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ed_moore's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Burgess’ ‘1985’ is a two part commentary on Orwell’s 1984, the first part as series of essays on 1984 that explored the role of Bakunin in the birth of anarchism, how Orwell’s broadcasting house reflects Room 101, the idea of a cacotopia being a state of cacophony beyond a dystopia and how the term Orwellian is now used in events that really aren’t Orwellian, but minor inconveniences. These were fascinating and I often caught myself saying myself how exciting or engaging a certain point in these essays were.
My review of this is complicated by part two, Burgess’ own interpretation of an Orwellian dystopia, which unfortunately I cannot make the same praises about. 1985 follows Bev Jones in a future where Orwell was killed in the Spanish Civil War and never wrote 1984. Therefore a different dystopia has formed where Britain is known as Tucland, it is under muslim governance and there is constant worker strikes amid a socialist state. Where elements of this are supposed to parallel Orwell’s dystopia, most parts feel like they are included for no particular reason and the worldbuilding of 1985 is generally confusing and flat, taking 1984 into account or viewing 1985 as an independent story. Things happen suddenly, resolve suddenly and a lot occurs with no real reason or explanation. The circumstance of constant strikes is an interesting and well done element, I just feel Burgess tries to include more alternate realities beyond this and it really just complicates the narrative and adds little.
The essays would warrant 5 stars, but regarding the narrative part as the main text my opinions on the book as a whole therefore suffer.
arquero's review
3.0
Kinda enjoyed the sarcasm of this book, tho could be better written. Jokes aside, the strike craze is big in Lisbon, so every time the subway is on strike these three stars temporarily turn four. sheesh.
fa1reads's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
batbones's review against another edition
4.0
I have had a considerable amount of time to read this. (That time was prolonged by a rereading of 1984, as I had read a book a long time ago and couldn't catch most of the references in time for the first few pages to be enjoyable. You have to have read it for most of the book to make sense.) However this review will be kept short and prefaced by the following disclaimer: I like Burgess so there is naturally some bias.
Perks:
1. A response to Orwell that isn't taking him completely in earnest while appreciating his contributions in 1984 to the literary pool of fiction about political thought, freedom and state control, and free speech, education and violence (the latter two which are more intertwined than one would think), socialism and its discontents; he mentions in a particular passage about the decline of productivity which follows on the heels of the lack of inclination to put in effort for something not yours.
2. Dystopian speculative fiction that doesn't embrace the oft touted bland and dull-by-repetition dichotomies of evil men controlling women, evil corporations over innocent consumer, or evil state over free citizen. (Please write something else, or do it differently.)
3. Burgess is attentive to nuances and apparently able to speak a little about everything from Renaissance writers to contemporary British politics (read: when he was alive). Caveats abound, especially where speculation is involved; he talks at length in one chapter about the usefulness/uselessness of speculative fiction as prophecy, and whether accurate 'prophecies' even matter. I love it when he talks discursively and I can read it all day.
4. A few chapters are in the format of a series of 'interviews' with the writer, and both format and writer I find interesting. The book is loosely structured into two sections: the first is a collection of thoughts/essays/'interview', crafted as responses to Orwell's book (hence the title); the second is meant to be a sequel or reworking of Orwell's underpinnings into a completely new story.
5. The interviews had a platonic dialogue quality about them in the question-and-answer format; lots of banter, pointed questions asked, some answers given, perspectives reframed. I suppose the questions were there to anticipate any thoughts/misgivings readers of his answers might have. They didn't anticipate mine, but the answers offer food for thought and will stay with me for a while.
6. The story itself was intriguing, but to speak of it would be to spoil it. The characters weren't terribly interesting but the world-building was, which I suppose is a large part of the point of speculative fiction. The lovable ultraviolent rogue Alex returns in another form: imagine street gangs speaking in Latin and Greek in a world where education is purely technical and utilitarian and speech is simplified to the purely quotidian and communicative, a world where these gangsters listen to history and literature teachers (whose subjects are now obsolete) teach lessons in illegal underground universities.
Hindrances:
1. Too much linguistics in the section on Workers' English. (But this is Burgess and his interests so I will let it slide.)
Perks:
1. A response to Orwell that isn't taking him completely in earnest while appreciating his contributions in 1984 to the literary pool of fiction about political thought, freedom and state control, and free speech, education and violence (the latter two which are more intertwined than one would think), socialism and its discontents; he mentions in a particular passage about the decline of productivity which follows on the heels of the lack of inclination to put in effort for something not yours.
2. Dystopian speculative fiction that doesn't embrace the oft touted bland and dull-by-repetition dichotomies of evil men controlling women, evil corporations over innocent consumer, or evil state over free citizen. (Please write something else, or do it differently.)
