Overall impressions of the novel

[FanCpantsPossum]

1984 was written with the intention of making a point rather than to entertain its readers. It gives the message of looking past the polished face of the government, and questioning what really lies behind. This makes it easy to understand why the book is banned in many places. It was Orwell's way of warning his readers of radical forms of government, and what could possibly happen if those forms of government (in this case, totalitarianism) become a reality. It is shocking (especially to Americans, who live so freely compared to the people in this book) how cunning the government is, how little the people are allowed to do and have, and how strictly the party members live, most of which are brain washed. His warnings occur anywhere from bold actions, such as the telescreen and Winston's arrest/torture, to subtle ones such as the Prole Women fighting over pots and pans.

Most of the "warnings" included in this book have come alive on small scales today. Telescreens, spies,and mics are constantly watching the party members of Oceania. In our own country, the number of security cameras is on the rise, including in our own school. The Prole women fight over silly things such pots and pans. Americans today also fight over petty things such as "a good sale" (especially on Black Friday) on the latest and greatest electronics, even though a "bigger and better" version will come out the following year 99% of the time. Yet they are the strongest group in Oceania, the Proles fail to realize their potential and strength because the government creates diversions in order to distract them. They are especially distracted by the lottery, and bombs (which are secretly launched by their own government). Ironically, most of America was recently distracted by the big power ball, which was worth a little over half a billion dollars. Millions bought tickets, despite their slimmer than slim chances of winning. We are also distracted by things such as tv, social networks, and celebrity gossip. The government in the story is rather mysterious, and no one is quite sure how it works or what exactly goes on. The government hides information from its citizens and lies more than it tells the truth. Although on a much smaller scale, I imagine that our government does not tell us everything, and lies about what really goes on in office (just look at most politicians).

I feel if I were to reread this book 10 years from now, a lot more of the details would stick out to me, and I would realize a lot more of them to be uncannily true. There are many topics in this book that I, as a student, probably do not fully understand. Rereading it in the future would in a sense, open ones eyes, enabling them to see what they were not able to see once before.

[nanawhatsmyname]

Though this book was clearly written to warn, and inform people at first I found 1984 to be very boring and dry, as well as hard to follow though the quite obvious deep meanings seen even from the first chapter, but as the book went on I found that the pace picked up, and the plot became much more interesting, though at the very end i felt it was rushed and did not enjoy it. Although i can appreciate George Orwell's impressive writing, and his incredible ability of really adding in small details to make things seem very realistic, I found Animal Farm to be a much more easier read when comparing the two novels. When trying to read 1984 I found that I had to force myself to pay attention, and quite often fell asleep trying to read.I understand how complex this novel is, and I will try to read it again when I'm older to see if my opinions have changed,as I'm sure they will, but some of the time i didnt realize metaphors or didn't clearly understand what was happening in the book until my english class disscussed it, though this may be because of my younger age. I felt like some parts of the book were easy to read, but that these parts were very few for me, and that most of the book dragged on. Overall I myself did not "like" this book, but I can appreciate the complexity of the meaning of this book, and I think it was an important piece of literature to have read.

[Giraffe97]

In the beginning, I really didn’t enjoy 1984 at all. I dreaded reading it because it seemed repetitive. It talked about whom the critical characters and groups of people were and their overall role in the novel. I felt like this dragged on and on and I found it uninteresting, but important to understanding the rest of the book.
I began to enjoy the book after Winston was caught. The irony of O’Brian being behind his entire capture and torture was something I didn’t see coming. I liked the things he saw while in the Ministry of Love and some of the concepts that were used. Room 101 was by far my favorite part of the entire book. I was intrigued by how much control our fears can have over us and how specific it is for everyone.
I liked seeing how dead on Orwell was about topics we are coping with today throughout the novel. Things like the unification hate can have on society. President Obama used this strategy when running for election in 2008. His slogan was “Yes we can!” and he was seen as hope for our nation. The telescreens are “ringing the bell” on our society being under surveillance. Nowadays, we see cameras everywhere. In school there are now at least two in every hallway. They are all over in public places and seem almost normal.
Overall i i didn't particuarly like this book, but I enjoyed many of the forcasts Orwell made. I would definately read this book in another 10 or so years to see how my views change.

