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kingbob's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
agnestyley's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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? No
3.0
last Orwell novel complete 🤭
orwells pointed desire to not have this novel ever reprinted was slightly extreme... but only slightly.
entertaining for sure, and you can really see the early beginnings of orwells witty and polemic prose, with it's commentary on the overarching necessity and dizzying power of money within our modern world (and his socialist critique of this), that is later expanded on (far more successfully imho) in Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
however, you can also really see his entire incapability of writing adequate - let alone good - female characters (my singular bone I consistently have to pick with the loml). why is Dorothy so entirely passive the entire book? yes, she isn't necessarily supposed to be likeable, but it is so pathetically unrealistic. also her "fear of sex" (never really expanded on, just put there to make her sexless and therefore less feminine) seems more like orwells attempt to demean her as a woman - as what else are women good for? as Warburton points out, once she becomes a thin old spinster, people will only feel sorry for her. (sidenote - creepiest character of the year award that receives zero comeuppance??!) plus, just a bit of a boring and rambling story, to be honest. even when dramatic things happened, Dorothy's complete nonchalance entirely sucked them of interest to the reader.
Will this break my love for Orwell? Absolutely not. If there's one thing I did learn, it's that ritual is stronger than faith, after all.
orwells pointed desire to not have this novel ever reprinted was slightly extreme... but only slightly.
entertaining for sure, and you can really see the early beginnings of orwells witty and polemic prose, with it's commentary on the overarching necessity and dizzying power of money within our modern world (and his socialist critique of this), that is later expanded on (far more successfully imho) in Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
however, you can also really see his entire incapability of writing adequate - let alone good - female characters (my singular bone I consistently have to pick with the loml). why is Dorothy so entirely passive the entire book? yes, she isn't necessarily supposed to be likeable, but it is so pathetically unrealistic. also her "fear of sex" (never really expanded on, just put there to make her sexless and therefore less feminine) seems more like orwells attempt to demean her as a woman - as what else are women good for? as Warburton points out, once she becomes a thin old spinster, people will only feel sorry for her. (sidenote - creepiest character of the year award that receives zero comeuppance??!) plus, just a bit of a boring and rambling story, to be honest. even when dramatic things happened, Dorothy's complete nonchalance entirely sucked them of interest to the reader.
Will this break my love for Orwell? Absolutely not. If there's one thing I did learn, it's that ritual is stronger than faith, after all.
blakeisgreene's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
isaexcel's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nicolemctye's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
andjelast8_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
chloe_eags's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
vawiskandarrr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25