“1984” by George Orwell is a dystopian fiction book about living in a totalitarian regime where the government controls every aspect of life. The book follows the life of Winston Smith, a rebellious man who is strongly against what the party is doing. It takes place in 1984, in a country called “Oceania” which is a combination of previous nations land. Throughout the book, Winston is constantly breaking rules, and trying to stay out of the constant monitoring of the government. Propaganda is persistently in your face and you are always being watched. This bothers Winston as his views on society and longing for the past, before the government had complete control, have him hiding and breaking laws. He wishes he could experience life before totalitarian rule. The current government has almost everything outlawed, even the act of thinking out against the government. They also have the ability to change facts of history, to support their ideologies. Winston falls in love with a girl name julia, which is also outlawed, and they begin to live a secret life together. The setting of “1984” depicts a society very different from what we know of today. It could be compared to North Korea, as they are similar in many ways. It is hard to fathom what it is like living in this environment, this book gives you a great look into what your day could be like. When you realize that there are people out there today living a similar life to Winston, it really shows how much of a problem the government can be when they get too much control. The author does a great job in showing how everyday tasks we do today, must be done in secret. This book really kept me interested, as you learn you really can’t trust the government or even the people you think are your friends. While “1984” was an enjoyable read there were a few things I did not enjoy. The main plot was interesting, but the author would often go into small tangents and I would lose focus in my book, and forget what I even read. Also the whole concept of “Big brother” and the government's system can be hard to wrap your head around if you are just picking the book up. If I had to rate this book out of 5, it would score a 3.5. I like the concept, and character development a lot. However the authors delivery had me distracted at times. I think it may be because the text is fairly old the book was written in 1949 after all.
Throughout the book, Winston is constantly breaking rules, and trying to stay out of the constant monitoring of the government. Propaganda is persistently in your face and you are always being watched. This bothers Winston as his views on society and longing for the past, before the government had complete control, have him hiding and breaking laws. He wishes he could experience life before totalitarian rule. The current government has almost everything outlawed, even the act of thinking out against the government. They also have the ability to change facts of history, to support their ideologies. Winston falls in love with a girl name julia, which is also outlawed, and they begin to live a secret life together.
The setting of “1984” depicts a society very different from what we know of today. It could be compared to North Korea, as they are similar in many ways. It is hard to fathom what it is like living in this environment, this book gives you a great look into what your day could be like. When you realize that there are people out there today living a similar life to Winston, it really shows how much of a problem the government can be when they get too much control. The author does a great job in showing how everyday tasks we do today, must be done in secret. This book really kept me interested, as you learn you really can’t trust the government or even the people you think are your friends.
While “1984” was an enjoyable read there were a few things I did not enjoy. The main plot was interesting, but the author would often go into small tangents and I would lose focus in my book, and forget what I even read. Also the whole concept of “Big brother” and the government's system can be hard to wrap your head around if you are just picking the book up.
If I had to rate this book out of 5, it would score a 3.5. I like the concept, and character development a lot. However the authors delivery had me distracted at times. I think it may be because the text is fairly old the book was written in 1949 after all.