I finally got around to read š 1984. I am mostly fascinated about how utterly different the parts in the book are. There are 3 parts and each is a bit like a self-contained book in itself, and differ very much in style. I had so many preconceptions about how bleak and gray this story would be, that it would be hard and complicated to read it. That was not the case at all.
#Reading log
2016-03-14: Iāve started reading 1984 and itās a horrible, horrible book. The way that Winston talks with his colleague who is working with the language vocabulary and how to reduce it till thereās barely nothing left. They want to disintegrate the language to the extent that peopleās concepts will be limited. Horrifying!
2016-03-15: Continuing to read 1984 and Iām amazed at how much it engages me. I assumed that I would not like it at all and just read it to have read it. But it gives me so much inspiration, strangely enough. I thought the language would be hard but found it to be super intuitive. I feel comfort in reading how Winston starts figuring out what is wrong with his society and the connections he makes to how the Party is blurring out the past. He has realized now how they do it but is questioning why they do it. What is their motive for it? A strange type of people in the book are āthe prolesā. They seem to be left alone by the party and live outside the city in the slums. They seem to be whatās left of the old world.
2016-03-16: The children are systematically trained to turn on their parents and report their deviations to the Thought Police. Amazing how such a system would just keep on spinning wickedly for generation after generation. Whatās even more incredible in 1984 is that it conceals a love story. It just makes me feel good when I read how it unfolds. Winston Smith is the name of the main character.
2016-03-21: It was actually a great and appealing story to me, set in this dystopian world. At the middle of the book, when Winston Smith is unfolding his path of becoming more and more self aware, I thought I couldnāt wait to start the book all over again. Thatās how well written and inspiring it was. But it turned for the bad and the last part is very dark and horrendous. The worst concept presented in the book is a ministry concerned with developing the new language Newspeak. Their task is to diminish language to its bare essentials, to limit the range of consciousness, so that people wonāt ever have the means to rebel against the tyranny state.
2021-01-31: This book was a surprise the first time I read it. I thought it was going to be pure horror, but I was wrongāpartly. What I enjoy from this book is the distinction it has between its three parts. The first part is describing the setting. It paints the picture of a society where privacy has been all but eradicated. That makes me appreciative of what I have. And in that way itās enjoyable to read, because I value where I am right now much more.
The second part contains an unexpected love story. This brings me back almost to an Ayn Rand novel in the way I feel for the characters. I want them to make it. I want Julia and Winston to overthrow the party and live happily ever after. Butāof courseāthatās not the way this ends.
The third part is true evil. Here is where my fears of reading the book kicks in. This part makes me cringe and I want to throw the book away. All the brainwashing and eradication of the last true pieces of good leaves me with a sour aftertaste. I realized how much I had forgotten from the book first time around, and all in all Iām happy I spent the time rereading it. Only next time I should skip the last part.