3. Burgess is attentive to nuances and apparently able to speak a little about everything from Renaissance writers to contemporary British politics (read: when he was alive). Caveats abound, especially where speculation is involved; he talks at length in one chapter about the usefulness/uselessness of speculative fiction as prophecy, and whether accurate 'prophecies' even matter. I love it when he talks discursively and I can read it all day.
4. A few chapters are in the format of a series of 'interviews' with the writer, and both format and writer I find interesting. The book is loosely structured into two sections: the first is a collection of thoughts/essays/'interview', crafted as responses to Orwell's book (hence the title); the second is meant to be a sequel or reworking of Orwell's underpinnings into a completely new story.
5. The interviews had a platonic dialogue quality about them in the question-and-answer format; lots of banter, pointed questions asked, some answers given, perspectives reframed. I suppose the questions were there to anticipate any thoughts/misgivings readers of his answers might have. They didn't anticipate mine, but the answers offer food for thought and will stay with me for a while.
6. The story itself was intriguing, but to speak of it would be to spoil it. The characters weren't terribly interesting but the world-building was, which I suppose is a large part of the point of speculative fiction. The lovable ultraviolent rogue Alex returns in another form: imagine street gangs speaking in Latin and Greek in a world where education is purely technical and utilitarian and speech is simplified to the purely quotidian and communicative, a world where these gangsters listen to history and literature teachers (whose subjects are now obsolete) teach lessons in illegal underground universities.
Hindrances:
1. Too much linguistics in the section on Workers' English. (But this is Burgess and his interests so I will let it slide.)
jackwh18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
A really confusing book but an interesting read.
mmehdi_auteur's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, War, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Pedophilia
lasma's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.5
knjigoholicarka's review
3.0
Burgess-ova "1985" sastoji se iz dva dela: analitičke studije o Orvelovoj "1984" i Bardžisove novele o distopijskoj viziji godeine 1985-te.
Sam analitički deo mi se dopao, iako se sa pojedinim Burgess-ovim stavovima baš i ne slažem. Uprkos tome, neki njegovi zaključci su naprosto sjajni, dok pojedini teraju na razmišljanje. A svako razmišljanje je, složićete se, korisno. Takođe, u ovom delu tada je i analiza društvenih događanja i previranja U Britaniji tokom četrdesetih godina, kao i povodi i istorijski aspekti koji su Orvela motivisali da napiše "1984", što je sjajno za dublje razumevanje romana. Stoga, ocena 4.
Burgess-ova novela je, avaj, užasna. Upitan zašto je napisao "1985", Burgess je odgovorio "Zato što je moj izdavač to od mene zahtevao." To se jasno vidi. Novela je bez koncepta, zvuči nekako nabacano, likovi su nekako bledunjavi i neubedljivi, i cela ta stvar više liči na Burgess-ov otpor socijalizmu s blagim primesama ksenofobije, nego na neki ozbiljniji literarni pokušaj. Stoga, ocena 2.
I tako, matematički: (4+2)/2=3. Čiča miča i gotova priča.
Sam analitički deo mi se dopao, iako se sa pojedinim Burgess-ovim stavovima baš i ne slažem. Uprkos tome, neki njegovi zaključci su naprosto sjajni, dok pojedini teraju na razmišljanje. A svako razmišljanje je, složićete se, korisno. Takođe, u ovom delu tada je i analiza društvenih događanja i previranja U Britaniji tokom četrdesetih godina, kao i povodi i istorijski aspekti koji su Orvela motivisali da napiše "1984", što je sjajno za dublje razumevanje romana. Stoga, ocena 4.
Burgess-ova novela je, avaj, užasna. Upitan zašto je napisao "1985", Burgess je odgovorio "Zato što je moj izdavač to od mene zahtevao." To se jasno vidi. Novela je bez koncepta, zvuči nekako nabacano, likovi su nekako bledunjavi i neubedljivi, i cela ta stvar više liči na Burgess-ov otpor socijalizmu s blagim primesama ksenofobije, nego na neki ozbiljniji literarni pokušaj. Stoga, ocena 2.
I tako, matematički: (4+2)/2=3. Čiča miča i gotova priča.
nipqueen's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
So bizarre. Yes it’s conservative propaganda but it’s morbidly fascinating conservative propaganda!
harrymcdonough's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book is the equivalent to being opposite a racist family member at dinner: I think it’s a far greater insight into National Front UKIP style ideology in the UK than a compelling take on 1984. Really bizzare, racist, and laughably bad plot points at times.