Review: 1984

1984 is a terrible novel. The author had a very interesting idea, but failed to build a captivating plot around it. The book starts with typical sci-fi world building. Unfortunately, this takes up a third of the book. So for the first 100 pages, there is just information on top of information with barely any plot progression. Then when the plot starts, it feels forced. Then it’s disjointed incidents that don’t really build on each other, and the ending is also predictable.

The book starts with the main character Winston Smith who lives in a dystopian London where an authoritarian regime controls everything. It’s a surveillance state at its most extreme. If you had heard of 1984 before, you had probably heard so because of this part of the book. The world building, at first, is quite intriguing. Orwell goes into fine details, and, even though privacy is already dead in our real world, the book makes you think how it could get far worse. This is the strongest part of the book, and I wish Orwell included some plot progression in parallel to the world building phase of the book.

After you have had enough of that and are considering leaving the book, a new character is introduced in a forced and counterintuitive way. I use those words because the character, Julia, just chooses to fall in love with Winston Smith for no apparent reason and reaches out to Winston with a note. Winston is wary of her at the start, but he starts trusting her too fast that leaves you wondering why Orwell spent so much time emphasizing the distrust in his world.

At this point, Julia and Winston have started a secret affair, and I am convinced that Julia is one of the worst written female characters ever. I am not going to tell you why I think so. Instead here are some pieces of dialogue from when Julia and Winston first meet in secret where they are safe.

Winston says, “I am thirty-nine years old. I’ve got a wife that I can’t get rid of. I’ve got varicose veins. I’ve got five false teeth.”

Then a page later, Julia says “Tell me, what did you think of me before that day I gave you the note?” (Did I mention Julia gave a guy a note saying “I love you” in a place where children snitch on their parents and the regime actively discourages romantic relationships?)

To that Winston replies, “I hated the sight of you. I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards. Two weeks ago I thought seriously of smashing your head in with a cobblestone.”

…

Then another page later, Winston asks the question you are thinking of right now. “What could you see to attract you in a man like me?”

And Julia replies, “It was something in your face. I thought I’d take a chance. I’m good at spotting people who don’t belong” (if that’s not a plot armor/plot shortcut I don’t know what is).

Then they both proceed to have a passionate affair spanning 40/50 pages. I wouldn’t know, because by then I had decided to skip to the end. I have already told you that this book is predictable, and I had a feeling what was coming next. And it’s exactly what happened.

As an essay, this could be a good book. If Orwell wrote this as what he imagines a totalitarian regime could be like, then it could be a great essay. I believe this is why this book is famous. It could also be famous for slamming communism/socialism, which makes it ironic that the US has banned a book where people call each other comrade in a dystopia.

Verdict: 4/10.