AUTHOR: George Orwell
PUBLISHED: 1949
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Dystopian
PREMISE: In a future imagined by Orwell in the forties, a man starts to question his government and the way things are...
MY THOUGHTS: 1984 is one of those books that has been making the rounds this year (along with The Handmaid's Tale). After finally sitting down and reading it I definitely see why. There is stuff in here that is sadly, incredibly relevant to what is going on in the US government right now. BTW, guys? Our government resembling Big Brother is....really not a good thing. We should all be seriously worried about that.
As with all classics, there is stuff in here that is dated. Orwell's take on women is...more then a little questionable (I'm also kind of getting the feeling that he hated kids. Or possibly people in general. This book is not kind to humanity). I find it interesting how people go after YA dystopia for poor world-building, but when you read this...well...it's not exactly terribly detailed either. Also the romance in this is ten times worse then anything I've read in YA. Just saying. One thing I found interesting was in this one...there's no hopeful rebellion or anything like that. In fact....the ending is rather bleak. Which is a far cry from today's dystopians that try to at least have a rebellion of some sort going on to give hope for the next generation.
Like Fahrenheit 451 I get the sense that a lot of people read this and deliberately misinterpreted things to suit their world view. This happens a lot in classics and entertainment in general. Hell, I admit, I've probably been guilty of it. But I get the sense a lot people think they're Winston in the beginning of this story. Rebelling against authority, sticking it to Big Brother and all of that. The truth of the matter is....most of us are the sheep willingly going along with society because it's the easy path. At worst, we're O'Brien, helping Big Brother stay in power. Or we're the neighbor's bratty kids, gleefully turning on anyone who doesn't follow society's rules.
This book offers a lot of food for thought. I definitely see why people have been reading it again and why it tends to be on everyone's must-read list. I don't think it's a perfect book (the treatment of women leaves a lot be desired for me), but it is interesting and is one of those books that tends to stay with you for awhile.
WHO SHOULD READ: Dystopian fans, George Orwell fans
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