Oliver Loving: A Novel
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"A dazzling novel about love, loss, and the mysteries of the mind." -- David Ebershoff,...
fiction
Jamie (131 KP) rated 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Books
Jun 4, 2017
Nineteen Eighty-Four was not an easy ready by any means, it’s startlingly brutal. The beginning starts off rather slow as the readers gets to know Winston, the way he thinks and learns about his every day routine and are introduced to key characters. The middle of the book picks up, but it breaks up the pacing of the novel due to the fact that it essentially turns into an essay that outlines the structure of the party and the moral implications of it’s actions. While info dumps can be a bit disjointing to read, I could bear with it for this novel. The third half of the novel caught me off guard and it spun wildly out of control. I loved it, even when I found it difficult to digest. This is what made the book so brilliant, it doesn’t just tell you about right and wrong and then wrap things up nicely, the horrible reality of the book comes crashing down on both Winston and the reader’s head in full force.
The power structure of the party is just downright diabolical. I could think of any other way to describe it; the method of control, the reasons for maintaining such a strict social order, the sheer scale of the party’s reach – all of it was terrifying when taken as a whole. There were points in the second half of the novel where I had to put the book down because it was stressing me out too much, and this was a first for me. I now understand fully what folks mean when they label something as “Orwellian,” and why this novel is hailed as one of the very best of the dystopia genre. Hell, there are others that I read that I thought were bleak, but none quite to this degree. Nineteen Eighty-Four makes other books in the dystopia genre seem like lighthearted adventures novels.
The novel is extremely effective in the delivery of it’s core message about government control and humanity by creating a potential future that is harrowing, particularly because of it’s plausibility, as a warning to all. This is the type of book that will stick with me for a long time and I’m glad I finally sat down to read it.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: in the Beginning (1821 1845): A Life in Letters, Memoirs, and Criticism
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More than a century after his death in 1881, Fyodor Dostoevsky continues to fascinate readers and...
The Secrets She Keeps
9.7
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As the hours of her shifts stocking shelves at the supermarket creep by, the one thing Agatha looks...
Gather the Daughters
7.3
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Never Let Me Go meets The Giver in this haunting debut about a cult on an isolated island, where...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated 2084 in Books
Nov 8, 2019
Following his selection for work in one of the Ministries David very soon finds out the truth. The wider populace are controlled by fear, propaganda and lies. The workers in the Ministry are controlled by greed, power and lust. He soon learns that the whole system is corrupt, rotten to the core, despite the all-powerful and dispassionate AIs that are supposed to only benefit mankind. But as one man there is little he can do, and certainly nobody he can trust. But there are plenty who want to use him as a weapon is their political infighting and power battles.
Clearly a more technological update on 1984, Hogan tackles this grim subject matter from the human perspectives of David and his childhood friend Juli, who is also pulled into the dark world of the power and corruption. Like peeling a rotten onion, layer after layer is removed, finally revealing the rotten heart. Along the way there are some huge plot twists, shocking events and reveals that completely change how the reader understands this future vision. The ending, which it comes, is certainly cataclysmic.
As with the best science fiction, this casts a light on the world we live in with certain current events clearly used as a basis for how Hogan constructed his dystopia. Sometimes the subtext isn't as subtle as it could be, but there is no denying the chilling warning it delivers.
Note: This book contains multiple scenes and themes of a sexual nature
The Girl In The Rearview Mirror
5.0
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The young nanny for a prominent political family gets drawn into a web of deadly lies—including...
The New Husband
7.7
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Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you know them. Nina Garrity learned that the hard...
domestic thriller family contemporary
Hell Bound
8.0
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FBI Special Agent Riley Mathews works alone and for good reason. She’s gone to great lengths for...
Contemporary Romance Romantic Suspense
The Real Lady Detective Agency: A True Story
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'It's not me then?' she says. A little bit of my heart breaks, and I struggle to swallow down the...