Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George Orwell: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

 

I don’t get why I hadn’t read this before. After having received it for Christmas last year, I thought I’d give it a try. The book was a delight.

            Nineteen Eighty-Four was written by George Orwell and published in 1949. It is set in Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, in the super state Oceania. The state is controlled by the Party, led by “Big Brother”; the great leader who may not even exist. This society is constantly monitored by the Party, where a single sign of independent thinking is considered “thoughtcrime” and must be punished. Whenever the Party claims something which is contradicted in any article or historical work, the texts must be changed to fit with what is currently being stated by the Party. In addition to doing this, the Party is also determined to change the way the citizens speak, to entirely remove individualism and any sense of justice or freedom. Controlling historical works and the way people speak, the Party’s plan is to control people’s minds too; a totalitarian society.

            The main character of the novel is Winston Smith. He is a member of the Outer Party and works on changing newspapers and writing new newspaper articles. In the novel we see how Winston tries to resist the Party and Big Brother, creating the plot of the book.

            The novel is full of descriptions of how the Party works, which is probably why it’s so scary to read. It seems as if Orwell is justifying the realism of the scenario. A lot of the argumentation makes sense, and we even see some traces of doublespeak in euphemisms used today (saying “neutralize” instead of “kill”, etc.) Seeing the realism of it is probably the scariest part of this book.

            The language is smooth and simple. Orwell’s simple use of language may be to show how much Winston’s range of thought has narrowed down because of the Party. It may also have been to get the message across to as many people as possible; the easier the language is, the more people will understand.

            The book was extremely exciting. It didn’t feel like reading at all. I couldn’t wait to find out more about Winston and his fate; whether he could find a way to destroy the Party. The novel is intriguing and so original that you just have to keep going.

 

Image from the movie adaptation, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984). The person on the screen in the middle of the picture is Big Brother.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I give it 5/5.

- Charlie.

The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield: Unspoken Emotions and Controversial Discussions

The Garden Parties and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Katherine Mansfield and published in 1922. Mansfield was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1888. During her life she lived in New Zealand, England and France. She died early, only 35 years old, suffering from tuberculosis. One of her friends, and another great author from that period, Virginia Woolf, said the following about her writing: "She was for ever pursued by her dying, and had to press on through stages that should have taken years in ten minutes . . . She had a quality I adored and needed; I think her sharpness and reality - her having knocked about with prostitutes and so on, whereas I had always been respectable - was the thing I wanted then. I dream of her often . . ."

 

Mansfield's writing is very similar to Woolf's. When reading the first short story, I immediately thought of Woolf, as I had already read a couple of her novels. The short story collection consists of 15 short stories (in the Penguin Classics version, other versions contain more): At the Bay, The Garden Party, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, Mr and Mrs Dove, The Young Girl, Life of Ma Parker, Marriage à la Mode, The Voyage, Miss Brill, Her First Ball, The Singing Lesson, The Stranger, Bank Holiday, An Ideal Family, and The Lady's Maid. The settings of the stories are New Zealand, England and the French Riviera.

 

The book has received a lot of praise for its use of narrative. If the short story is long (as some are: At the Bay, for instance, is 33 pages long!), the narrator is to a very large degree omniscient, meaning that we get to know what several people think and feel. In my opinion, this makes the stories more reflected and shows how there are multiple perspectives in a conflict.

 

The short stories are written in a simple language that is easy to understand. One is, however, required to read between the lines in all her stories; even though the narrator is omniscient, the characters' feelings are never clearly shown. One has to look at several actions made by the characters to understand how they feel.

 

The short story collection discusses various topics which were considered taboo at the time: homosexuality, racism, class struggle, sexism, etc. Another short story written by Mansfield, not included in this collection, Leves Amores (1907), received strong reactions due to the story being about two women going on a date. In The Garden Party and Other Stories injustice is shown by provocation through the characters' actions, which at our time would be seen as despicable. Displaying injustice in this manner shows the example of extreme cases, but they are nevertheless effective.

