Ok, I've read 1984 a few years ago, but my British Lit class demanded it be brought to light once again. So after pillaging the room in our house full of multiple genres of books, 1984 has resurfaced, to my enjoyment. George Orwell can have the socks he oh-so-cleverly knocked off of my feet...they're to small anyway. Of course, answering many redundant questions *does* take some of the charm, if a dystopian Big Brother has much 'charm' per say, I still come away with a smile on my face and an innate fear of posters. Mainly those with faces, containing a mustache, plastered over their entirety.
Just a question: Does Big Brother (BB) make it a point to make sure every place you go smells weird?? We have an apartment that smells like boiled cabbage, gin that smells like a penguin after an oil spill, and Parsons (who smells like sweat 24 hrs. a day...truly a scientific miracle). Sorry, just *had* to ask. But it looks pretty effective at making people depressed. So kudos BB, have fun making perfumes with such titles as: Processed Cigarette Smoke, Three Day Old Sock, Julia's Scarf, Inside of Oil Can, and Acidic Beer. Sounds like it'll be a hit!
Winston, the lovable fatalist he is, is a curious combination of vulgarness and amicable 'lone-wolf'ness. I have no idea how to go about becoming an 'amicable lone wolf', but hey, it works for my evil purposes of entertainment. Julia is amusing, as always, but shows a surprising burst of intelligence now and then. Winston practically asks to be caught by the end, but Julia still manages to hold out on defeatism till the actual day of capture. Congrats, dear. Despite my love for insatiable old men who fear what they may say at night because a camera of any kind sits near their bed, and women who rival modern feminists in their love of sex, my favorite character is O'Brien. Is a friend or Big Brother's BFF? Who knows, they may eat popcorn and watch scary movies together on the weekends.
"'Do you remember writing in your diary,' He said, "that it did not matter whether I was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who understood you and could be talked to?'" And really, it doesn't matter, O'Brien is a legendary character because he is perceived as a friend and an enemy all at once. This is how Winston comes (que scary music) over to the dark side, so to speak. If you actually fear rodents, such as rats, and even if you don't, Room 101 is still worthy of pause. It has always made me wonder what they did/threatened to do to Julia, as she never reacted to anything like Winston did to the rats. Maybe they painted her toenails a disturbing shade of green while giving her a perm. We may never know.
The last scene, where Winston sits in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, is also amazingly awesome and tragic. "Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me" is connected to the three men who were killed after being taken to the Ministry of Love (miniluv), Winston remembers hearing this song play on the telescreen and one of the men started crying. In the last scene he thinks he hears this song, then traces 2+2=5 on the table. I love George Orwell. Julia, having accidentally met Winston after they were both released, is now officially a (fill in the blank with a word meaning: "a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, esp. a woman"). Whatever they did, it worked. So, after finally finishing my favorite British dystopian book (it matters not that there are few to choose from) again, I have to conclude that it is full of philosophical pondering...and a grievously long excerpt from the book (from Goldstein and the Brotherhood). But it's still worth reading : )
ENDING POINTS:
+ Characters you can love, but still make fun of in your spare time...if you ever get *that* bored
+ A plot that actually carries over and still surprises you, even though the end is obvious from the beginning
+ Glorious descriptions of random happenings
- Aforementioned crazy long reading from the book
- Orwell goes pretty in-depth into human nature and the workings of BB/The Party
- Ending, while completely awesome, will ruin the day of delicate minds who can't understand the irony of an unhappy ending
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I must confess: I have never read 1984. Shame on me! It is on my "To Read" list. (Yeah, I actually have a list that is labeled "Books To Read" which I check books off of once I've read them. If that's not sad, then I don't know what is!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! I definitely will have to give this one a read...hopefully on my Christmas break. :)
Hey, don't worry, I have the same list...multiple ones in fact: one on my computer, one on my phone, and one in my library que list : ) What can I say? Bookworms have all the fun! And '1984' is one of my favorite books, so I hope you have time to read it over the holidays. Technically I hope you have good holidays either way, but a good book always helps.
ReplyDeleteBookworms do indeed have all of the fun! (By the way, that's a pretty good idea to have a book list on your phone!)
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a good holiday too...with plenty of books! :)