"Julia"- Book review and conversation about 1984, fascism, sexism, feminism, and totalitarianism
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Coach Hrncir reviews Sandra Newman's new novel, "Julia," a retelling of George Orwell's classic, 1984, told from the perspective of the female lead, Julia.
He reviews the book, without spoilers. Then, he dives deep into spoiler territory for both the new book, and Orwell's 1984. Don't worry, he warns you in the video before he gets into spoiler territory.
Join him for this fascinating and in depth conversation about fascism, totalitarianism, sexuality, and gender roles in an oppressive world.
Literature and Orwell fans, can we get Coach to 5,000 subscribers?!
Enjoy.
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Thanks for posting. My first instinct was that this book is kind of an an abomination, and you've confirmed that. I love the original novel - it's an immortal classic, and this book is an extreme feminist piggyback of something far superior. No sequels, prequels, reboots, re-imaginings, or cinematic universes need apply when it comes to Orwell's work. It's on a different level.
While I agree, I'm happy that I read it. And it made for an interesting conversation with my students. I read them a couple of the less racy excerpts and we discussed how these scenes fit their conception of Orwell's world. With the modern film landscape, they're well versed in the idea of a multiverse. It was interesting.
7:00 fascism? Orwell's Ocenia was quite explicitely Socialist. Newman's Oceania even more so!
By the way I do think that "She hated Big Brother" would have been an amazing way to conclude the story!
I don't know if those words would have made me feel any differently about the ending. What was there worked for me.
I'm seeing a lot of gatekeeping/nostalgia in the comments.
This novel was very well executed.
Sandra Newman did a solid job 👏🏾
That's fair. I liked the book a lot. A lot of times criticism can easily cross that fine line and begin to sour, and I think that's human to do so. 1984 is one of my favorite books, so when we compare things, it's natural to defend the thing we prefer.
The ending is so Animal Farm!
Good connection!
I want to thank you for the review. I haven’t read Julia, but I read the original 1984 translated into Russian several times, and even started reading in the author’s language, and thanks to the review, I realized that I shouldn’t start the book from the heroine’s point of view. I am sure that the book itself is written acceptably, but from the points you described, it does not fall into the style of books that I like. Most of all, probably, I was put off by the author’s language - if there really are a lot of strong expressions, then, in my opinion, it does not fit into Orwell’s world. Further, from the point of view of the plot, if what she really knew about the characters from Julia’s book simply comes down to fan service, to the “oh, this is a reference” effect, and in my opinion, it also looks out of place. I'm not a book critic, I just like the story and I didn't like the way Julia's author handled it. I don’t want to dwell in detail on the points you described, but your good review, in my case, shaped my opinion about the book. I wonder what the result would be if someone read Julia first and then the original, but I am no longer capable of such an experiment.
So you read Julia before 1984? You should definitely read the original. But honestly, some of the big twists and reveals are spoiled for you now.
@@pigskinpoetry no, only the original 1984. Sorry for unclear description
I enjoyed the book but it was deeply flawed. There were far too many conveniences. The way certain characters bumped into each other at specific critical times to suit the plot, very cheap and grating. I also think the mystery around Big Brother himself, the larger war of Oceania and Eurasia etc should be kept ambiguous and mysterious, the lines blurred on what is real or fabricated. Orwell always made it ambiguous..shrouded in mystery, it made everything so much more menacing/ ominous. Julia herself felt very appropriate and fit the perception well of what I thought she was like from my own 1984 interpretation. Overall the first two thirds were compelling but the last third kind of fell off for me... Learning the outcome of Ingsoc, the future was completely unnecessary. The lesbian angle felt a little cliche at this point but made sense within the context of the story. I find when you move away from an individual story in a specific time and place to a larger world changing one, a story tends to lose its charm and fascination. Keeping everything on the ground level makes it so much more personal.. relatable.
It's still worth a read, but the magic of 1984 is not knowing so much. The rabbit is now out of the hat, therefore the wonderings and theories become less interesting.
Thank you for talking about the book :)
That's pretty much how I feel. Thanks for articulating it so well.
I agree. Until the last Julia and Winston meeting, i loved it. Then.... sigh...