 

 

 

I am giving The Garden Party and Other Stories 5/5. I thought it was brilliant, and I loved every minute of reading it. I will definitely buy her other works and read them with pleasure.

 

- Charlie.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Stardust was written by Neil Gaiman in 2005. The author is known for having written several fantasy novels and children's books, namely Coraline, which was made into a movie in 2009. This year he also wrote the manuscript for "Nightmare in Silver"; an episode of Doctor Who in which the goal was to bring back the horror of Cybermen. Knowing this about Gaiman, I was looking forward to reading the novel. However only having read Coraline at this point, and not exactly gotten impressed by it, I had my doubts. I tried to keep in mind that Coraline was written as a children's book, though, and gave the author a clean slate when opening Stardust for the first time.

The story takes place "in the sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian era." This setting is definitely different from many other fantasy books; typically fantasy novels are set in the medieval age, often in an entirely different universe. The effect of this is an introduction that makes you stay and want to learn more about the place where the story is set. The protagonist, Tristran Thorn, leaves his hometown, Wall, to catch a fallen "to gain his Heart's Desire." To do this, he will have to walk deep into the Faerie; a mysterious land full of magic and strange beings. As he continues his journey he finds out that he is not the only one who wants the star; he also finds out more about his own past.

The novel is never boring; with 200 pages in length, Gaiman is able to keep up the pace. The novel is also filled with beautiful descriptions of Faerie, making for an interesting read. Though the novel describes witches and unicorns, it has been done in a very unorthodox manner, not making me feel like I have read it all before. The novel is also full of surprises, which makes me want to continue reading when I reach the end of every chapter.


I give this beautiful novel 4/5. The narrative was perfect, and the characters were original, but the plot was far from perfect. Except for at the end, the plot will sometimes feel a bit cliché.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, though!

- Charlie.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Boring Novel Read at School or an Interesting Read?

Although I did not read this work in connection with school, I have heard several people (mostly North-Americans) complaining online about this novel, saying how it is a tedious job to analyze it. I ordered the book online pretty cheap; I had heard of it before, and thought I would give it a try. To what extent is To Kill a Mockingbird actually as boring and uneventful as students claim it is?

The novel was published in 1960, and is supposed to take place in 1936. The story is based on the author's own experiences when she was 10 years old. The story takes place in Alabama, USA, where we follow the main character, Scout, and her brother, Jem. Their father, Atticus, is a lawyer who has been given the task of defending a black male convicted for molesting a white woman. The novel discusses racism to a very large extent merely through this part of the story. Class is also discussed, and the school system at the time. Considering the time it was set, the author does not spend much time mentioning Hitler and Nazi Germany, and instead chooses to focus more on prejudice in the American society.

The novel is in no way difficult to understand. Because we follow the perspective of a child, the language is simple and straightforward. The only thing I found "difficult" would be to read between the lines when there are things happening that Scout does not understand. A lot of this is cleared up later in the story, however, so even that is not really a problem. Also, despite many complaints about this book being tedious and boring, I was never once bored while reading it. Perhaps it is about preference; some people like fast-paced entertainment, while others are satisfied with stories that spend more time building up the tension. All in all, I liked reading the stories Scout had to offer, and I was never bored reading the work.

On the other hand, it may be worth noting that the novel is pretty long, meaning that you probably should not read it if you do not have the patience for it. If you want action and quick pacing, this is not the place to look. The story has been written in a very realistic way, and though the climax is very rewarding and really makes you think, the rest of the novel may not be as exciting for everyone.

My rating for this book is 5/5, mainly because I was sitting here trying to find anything negative to write about it except for the fact that it may not be the most exciting book in town. I absolutely loved reading it, and I would definitely read it again sometime just to see if there was anything I missed the first time (most likely). I loved it, and I recommend it to most people who are interesting in novels about history, racism and gender discrimination.

The next review will be on Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

- Charlie.

PS. Sorry about the big gap between the reviews. I will try to write more frequently from now on.