George Orwell's "1984"

Posted by SoulFire77 on Mon, 29 Dec 2025

I'm seeking fans of this novel. I'd like to know what you think of its prose, plot, or even the ending. 

If you live near, or have visited, the locations mentioned in the novel, I'd love to know your thoughts on the geography and setting of the novel.

Please comment (random thoughts welcome).

- J.

Comments

Submitted by TJW on

Not a big fan of dystopian novels.  Prefer Animal Farm.  Am a big fan of anthropomorphic stuff, e.g. Watership Down

V/R

 

Submitted by SoulFire77 on

I believe that 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World should be taught in every high school. But, I understand the aversion to dystopian novels. They can be very depressing. 

 

Submitted by TJW on

I don't mind the depression, it's the ideology.  I lean toward writing that leaves ideas to interpretation.  Probably I ain't explaining myself right.  I like Hemingway, for example:  when The Old Man and the Sea got all its accolades and critics and whatnot talked about how it represents the struggle between this and that or the pinnacle and fall over this and that or the spritiual ascension or hellish fall of this or that or the competition between this kingdom and that and Hemingway, I'm paraphrasing here, answered that or it's just a story about an old man who has a hard time fishing.

V/R

 

 

Submitted by SoulFire77 on

I love Charlton Heston's reading of The Old Man and the Sea! I believe that narration as well as Kathy Bates' reading of The Silence of the Lambs once set the standard for audiobook narration. This is not to discount the extensive work by the actor Will Patton in that field. If an Academy Award existed for audiobooks, Will Patton would have a room full of them.

 

Submitted by TJW on

I vote for Patrick Kennedy who voiced the protagonist for A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls in a BBC production of the novels.  But that's not the same as narration, will have to listen to Heston's.  Kathy Bates is untouchable in all she touches.

 

Submitted by TJW on

Also, I think Anthony Burgess had a literary hard on for Eric Blair.  I had to check my dates, knew it was one for the other.

V/R

 

Submitted by SoulFire77 on

My only complaint about the Silence of the Lambs audiobook is that is abridged. I would have loved to hear Kathy Bates read the complete novel. Nonetheless, she is a master narrator - she expertly builds the tension as the book progresses. 

Another audiobook that I absolutely love is 11/22/63 By Stephen King read by Craig Wasson. That is a true masterpiece - you actually forget that you are listening to just one guy reading the novel.

 

Submitted by TJW on

I listen to audiobooks and radio dramas of books and the one thing that chaps my ass, not enough to get me to stop, but it's there, is that I am depending on the narrator/actors to emphaize the importance of the piece.  It's almost a transgression, but not enough to keep me from listening.  I drove a cargo van and one of my deliveries was in Maine and I thought I had driven into a Stephen King novel.