Banned Books: 1984

Last year, I was in Berlin with my German class. We were in a hostel. We walked a lot. We slept very little. To conclude our journey, we went to an old DDR prison. It was interesting, but I would have probably enjoyed it more if every bone in my body didn't ache under the crushing force of physical exertion and sleep deprivation. All I wanted to do throughout the whole thing was sit my lazy butt on a chair. Or a stool. Or a boulder. I actually sat on the floor at some point. Anyway, this would have been bearable on its own, but we were observing a communist prison, right? So this guide proceeded to tell us, in detail, about the forms of torture used in cells. A repeated punishment was some variation on not sitting or not being forced to walk constantly. I HAVE NEVER RELATED MORE TO ENEMIES OF THE STATE THAN IN THAT MOMENT.

Right before we would be allowed to sit down during the conclusion of the tour, our guide asked us if any of us had read the novel 1984. I was sad I couldn't play Literate Kid since I hadn't read it yet, but he told us the premise (which I already knew about) and how it was based on totalitarian governments in real life (which wasn't new to me either). Still, he was interesting to listen to, putting from of speech on a pedestal that was almost too much for my democratic socialist brain. Almost.

Justification: Not granted

Anthem: Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel

Rating: ***1/2

Risk: X. Like no, this is not risky whatsoever.



Review: Another ideological novel which ideas I love, but where the execution just doesn't speak to me. And apart from a horrific info-dump in the form of a book within a book, this is purely subjective. There's nothing wrong with the book per se, but it doesn't work for me. There was some gross misogyny, which I should excuse on the basis of the publication date but can't. The whole book was just a very slumpy read for me, even though I can see some of my favorite dystopias finding their origins here.

I like for a book to have multiple colors. Or at least some colors. 1984 feels gray and mud-colored. And everything is so perfectly obvious. From the ministries to the television, I found it bland and unimaginative. The ideas are fantastic and I'm happy this novel was written, but the story itself didn't do anything for me. I like Ray Bradbury's future more as a novel, but I prefer George Orwell's political satire. I wish I could take the world of 1984 and write my own bottomless pit of totalitarian despair within it.

The following will contain spoilers for 1984.

Sexually explicit

"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood." - I do adore this quote.

One of the things that fascinated me in Orwell's novel was the take on sex and control of pleasure and love. The way love is perceived and how easy it is to break it is sad and yet truthful. George Orwell refuses to sugarcoat the human mind and heart. Both Julia and Winston betray each other in the end and Winston gives his love to Big Brother rather than to an actual person. In this world, a husband and wife can't love each other, and an author is not allowed to glance over a plot point like that.

The sexual explicitness was nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be, and I think Orwell handled it nicely.

Political viewpoint

This might require information beforehand: Some accused Orwell of being a communist, which, during the conflict in Cuba and the Vietnam War, was about the worst thing one could be.

Let's first point out the obvious: Stalin banned 1984 because he knew it was based on his reign. Who knew Stalin was a better interpreter of literature than American school teachers? George Orwell defined himself as a democratic socialist. (That being said, even the word socialist is viewed as profanity in some US classrooms.) He was far from a communist OR a capitalist since he disliked totalitarianism and oligarchies equally. That's not an extraordinary mindset where I come from. In fact, about 30% of voters in the Netherlands vote for one of two parties who represent democratic socialism.

And even if Orwell were a socialist, no one had the right to ban his books on account of this.