The Safe Pages Rating
Romance
There was a romantic relationship between the two main characters. Although there were no descriptive details, there was reference and implication of sexual relations throughout the book between the two characters. The main character also pondered sex in the new 1984 which can be distrubing.
Violence
There was reference to a lot of violence in the book. The main character goes through torture, although it is not necessarily graphic. The society is a violent and controlling one.
Language
The swearing was not extensive, but there were several instances of the “F***” word and a few other inappropriate words.
Drugs and Alcohol
The main character drank gin almost every day, although there were no scenes of drunkness. There was mention of wine and the change of alcohol in the new world.
Diversity
There were characters of different ethnicity with an emphasis on all of the different people being in the same controlled position.
Demographic
Because of the tough concepts, sexual references, and language in 1984, I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of 16.
There are a lot of lessons to learn in the book. A lot of it reflects our current society and ideas which can be haunting.
I had had 1984 on my reading list for years. It was a book I had never gotten around to reading until now. I was surprised by the storyline and all the relevant metaphors. The most disturbing part of the book was the ending because the brainwashing worked and the society kept on going as it had before. We are so used to books where good wins and prevails, but that was not the case with this book.
The reading was surprisingly easy for the year it was published. The language was easy to understand and it flowed well. I sometimes feel that older books have a lot of excess verbiage that can be unnecessary, but I thought 1984 was clear and concise.
The Safe Pages Rating System
Content Unsuitable
Read at your own discretion
Safe Pages Approved!