nicanical

This was a good read, but it's hard to rate.

I liked the detail of the world: Orwell's portrayal of methods of control (widespread surveillance, growth and scarcity, language, and psychology) give Oceania a grounded believability. The main character, Winston, was sympathetic enough. It was no hard work to follow along with him.

On the other hand, the writing is a bit verbose. Particularly the first half. The wordiness seemed to create a sense of paranoia that complemented Winston's moments of introspection, so maybe this was intentional by Orwell. Nevertheless, I prefer stories that don't make you feel like you're wading through words.

Lastly, I respect that Orwell didn't go with a stereotypical happily-ever-after here, but I did not enjoy how the story wrapped up. The ending goes beyond sad, beyond tragic, and instead seems designed to antagonize the reader with despair. Being able to provoke such a strong reaction makes 1984 worthy of full stars by another rubric though, I'm sure.

In short: I can see why 1984 is a classic. I'm happy I read it. But, I probably won't read it again.