Theyve all got pretty bleak endings, they all paint a pretty grim picture of humankind, but theyve all got an important story to tell. For 500 odd pages, all she does is travel to belgium to teach at a girls school, mopes around after a male teacher, then goes home again. In the past i tended to skim over books that are bleak and depressing and 1984 is certainly that but it is much more. It is amazing how the author envisioned the world 35 years in advance. What is george orwells 1984 about, when was the novel. It is one of the most depressing books ever written. Unlike other dystopias 1984 is completely devoid of any sense of hope or progression to a better society. And when we do say it, why is it often meant as a negative thing. I first read 1984 when i was 16 and found it depressing and joyless. Big brother controls every aspect of peoples lives. Those liberties were to the detriment of one of the most powerful and depressing books ever written. Hey all,i am recently reading george orwells novel called 1984 and wow is all i have to say. The bills come in from all those generous gifts you gave back when the holiday spirit had. Movie director paul greengrass is in the process of making a film production of the novel.
The story was mostly written at barnhill, a farmhouse on the scottish island of jura, at times while orwell suffered from severe tuberculosis. The brilliant and depressing 1984 version of nineteen eightyfour, starring john hurt as winston and richard burton in his final role as obrien, with a soundtrack by eurythmics, is far more true to the original novel, but is often compared unfavorably to terry gilliams surreal dystopian movie brazil which came out one year later, in 1985. The worst thing about this is that the pearl is only one of steinbecks impressive list of depressing books. The most controversial books of all time readers digest. First published in 1949, george orwell writes the story which takes place in london in 1984. In ray bradburys vision of the future, firemen start fires to burn books. There was nuclear fallout, the holocaust, government oppression, poverty, mental illness and the savage nature of humanity itself, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. I know there is the debate of fiction and belief as it pertains to the author, but i think that in the sheer amount of negative descriptive terms used you can get a good idea of. Earlier this year abebooks asked you to identify your most depressing reads and you came up with some desperately bleak books.
Top 193 books published in 1984 that people have added on goodreads. Most depressing book ever, and i read it about 40 years ago put me off reading classic novels permanently. What is the most depressing and cynical book you have ever. Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, nineteen eightyfour is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. In huxleys imaginings of the year 2540, a strictly segregated society is enslaved by fordism, consumerism, the pursuit of pleasure and an antidepressant called soma. Every tribe, society and nation has a spirit and madness that every individual has to fight, in 1984 these 2 individuals julia and winston are broken, bent and broken to a point that they are scarred for life.
The most depressing books ever worlds strongest librarian. Since it was released 67 years ago, some parts of 1984 have come creepily true. Given the recent resurgence in the popularity of orwells classic, these 1984 book covers illustrate the way the novel has been perceived over time. I think i can safely say ive read more books than every year old in year 910th grade in my school and i often say i have read the saddest book ever but even though of mice and men was the shortest book ive ever read since primary school it truly the saddest, overwhelming, heartbreaking and emotional book i will ever read and i honestly. Winston works for the ministry of truth, spending most of his day falsifying facts and rewriting past articles to correlate lies. Most dystopian books tend to be depressing but this, apart from 1984, takes the cake. If there was every a literary classic destined to become a coloring book. Now reading it 29 years later, i can see the novel for the masterpiece that it is. Germinal by emile zola top 15 most depressing books. Since the beginning of seventh grade the most depressing books ive ever read include. For the most part i enjoyed the book but there were many parts throughout it that made me lose interest but usually i gained the interest back once that part would end. Every descriptive term, every moment, is a teachable moment in the perversity of men and the filthiness of the world. The book 1984 by george orwell is a book about a dystopian world.
The government controls every aspect of citizens lives, installing telescreens in every home to spew propaganda and spy, and microphones in places where. You can also see every thing george orwell predicted it came true. The best books of 2020 if you read anything this year, make it. Every individual has to struggle when they are against big brother, the system as a whole. The books that ive read and loved have become a part of who i am, a part of myself which i nurture and cherish. While the totalitarian system that provoked him into writing it has since passed into oblivion, his harrowing cautionary tale of a man trapped in a political nightmare has had the opposite fate. Brave new world on the other hand was familiar and as a very young person i would have found the concepts interesting. A look at some of the ways george orwells 1984 has come.
Nineteen eightyfour revealed george orwell as one of the twentieth centurys greatest mythmakers. What is the most depressing book you have ever read. Which is the most depressing book that you have read. Lord of the flies william golding a child called it. But books that make us sad are not necessarily the most depressing books. January 24th is on record as being the most depressing day of the year.
The pearl by john steinbeck the promise of riches and a better life violently ripped away and killing babies. However, because of this brilliant author it makes you smarter after all going through this book. What do we really mean when we say a book or other piece of art is depressing. Norman mailers war classic the naked and the dead was the bestselling book in the country every week for over a year. Germinal by emile zola picking the most downbeat of the 20 novels of emile zolas rougonmacquart novelcycle, one is. It is depressing but this is the horror of totalitarianism. But unlike 1984, the population are happy in their controlled homogeneity, where freedom is to be feared and individuality is threateningly savage. The year is, of course, 1984, and london is the capital of. Jail is cruel and dehumanizing but most of all its boring. Signet classicamazon when george orwell penned his nowfamous dystopian novel. Both can be depressing in their own ways, but my god the fixer was just another level. It occurs to you to go back to it for no particular reason, of course. I struggle with depression, so i try to avoid books that deal with depression or have accurate descriptions of what it feels like the perks of being a wallflower is one of these. I was 25 years old, in a new state, and doing 30 days.
Sometimes its done in a way that acknowledges the depression but keeps the reader from being in the characters headspace, or there are other things going on and enough redemption that it. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist george orwells nightmarish vision of a. The diary of a young girl by anne frank, 1984 by george orwell, the road by cormac mccarthy, night by elie wiesel, bridg. So here are of the most deeply depressing books youll ever read. The problem with the film, like the book, is that people will find it too bleak and horrific to really appreciate it. Below is a list of some of our favorite books that have made us cry in public. Can anyone recommend me extremely saddepressing books.
Where the red fern grows, the kite runner, ann frank diary of a young girl, of mice and men, my sisters keeper, a child called it, island of the blue dolphins, fences, the outsiders, the pearl diver, lord of the flies, to kill a mockingbird, romeo and. Did you find the ending of the novel 1984 depressing. So, it would be easy to believe the theory set forth by dr. A novel, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by english novelist george orwell. One of the most depressing books i have ever read was the fixer by bernard malamud. Lets say that you have a hankering to reread george orwells 1984, whichif youre around my ageyou probably had as assigned reading at some point in high school. Because ive read lots of books that cause alarm, especially cynicalfuture books like the handmaids tale, 1984, or fahrenheit 451. George orwells 1984, published in 1949, was controversial because at the time it came into the world, the thought police and the ministry of. The language has written goes back to 70 years ago in british, so it has some very advanced vocabulary that i have never heard of. Cult fiction top 10 list top ten list top 10 most depressing quotes from orwells 1984 big brother thought police winston smith george orwell quotes war is peace freedom is slavery ignorance is strength 1984 book cover by mugodzilla on deviantart one of my fav books of all time, it can upset me every time i read it.