1984 by George Orwell

review (or ramblings) by Maryom

BEWARE - SPOILERS!

"Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal."

We all know - or think we know - George Orwell's 1984; the story of dull office worker Winston Smith who rebels against The Party and ends up in Room 101....with rats.....  I first read it many, many years ago as a teenager and at some point between then and now I've re read it a couple of times but my memory of it was a little vague so as it was lying around the house (daughter's A level reading) I picked it up...

I remembered a gripping dystopian novel full of tension, but this time it just seemed flat and boring - in fact my overwhelming thought was 'How dull!' For a long while, the most exciting thing to happen was the un-blocking of a drain! Left to my own devices it would easily have succumbed to the 50 page rule - if it's not grabbed me by then, I don't feel there's any point in continuing - but there was a certain amount of nagging in the form of "I've had to read it, so you should" from my daughter, so I struggled on. And to be honest, it was a struggle.
Orwell's dystopian, totalitarian future might have been shocking back in the day but it's too familiar now and lots of spy thriller or sci-fi novels have given a better portrayal of life under such a regime. Aspects have migrated into popular culture, and suffered on the way; Room 101 has become a BBC comedy programme, consigning celebrities' pet hates to oblivion; Big Brother's now a TV reality show; and parts of the torture scene seem to have been directly lifted to appear in Star Trek TNG (ep 137 Chain of Command II) where they actually appear more terrifying.
  1984's main problem for me though was that none of the characters to gained my sympathy. Neither Winston nor his lover Julia appeared fully fleshed out, and I cared about neither of them; O'Brien's role seemed obvious from his first appearance, though, ok, I've read it before, but Winston must have been extraordinarily naive to trust him; the torture scenes were mild in comparison to many I've seen on TV or film; and what happened to the rats? In my memory they'd had a much larger, far more terrifying role.

My reaction would probably have been very different if I'd read this back in 1948 when it was published, and I'm sure it was different when I first read it in the 1970s but now it just seems tired and showing its age.

Not so long ago I read Yevgeny Zamyatin's  "We" , a much more engaging read, with a very similar plot and written earlier than Orwell's novel.

Publisher - Penguin Classics
Genre - adult fiction, dystopian, classic

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave A True History
review by Maryom

At first sight this may seem a slightly strange and out of the way book to review  but a while ago I read a blog post at Iris on Books about it. Although I was aware of Aphra Behn as a 17th century female playwright, I didn't realise she'd also written novels - so my curiosity was roused.

 Oroonoko is an African prince who falls in love with a beautiful young girl, Imoinda but is separated from her by the King, who forces her to join his harem. When even this fails to quench their love, Imoinda is sentenced to death, but secretly sold into slavery. Meanwhile, Oroonoko himself is captured, transported to Surinam as a slave and, surprise, surprise, finds his true love again! Here he's treated as an almost equal by his 'owners' but this fails to satisfy him and he plans his escape.

As with a lot of the early novels, it's told as a 'true history' which the author allegedly heard from the hero himself. Although it held my attention, Oroonoko, like a lot of early fiction, is a story to read more for curiosity than entertainment. It doesn't have the scope and depth that we would expect from a modern novella.  It's certainly short - which I'd sort of expected, but of 100 pages in the book, 77 pages comprise the actual story - there are 20 pages of notes at the back and 40 pages of introduction to Aphra Behn, her life, her work, the political context etc. - all helpful if you're studying 17th century fiction no doubt.  Aphra Behn's attitude to slavery was rather puzzling and variable - sometimes she accepts it as part of the normal course of things, at others she opposes it. It certainly came over that it was fine for 'commoners' to be sold into slavery, but not royalty!

A good read for anyone with an interest in the development of the novel or historical attitudes toward the slave trade. Not one I'd recommend to the casual reader though.

Publisher - Penguin Classics
Genre - adult fiction

Buy Oroonoko (Penguin Classics) from Amazon

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Wisteria and Sunshine - who could resist?
review by Maryom

Enticed by the promise of wisteria and sunshine, four ladies leave cold, wet London for a month at the castle of San Salvatore in Italy. They each have something that in their individual ways, they're running away from. Both Lottie and Rose are trapped in unhappy marriages; Mrs Fisher believes that nothing is quite as it was in 'the good old days' and Lady Caroline is trying to escape the hectic rounds and demands of Society. In the glorious, almost heavenly, surroundings of San Salvatore they 'find themselves' - for want of a better expression.

This is an oldish favourite of mine that I originally discovered through the 1992 film, starring Miranda Richardson and Josie Lawrence, and that I was prompted into re-reading  by a blog post at Iris on Books about another of von Arnim's novels,  The Solitary Summer
A lot of readers might dismiss it as lacking in action or too touchy-feely for their liking, but The Enchanted April is a book that never fails to work its magic on me. Starting in a dark, damp London February and moving to the heat and light of an Italian April, this is the perfect novel for Spring reading. The reader, too, can leave behind doom, gloom and persistent rain and bask in glorious sunshine.
Something more that appeals to me, as a gardener, is the gorgeous, luxuriant garden surrounding the castle where Spring and Summer flowers all bloom together in a mad rush, cascading down the hillside - one day I'll have one just like it!

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Virago
Genre - Adult Fiction, Literary


Other reviews; Dusty Old Books 
                       The Worm Hole

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Ahead of its Time?
review by Maryom

The Mole came across this a few weeks ago while chatting on FB, borrowed it from the library, read and reviewed it. I'd never heard of it, so I thought I'd read it now while it was still out on loan.
In the totalitarian world of OneState people have no names - only numbers. All aspects of life are planned and regimented by the "Benefactor" - when to eat, work, sleep, even when to have sex! D-503 is happy enough in his work as designer of the INTEGRAL rocket until he meets the attractive and unorthodox I-330. She shows him that there is life outside the narrow confines of OneState and tries to persuade him to join with an underground movement intent on liberating the populace.
A warning of what may happen if we start to abandon our freedom as individuals, there are lots of obvious parallels with 1984 and many other sci-fi stories that I've read but can't put a title to. We is a very readable book in its own right and, despite being written in the 1920s, modern in feel. At times I wondered how much of the narrators confusion was intended by the author or just lost in translation, but overall it read well.
An interesting, thought-provoking read.


The Mole's review

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Penguin Classics
Genre - Sci-Fi

Buy We (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) from Amazon