Others: Mostly positive Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of persons and behaviours within society. Orwell, himself a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian government in the novel after Stalinist Russia. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within politics and the ways in which they are manipulated.
Genres: fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, classics
Lists: …
Kurt Vonnegut
1956 · 192 pages · 15 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveSlaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.
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Aldous Huxley
1932 · 232 pages · 11 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveOriginally published in 1932, this outstanding work of literature is more crucial and relevant today than ever before. Cloning, feel-good drugs, antiaging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media -- has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 AF (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, Brave New World is both a warning to be heeded and thought-provoking yet satisfying entertainment. - Container.
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George Orwell
1945 · 118 pages · 4 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveAnimal Farm is a brilliant political satire and a powerful and affecting story of revolutions and idealism, power and corruption. 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges..
What made the match, strongest first
Ray Bradbury
1953 · 179 pages · 11 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveFahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The book's tagline explains the title as "'the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns": the autoignition temperature of paper. The lead character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge, eventually quitting his job and committing himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings. The novel has been the subject of interpretations focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas for change. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury said that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he described the book as a commentary on how mass media reduces interest in reading literature. In 1954, Fahrenheit 451 won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal. It later won the Prometheus "Hall of Fame" Award in 1984 and a "Retro" Hugo Award, one of a limited number of Best Novel Retro Hugos ever given, in 2004. Bradbury was honored with a Spoken Word Grammy nomination for his 1976 audiobook version.
What made the match, strongest first
Margaret Atwood
1985 · 334 pages · 19 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveThe Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England, in a strongly patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state, known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government. The central character and narrator is a woman named Offred, one of the group known as "handmaids", who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the "commanders" — the ruling class of men in Gilead. The novel explores themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society, loss of female agency and individuality, and the various means by which they resist and attempt to gain individuality and independence. The Handmaid's Tale won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award.
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Franz Kafka
1915 · 91 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveMetamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect (German: ungeheueres Ungeziefer, lit. "monstrous vermin") and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, with differing interpretations being offered. In popular culture and adaptations of the novella, the insect is commonly depicted as a cockroach. With a length of about 70 printed pages over three chapters, it is the longest of the stories Kafka considered complete and published during his lifetime. The text was first published in 1915 in the October issue of the journal Die weißen Blätter under the editorship of René Schickele. The first edition in book form appeared in December 1915 in the series Der jüngste Tag, edited by Kurt Wolff.
What made the match, strongest first
Mixed1984 is a great example where your critical lens might see that this is a book criticizing authoritarian government, but your cultural contextual lens will take into account that this was written in the 1940s. It's not just about some random madeup fictional future dystopian.
Loved itI was so invested in the outcome of this book. And when it comes to endings, sometimes a book can feel like a kick in the gut or a stab in the heart. Well, 1984 to me felt like a nuclear bomb to the soul.
Loved itwhenever I read 1984 I've read it dozens of times I still get something out of it there's so much in it's so rich
Loved it'1984' is a book that I'll just never ever forget reading. So I love them.
Loved it2018 was the first year that I'd ever read this and it was an eye-opening experience. I find George Orwell's writing to be very easy to read.
Not a fanI felt really uncomfortable reading this book there was just some themes or whatever going through it I just didn't like it ... I thought it was really boring and the main character I just did not like him at all
Loved itI was very much impressed with this book and even though it made me feel creeped out I feel like it was very important and it's one of those novels that is so important to read whether you live today or whether you lived in 1948 when it was published
Loved itI absolutely adored this book it's my favorite George Orwell I loved all the themes I loved doing a critique of it in class and i just adore this book so much
Not a fanI think this was mostly a case of disappointment that is why I didn't like this book and why it's in my least favorite books of last year I was expecting this to be awesome and super epic and it was really hard to get through
