1984

I’m sorry, but Orwell’s 1984 is arguably the worst book I’ve ever read in my entire life. The writing is bad, the plot is bad, and the characters are flat and predictable. I cannot understand why English teachers are obsessed with this book, and I cannot understand what exactly I was supposed to learn from reading it.

The setup of a dystopian society could be a good thing, and it’s been successfully done many times (The Hunger Games, Handmaid’s Tale), but this was not one of those times. The world felt unfinished and almost lazy when reading, as if Orwell was making it up as he wrote and not really paying attention to consistency.

I really cannot recommend this book to anyone. Not only is it objectively bad, it borderlines on misogynistic at many points and writes women as stupid objects in a supposedly “future” society.

If you want to read a really good dystopian novel from the same time frame, I recommend The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It does everything 1984 tried to do world building-wise; but did everything right. (Don’t worry—there is a review on that book coming soon).

All in all, I absolutely despised this book and would recommend that you keep at least 10 feet away at all times.

-Bella