Does listening to an audiobook count as reading a book? There certainly are differences, but I 'read' 1984 by listening to it on the Audible app on my iPhone. This was my first full audiobook, and I was impressed with the quality of the narration, and the quality of the app itself. I will still try to read my books in the old-fashioned sense, but this will not be my last audiobook.
I had been wanting to read this book for quite some time, and I was not disappointed. I didn't know too much about it going in to it, but I knew the basics. The book was an insightful commentary on life in a media saturated and controlled world, as well as the political potential of propaganda and thought control. I was expecting this, and Orwell delivered. The delightful surprise, however, was the plot, and how well-written and well-paced the book was. The love story with Julia was superb and original, and the whole novel read like a mystery where you keep reading just to get to the end because you want to solve the riddle. The end shocked me, but as the character O'Brien would suggest, I knew it was coming the entire time.
There were aspects of the novel that I found quite chilling, especially the parts where it parallels our world (much of it, in fact) or the parts where it points to the potential of thought control in our world. Particularly, the part where it appears that Big Brother is able to read Winston's mind, or is learning how to read Winston's mind, was troubling. Our minds are our final refuge, and if that code is cracked what privacy or hope do we have? I also hate rats, so the Room 101 scene really worked for me. And, as I mentioned, the narration was excellent in my audiobook, which really added to the experience.
The book was more enjoyable due to a series of podcasts I listened to about the life of George Orwell (Orwell's real name was Eric Blair) produced by the CBC on their radio show Ideas. I strongly recommend these podcasts to anyone interested.
1984 by George Orwell: Book Score: 91.5
Epic-ness: 22: This novel is experiencing a new boom in popularity due in part, I think, to the election of Donald Trump and White House phrases such as 'alternative facts' that have their equivalents in the novel. As well, Facebook and Google algorithms seem to know more about us than we know about ourselves, and our laptops have the built-in technology to watch us as much as we watch them. Recently popularity aside, this book has stood the test of time so far, but it just isn't old enough yet to achieve top marks in this category. It will be interesting to to see how popular or relevant this book is 100 years from now.
Eloquence: 23: Orwell's creation and use of Newspeak, and doublethink, and other literary-political wordplay was remarkable and well constructed, and reflects the depth of Orwell's insights into how state propaganda can control its citizens. As well, the flow of the book was darkly beautiful right until its bitter end.
Enjoyability: 23.5 I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in politics or media. The last third dig drag at points for me, but I think I was wanting to see how it ended more than anything.
Exploration of the Human Condition: 23 The novel nailed this, at least in terms of exploring humanity's quest for freedom, meaning of reality, and consciousness, especially in regards to the state and media. That coupled with the surprisingly original and honest love affair with Julia make this book a classic in these regards, however, its scope being limited to political mind-control and related themes kept the novel from exploring other themes.
