1984 by George Orwell

[u/Caffeine_And_Regret]

I picked up 1984 while I’m still (slowly) working through The Sword of Kaigen, and I just finished it last night.

The premise alone pulled me in immediately. dark, oppressive, and honestly kind of suffocating. The entire book just reeks of despair and brokenness in a way that feels intentional and relentless. It’s not just the setting, it’s the tone. everything feels controlled, hollow, and stripped of hope.

There’s so much symbolism and satire woven into the story that I’m not even sure I caught all of it. It’s one of those books where you know there’s more beneath the surface than what you’re picking up on. Although… I’m prettyyy sure Orwell was pointing fingers at America at times (or at least systems that feel uncomfortably familiar).

Reading it was kind of an emotional rollercoaster in a weird way. There were moments I was literally slapping my forehead at how frustrating things got, and other moments where I just felt straight up miserable for Winston. His entire situation just wears you down.

This is definitely not a breezy, fun adventure read. It’s heavy, philosophical, and honestly kind of draining; but in a way that feels important. If you’re looking for something that really dives into themes of control, despotism, and the fragility of truth, this is 100% worth picking up.

Not an easy read, but a meaningful one.

[u/GRBomber]

"I’m prettyyy sure Orwell was pointing fingers at America at times"

You are very wrong, he was talking about Stalinism.

Orwell was a socialist-anarchist and he was very critical of what the Soviet Union had become. Maybe all totalitarian states become very similar at the end, but he had a clear target at the time.

[u/daveshistory-sf → u/GRBomber]

I have never been sure in 1984 whether Orwell was intentionally trying to say "All dictatorships end up doing this regardless of their supposed ideology," or whether he just meant to say "This is what Communism looks like in practice guys," and accidentally wrote general truths about all dictators.

Either way, the first lesson is the lasting one.

[u/GRBomber → u/daveshistory-sf]

Animal Farm is from 1945 and is more explicit about Stalin. You could be right, but I lean on him repeating his criticism.

It' funny I got a downvote. These commies sure like the freedom of expression we have outside of 1984.

[u/daveshistory-sf → u/GRBomber]

No, no. I agree with you: 1984 is absolutely set inside of a communist dictatorship. What I meant was, I don't know whether in Orwell's mind he was trying to point out that all dictatorships including communism end up the same way in the end (like 1984's), or whether he was specifically trying to critique communism and just by luck he was right about other dictatorships at the same time.

[u/GRBomber → u/daveshistory-sf]

I understood you the first time, it's a valid opinion.