✍️ Written by: George Orwell
🏷️ Genre: Sci-fi
🗓️ Published: 08 June 1949
📄 Pages: 368
🧐 My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

1984 has been on my "to read" list for years, but I've never actually taken the time to read it, until now.

Overall it was pretty good. I didn't think it read like a book that's 75 years old, which is a credit to how forward thinking Orwell was. I would have given it more stars, but I felt the story focussed on Winston and Julia's love affair too much.

I get it, that's what the book was about - how they were "sticking it to the man" by having the relationship, but I personally would have preferred the story to focus more on the strict dystopian society that they found themselves in, and more of the nuance it contained.

Either way, a good read and I'm glad I finally read it.

• Books