while since you posted this, but I'm reading 1984 right now, and I'm curious about your comment that you read it in 1955. Thinking back, do you remember anything about your experience reading this book before the year it is set in? I can imagine the perspective is very different--akin to us reading a book/watching a movie set in 2045 and wondering if the future will really be like that--than if you're reading the book from the perspective of the future, knowing that's not what 1984 is going to look like. Did it scare you in 1955?

I'm not quite halfway through the book right now, and with my experience with literature, I'm picking up more of the literary themes in the book--Shakespeare, tragedy, heroism, etc.

-- 07 Oct 2013, 03:39 --

I finished this book today. I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word, but at least I can say that it was a great read. The dystopian aspects of this novel have been well discussed. I was interested in the literary aspects of the book. For example, Winston Smith thinks about how heroism is dead in the past, but then later he sees the heroism in the fat, beautiful laundry woman he watches. I think this novel defines heroism as the ability to be a human being, with all the emotions, passions, and imperfections inherent in the state. In the end, Winston cannot be the hero and retain his sense of individuality, of his humanity, in the face of the overwhelming power of the Party.
Post Reply

Return to “Other Fiction Forum”