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Published Aug. 17, 2021, 3:46 p.m.
This may be a mistake that I abandon at any time, but I am going to try to put these reviews in in an order that is somewhat similar to the order in which I read them. When I got an audible subscription, I suddenly had access to a library of works which included 1984. I had heard much about it but never read it myself. I started listening to it while on a brief summer holiday.
Themes: Dystopian "Future" , Depravity of Man, Love and desire, Independence, Objective Truth
Recommendation: Read it Now (before it gets censored).
I think the scariest thing about this book is how analogous to reality it 'feels'. I say feels because we are obviously not in a world-wide dictatorship, however, its nearly impossible not to perceive the 'drift' toward such an authoritarian nightmare. The facinating thing to me is that this book is obviously timeless-- meaning that both the disdain for and feeling of impending authoritarianism might be a universal aspect of modern life.
In a very real sense, this book was and is accurately depicting real life from the former soviet union, Nazi Germany, or present day North Korea. More subtly it presents modern wester drift toward censorship-- cancel culture etc. The idea of 'memory holes' where information goes to die The whole issue of double speak and double think are incredibly astute. That words with a singluar objective meaning are made to mean their polar opposites. "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" And of course the infamous 2+2=5. Here is a signpost to look for: If any person in authority begins to discuss censoring or banning the book '1984' because it is problematic then the end is nigh.
I was struck by the characters loss of humanity-- explosions rendering flying body parts that are casually tossed aside as if it is just another piece of debris. I am struck now about how it mirrors passages from another book I am reading : Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel which recounts life in Auschwitz concentration camp.
Finally, *spoiler alert* the dark and ominous ending of the book was draining. I am certainly not the kind of person who needs a disney ending. I do enjoy the triumph of good over evil because I believe and endorse that as a truth of our exsitence. There were glimmers of hope for this kind of triumph but they were ultimately squashed. The book ends with the main characters being broken to the point of losing their humanity.
1984 was simmilar to russian novel from the 1920s calle 'We' that I happend to read some time ago. I'll have to re-read that and see what kinds of contrast I can find.
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