1984, One of the Worst Book I Have Ever Read (By: Lucas Braun)

    


    Last year as a subbie we were assigned an assignment in English class to read and then write an essay about a banned book. Other students were choosing books that were published more recently like The Hate You Give, but I chose to read 1984. I regret this decision greatly as I look back at it now, but there is nothing I could have done after I started reading the book.

    1984 by George Orwell was published in 1949. This book was Orwell's guess as to what the year 1984 might be like in the Soviet Union. The main character, Winston Smith works for the government in the Ministry of Truth. His job there is to write newspapers about how the supreme leader (Big Brother) is doing great things. Although he works with the government, he secretly hates the government and wants to work together with a secret group called the Brotherhood to overthrow the government. During this time Winston decides to get a diary and writes about overthrowing the government in the diary which is highly illegal where he is living. Winston has to be extremely careful with the diary though because there is surveillance almost everywhere, and there is only one corner of his house where he can hide from all of the cameras and microphones. Winston eventually gets caught for their correlation to the Brotherhood, and is subjected to intense mental punishment which makes him love Big Brother.

    I decided to read 1984 because I thought it would be an interesting story about communism and the Soviet Union, but the book ended up being a very boring, slow paced story. There were a few points in the book that I enjoyed, for example the parts where Winston was trying to not get caught. This book really didn’t live up to my expectations, especially because it was a banned book, I was expecting more “criminal” ideas about communism and the other areas where it was challenged and banned. 1984 was just a slow paced book that in my opinion had a terrible conclusion. I wouldn’t recommend this book to pretty much anyone, especially not to people who like fast paced books.

Comments

  1. Yuto InoueOctober 27, 2023 at 4:34 PM

    Hey Lucas. When I saw your blog, I remembered that Anthony had also posted on the same book a few weeks ago. As I read your blog (and reread Anthony's) I found it interesting on how you guys had opposite opinions; Anthony saying "1984 is one of the books of all time" and you saying "One of the worst book I have ever read". I liked that you added specific details, giving me a greater idea of what/why you did and didn't enjoy the parts of the book. From both of these blogs, I feel like this is the kind of book I wouldn't enjoy as much, but I'll have to check it out sometime. Maybe I'll even post my own blog about it! Good job.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shlok C.October 30, 2023 at 3:04 PM

    Hey Lucas, according to your explanations of the book, I also don't see the exact reasons that this was a banned book, considering that it progresses so slowly and doesn't have anything too bad about it. I feel like Winston writing in a journal about how he wants to overthrow the government almost seems like he's asking to be caught. Did the text specify how Winston was caught and if there were any other charges or punishments?

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    Replies
    1. Lucas BraunNovember 21, 2023 at 2:38 PM

      The book was a little bit vague about the punishments that Winston faced, but he was caught while in a rented apartment by the person who he bought the diary from, who turned out to be a member of the government.

      Delete
  3. AnthonyOctober 31, 2023 at 3:38 PM

    Hi Lucas, interesting take on the book. Based on my limited knowledge, George Orwell himself was a socialist: Both 1984 and Animal Farm (also written by Orwell) did not critique socialism/communism, but instead were against the authoritarianism/totalitarianism that could arise from socialism (the USSR). I think that if you were looking for a book about "criminal" ideas against communism, you probably chose the wrong book. I could see why you wouldn't like how slow-paced the book was though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SamuelNovember 16, 2023 at 1:03 PM

    Hi Lucas, I totally agree that 1984 is not a good book, I tried reading it and struggled to stay awake.
    Great review

    ReplyDelete

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