Readers Journal
I have very mixed feelings about this novel. At the very beginning of the book I was not terribly interested as it was just the character's normal life and what they do on a regular basis. However as the book progressed it became more interesting as it showed his personal thoughts and opinions on the world he was living in and the questions he was trying to find answers to his questions. The later the book progressed the more interesting it got. Around the time that Winston was captured I could not put the book down. However there this part of the book truly reveals how horrid the government was. The fact that the party thought they were better than past attempts to force people to think the same as them by breaking people down and reducing them was horrifying to me. On top of that they actually succeeded in making people truly belive everything they told them makes it even worse. The civilians were completely not allowed to have thoughts and opinions of their own unless they agreed with the party's ideology. Otherwise they would be tortured untill they did. The main part of the book that made me have uncertain as to how I felt about it was when Winston failed at successfully defying the party. This completely went against every other story I have heard which made me both disappointed, but also like the book more for being different. Despite the fact that it did not end quite the way I was expecting it to overall it is a great book. I would recommend it to a friend to read although. I would recommend it because it defiantly does a good job at describing how bad of an impact that socialism can have on an average persons life, especially if a government gains this much control. Personally this book re-assures my opinion that a dictatorship is not a very effective form of government for keeping the civilians happy. Also it makes my feel very fortunate that I live such a free country where I can think and say what I want without fear of government intervention. However on the other hand it makes me feel bad for people who do not live in very free countries where they are not allowed to do as they please weather it is because of their country's financial issues or thy have a strict government.