[Belifilisk]

I believe the beginning of the novel was slow, but for a purpose. Winston probably was bored out his mind living day to day life in 1984, and Orwell expressed that at the start. The middle was okay, and the end was fun to read. The hooks are the prophecies Orwell gives us. The subtle warnings about life here and there are what kept me interested in the book. His ques about distraction, government controlling too much, and hopelessness got to me. I think the middle was alright, except it only had one central theme to it. Disobeying the Party. The book got my interest when the picture fell over. After that, I stayed into the novel until the end.

[ZeppelinForLife]

I think the novel was interesting, and Orwell had incredibly accurate predictions. It is more than relevant. It is the future that we could live to see if we do not heed his warnings. The novel often portrayed many aspects of our modern culture. Overall, I believe that we will find ourselves slaves to a totalitarian government. The novel itself made me feel as if he travelled to the not so distant future and wrote a story based on the sights he witnessed.

[imsophatdoe]

In my opinion, the book was very dull and flat at points, but there were the times when the book brought up important points. One of the points was how easy people were manipulated. Citizens in the book believed everything they heard or read. When the government told them that 2+2=5, they believed them. This point brings out today's society. People believe everything that they see on TV, or on the internet, is true, and obviously everything is not true.
I also liked how much detail Orwell had put into the book. It made the theme more clear to me as the book progressed. At first, I really disliked the book, but as time went on, I enjoyed it a little bit more.
I think the book is important to read at some time in your lifetime. It brings out good points, and what we should pay attention to in life. Overall, I enjoyed the book at some points, and believe that it is a great book to read.

[winterguardgirl]

I personally didn't like the book. I found this book to be very hard to read because it was very long and hard to grasp on to the concept. Also there was way to many sexual parts which I found to be very awkward. It was also very difficult to tell which days where which. I also think that it should be read again in the future it might be easier to read. I also didn't like the whole minestry thing with the minestry of truth and love. One poitive thing I did like about the book was the fact that the Government was so controlling. Another thing I didn't like was the fact that in the minestry of love it was really a lie it was a minestry of hate where they tortured you with your own fears.

[DeOrozco]

My immediate impression of this novel was that it was a bit slow and didn’t quite grab my attention. However, as the book continued on I became much more intrigued by the obvious connections between Winston’s world and my own. I was Orwell had in my ways “predicted “the future in this book expressing the flaws of ourselves as well as the world in which we live. As much as I would have liked a pleasant ending I think it’s significant that we are exposed to the people we could become. 1984 still holds true even today and I believe much can be learned from the constant ringing of Orwell’s “bell’ throughout this entire novel.
As for my views on the characters I found most to be a bit dry, but I suspect this is due to the pressures from Big Brother. I truly found Julia to be a very interesting character. Partly I believe that without her Winston would not have been caught quiet as quickly. Winston was relatively careful prior to meeting Julia and afterwards to they managed to break quite a few rules. I hoped for the classic love triumphs and for the fall of Big Brother but as this is a book of reality I realize this would not be a realistic ending. I rather enjoyed reading Orwell and I do believe I will pick this book up sometime in the future and revise my perspective on 1984, but until then I will remember Orwell’s warnings and keep an open mind. Thanks for introducing me to this book and the forum, they were pretty awesome to be honest.

