Don’t know if this allowed here. But I hate 1984, it’s probably my most hated book. The story is boring and to be honest pretty disgusting in some portions. It does a pretty bad job of “predicting” the future, as ironically censorship is harder to maintain with technology.
And even more damning, is that to me. The book is often used as a fear-mongering tactic more than ever, to propel hateful rhetoric. As people will often use the book to justify those rhetoric, due to these people potentially and honestly justly “censored” on the internet. Which of course isn’t really censorship since these people still have a platform and loyal fanbase.
To me I didn’t like this book due to the story and poor predictions. But now with every year that passes by. I despise this book, and feel as if it has done more harm than good.
by Pitifubulldog
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SciFi as a genre in general, especially classic SciFi, is not meant to predict the future it’s supposed to be a metaphor for the current era. 1984 is a story about totalitarianism which was common at the time Orwell wrote it.
Doubleplusgood book
It’s a great book. You would be hard-pressed to name a book from its decade or ensuing decades that matches its importance or impact. 1984 will be read and appreciated for centuries, if it’s allowed to survive. The book describes an all-powerful, mind- and body-controlling state where even the language is a tool of thought control. The protagonist is living in a gray, suffocating and superficial world, but that’s the point. Orwell predicted our times — including today’s misguided woke attempts to ignore and alter history for political ends — and warns us sternly against it.
‘Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped.’
– George Orwell, 1984
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Rather than predict, doesn’t it try to warn?
This has to be rage bait, or you’re delusional with all due
Well, more evidence that reading doesn’t necessarily make you smart.
The title of the OP is sorta ironic, too, since 1984, if the book existed in the world of the story (and maybe O’Brien’s / Goldstein’s qualifies), would have been ‘absolutely hated’ too.
That’s fine but I think your criticisms are pretty poor.
2 + 2 = 5.
Interesting that your username has the word “dog” in it because I kept thinking “dog whistle” while I was reading your post.
I hate your period usage.
Not even a book you dislike, but your “most hated book.”
What else do you love hating? Because 1984 gets as objective as it can get when it comes to being a globally loved book. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone NOT taking to its themes, allegories, and bleak outlook on the state of affairs.
If you’re purely trying to stand out by being a contrarian, at least do it with a better set of arguments.
When it comes to its most surface-level message (censorship and authoritarian violence being bad), 1984 is extremely unsubtle about it, so it becomes the book of choice for some of the dumbest takes out there
The book also has deeper ideas in it, just its reputation gets stained because of all the bad takes people try to make with it
Imagine hating a speculative fiction book published 74 years ago for not accurately predicting the future lol.
Nobody tell this man a bunch of Russian animals didn’t start speaking English and took over a farm in the 1940s either
I love this book so much I sleep with a copy of it under my pillow.
I absolutely hate the Paradox of Intolerance. It’s probably my most hated “academic” concept currently en vogue.
Most damning is that to me the concept is used as a fear-mongering tactic more than ever, to promote authoritarianism in the name of stopping “hateful rhetoric”. Which of course they will say isn’t really authoritarianism or censorship…its just the “free market”.
“If we don’t censor and control what people say, it will definitely lead to Fascism…because we actually believe that people are morons and no one should be allowed to take advantage of them or manipulate them but people who are doing it for the Left reasons. So…in short…its OK when we do it.”
The issue I have with 1984 is the amount of people who miss the point of it. I think plenty who rave about it are just the types who would proactively yet unwittingly usher in such a regime in the belief that they are actually “protecting” society from the type of regime in the book. There are a lot of people who would happily vote for whoever will most severely punish those that they don’t like. All in the belief that their hatred is a virtue.
Tell me you love censorship without telling me you love censorship
Low brow canadian liberal normie take on one of the greatest books ever written, that has inspired generations of sci-fi and other genre fiction and popular culture at large
1984 will never not be relevant. If you see it as being harmful for society, big brother already has you.
Novels (and especially scif fi novels) aren’t attempting to literally predict the future.
This is like hating Brave New World because people aren’t literally on Soma and not everyone is drugged out of their mind, hating Fahrenheit 451 because we don’t actually have a department that goes around burning books, or hating A Modest Proposal because no one at the time planned to literally eat Irish children.
That said, if you want more corporate and government censorship campaigns on the internet, of course, you will naturally tend to dislike most books which contain a powerful warning about the dangers of censorship
And the lessons in 1984 aren’t restricted to a critique of censorship. The illustration of the changing self-contradictory nature of propaganda where it quickly becomes off limits to say things that were public knowledge just a short while before and the depiction of permanent states of war where the government often allies with past enemies resonate more with me.
It’s not so much about censorship as it is about misinformation. But that doesn’t happen in real life. Just ask Rupert Murdock and Vladimir Putin
It was a great year for me, and I enjoyed the book also.
Try Brave New World
>as ironically censorship is harder to maintain with technology.
Why?
Being upset that a novel did not fuly predict its synopsis is childish. However, the book written in the 40’s, was succesfull in predicting a few things.
You see I was born into Communism and **censorship** was a real thing. Even republishing some titles with a new altered synopsis that fitted the narrative of our Comunist overlords was a thing as well. The alternative in the book is the Gov of Oceania…
As well another reality was people snitching on each other due to fear, not because of idealism. Actually it was 1 in 3 people … which is tragic. **The agent provocateur** exists in 1984.
More so the **telescreen**, that thing that identifies people, is a real thing nowadays with China abusing its facial recognition capabilities when using it against its own citizens or the Uighurs minority.
I believe that you should read a bit more into how governments have imposed themselves over their citizens and you will find that you will be learning quite a few new things.
Not sure I’d say it’s predictions are incorrect. After all, it’s 2023 and a bunch of uptight idiots are still trying to ban books.
OP’s post history is troubling – lots of things they “hate” apparently, including drivers in Surrey, transit in the city, bag mandates, Amber alert supporters, … list goes on. “Hate” is a word they keep throwing out without it meaning anything. I wouldn’t read too much into this opinion of theirs.
You’ve read it wrong. You have to separate the story and the meaning of such a book
Nice try, FBI
I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. Just kinda dull to me. It’s good to read it once.
Completely agree
Yeah, well done on having a brain. 1984 and animal farm are garbage propped up by western intelligence agencies as a “socialist” critique of stalinism. Even though Georgie never once stepped foot in the ussr and ran censorship and propaganda for the British empire. 1984 is more based on his own experiences censoring and ratting out “commies” than anything else. This sub has a hard on for him, so don’t expect any intelligent replies. A rapist, a snitch and a plagerist walk into a bar, the bar tender says, “how’s the book coming along Mr Orwell?”
“What Orwell failed to predict is that we’d buy the cameras ourselves, and that our biggest fear would be that nobody was watching.”
KLJ
>It does a pretty bad job of “predicting” the future, as ironically censorship is harder to maintain with technology.
Really. Are you familiar with China’s social credit system?
Valid. George Orwell’s 1984 is a story about totalitarianism and the effects that government control had over the characters in the book. I think that if you look at it after researching some of WW1 and WW2 you may be able to relate it to real-world experiences which will make reading it a lot more interesting.