I think it would have been cooler to read it before the year 1984 occurred. It would have been scarier reading it thinking that this actually could happen in 1984. ( )

I've wanted to read this for a long time, but was never forced to in school and just didn't get around to it until now. It's an important book. Not only does it detail the dangers of totalitarianism, but also raises some really good questions about the nature of the past. Basically, if something happened in the past, and then all documentation was changed so that it appears to have not happened, and then everybody says it never happened, how can you be so sure you really remember it at all?

A brilliant book, if a bit slow in places. It's driven much more by description of the dystopian land of Oceania than by character or plot. If you're interested in the inner workings of the socio-political landscape, you'll enjoy it. If you just want a fun little sci-fi romp, this probably isn't for you.

All the same, I think it's a book people should read. The world of 1984 may seem overdramatic, but it is one plausible outcome of the gradual sacrifice of privacy and property in favor of governmental protection or the nebulous "common good." It's something worth thinking about. Indeed, that is perhaps this book's strongest point: it left me with an unusually large number of things to think about. That, my friends, is truly high praise for a novel.

[Note: Star Trek: The Next Generation totally ripped off this book in the episode "Chain of Command" with the five/four lights thing. But Picard was a whole lot more badass under pressure than Winston, so they get points for that.] ( )

love the varieties of language and how much more thorough this dystopia is than others of its ilk ("We" specifically, haven't actually read "Brave New World" yet). Newspeak is a cool idea, and the emotions of the characters are pretty powerful throughout the second half. ( )

when i first read this book, i loathed it. there's a section where winston (the main character) is reading a book and i found that part rather dry. i was inspired to read it again from a friend and i am so glad i did! there are some truly great scenes in this book which i won't write out for fear of giving things away. all i have to say is more than a few times, i felt my heartbeat quicken at crucial parts in the book. it's worth reading and worth considering what any society's future could turn into if the love of power outweighs everything else. in a place where you are never truly alone, not even with your thoughts, where even the language is changed to control your thoughts or ability to think outside the box and you're surround by perpetual war and less than stellar living conditions, what becomes of your humanity? i think orwell paints a thought-provoking, mind-blowing, soul-stirring picture of the possibilities. ( )

Though the date 1984 has passed us by, no one who has ever read Orwell’s novel 1984 can deny the lasting and often accurate impressions it predicts about our world today. The novel centers around a character named Winston Smith, an employee for the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Truth is only one of group of government branches dedicated to keeping their dictatorship stable. By erasing the past through elimination and tampering with evidence, The Party (the government) in turn controls any desire for the public to disagree with the society. The story begins with Winton having doubting thoughts of the party, though never expressing them out loud for fear of death. The plot begins to thicken when he meets a woman named Julia, and together they stand up against the party in their own way.
1984 has to be one of the most magnificently written books I have ever read. Orwell’s diction and imagination is beyond the vast majority of authors present in our culture. Even being written more than half a century ago, Orwell’s message is as clear as the first day he wrote it. In our class, we are currently studying utopias and dystopias. There could not be a more perfect book to fall into this genre than 1984. In fact, 1984 may very well be the king of this genre, combining all other points and opinions about a dystopia and combining them into one cohesive, skin-crawlingly realistic masterpiece. The world of Winston Smith is one of never ending oppression, where the individual soul and personality is not only discouraged, but mercilessly snuffed out. If it was not clearly stated earlier, this was one of the best books I have ever read. I would recommend it to anyone who actually wants to think about what their reading. No, this isn’t a Stephanie Meyer “comfort food book” which, while perhaps filling you up, will leave you utterly less wise by the end. No, this is a book that you can read once, twice, and then one hundred more times and still have material to try and wrap your brain around. It is a masterpiece, and its prestige is rightfully earned. ( )