[The Hobbit]

1984 is one of the best books i've ever read in my life. Orwell opinions on governtment and social class is what makes the novel great. Though it was a bit slow from the start, once i read through that it became something incredible. The way Oceania is described, how the party members work, and the proles it quiet interesting to me. I do agree with almost everything Orwell wrties, espeically when it comes to how we are distracted from the important things in life such as taxes cuts and warfare in our society. The novel made me look at the world in a completely different way from different scences in the book, like the "pots and pans" part, where Winson is disapointed in the prole women for fighting over little things. It displays how we are ditracted as i said before. Orwell, thorughout the novel showed how much hope there really is. He isn't optomistic but, that's what makes it setting feel more real. Winson is a great example of a person who pleases in hope in a world where there isn't any but, thats what makes us human. Which brings me to the ministry of love. Actually this part of the novel scares me because of the possiblely that our govenment can really get that point. The poin where we have no emotions except for love of BB and pride for our nation. That the inner party of the government can take hope away and tear you completely down with different forms of torture and end with your own room 101, so they can build you up to kill you while you're "pure". I did like how detailed it was because i could visualize it. But the one thing i hate is the ending of the novel. Orwell went from the ministry of love to Winson in the Chestnut Cafe. It felt very rushed and i didn't like the fact it didn't describled what happend to Julia or Winson. Winson ends up loving BB. Man, i seriously hated that because it was a disapointment. Other than that, 1984 was amazing and i really did enjoy the book!

[pouncingrats]

For one there is no doubt in my mind this book should be read by all. Maybe at an older age, but I still understood it at a younger age. It was a little slow at the beginning of the novel, but most books are. It's what gives a book it's backbone and gets you connected to the characters. However, the ending was ridiculous to me!! Orwell shoved hope down our throats the entire story to rip it from us in one sentence! He didn't even leave us with the possibility for an uprising or revolution! The concept of the story was interesting, and while its hard to comprehend what it was really like for the people of Oceania, I think Orwell did a good job of setting up the picture. 1984 is a story we should all have learned from, regardless of whether or not you liked it. It's like the saying if we ignore history it's likely to repeat itself. If we ignore the possibilities that our world could change as drastically as the people in Oceania's did, it will be more likely to happen. But the story definitely showed us what Orwell's views on hope were. All around a good book with an interesting, and original plot.

[jujufishy]

I enjoyed the book, although I did not find it relevant to our time period. As the title states, the book was a prediction of the year 1984. Now we sit here in 2012 with very few of the same concepts. Orwell predicted quite a few different predictions for what our world would turn out to be. He "rang the bell" numerously throughout the book but, you had to read in between the lines to actually understand the concepts Orwell was trying to get across. I had quite a bit of trouble myself being able to become interested in the book. I feel 1984 rose to something exciting then fell quickly and dragged on. Although I did not completely enjoy the book Orwell did a fantastic job making his theme clear throughout the book.

[The Bookworm]

I did not like this book at all. I did not find it interesting or enjoyable. I think it was confusing and slow so I would not read it again or even recommend that so much so that I dreaded even picking up the book. I also felt the characters boring. I think another thing I didn't like about it was how unbelievable it could be so I don't think he "rung the bell" as much as others may believe. Maybe this book could've been more interesting to me if I read it later in life when I knew more about the past. I do believe however he left some ideas that can be used today and in the future.

[Opiuopib]

The beginning was a bit slow and the ending was a bit disappointing but overall I did enjoy the book. I found the idea of this totalitarian society to be very interesting especially the methods employed by Oceania to keep the populace loyal. Although I don't think Orwell was "ringing the bell" with his ideas, I found his predictions to be thought provoking.

[Jackmerius]

I believe that this book accurately forecasts modern day society. One concept that the book opened up with is the line "Ignorance is Strength." So far this idea has really hit home with me because I see it happen before my very eyes almost every day! Many people are extremely accepting of complacency and the belief of what I don't know can't hurt me.
So far I enjoy the book and find it remarkable how accurate Orwell was.

[Wreckingball]

I believe the book starts off slow and gets more and more interesting as you read. It opens with little facts about the government and Winstons life that you really dont understand until later in the book. Once you start to understand his life and how to government works, the book gets more interesting. It was kinda repetative about going throught his normal routine during the day with little changes here and there. You also must have an open mind to understand and enjoy this book(one of the problems i am having). As i am only half way through, the book is starting to get more interesting and starting to show why it is such a famous book.