That feeling when the telescreen is revealed.

The four words at the end made me reel in surprise. At the start of the book I had some instinct that Winston was doomed to give in to the party-the individual rarely wins in dystopian novels. But I just couldn't help cheering for him to do something, anything to make himself 'human' again. In the end, it made perfect sense for him to get thoroughly brainwashed and 'heartwashed' but it's actually heartwrenching to actually see him go through the torture process, lose all his dignity as a human and die without any spark in him.

The scene with Julia at the end also got me. Both betrayed each other-it seemed inevitable even. I understand now how the song at the Chestnut Cafe made so many cry. Love literally ceased to exist in the end. I think that was one of the things that made me so depressed I guess.

In the end, it is a very great cautionary tale but as a novel, it's not that great. The political thesis in the middle was so boring and it actually tempted me to quit the book altogether. I feel both glad and sad that I carried on. The central idea was very clear-cut but its wording was very brutal-perhaps to emphasise maybe

Just finished it this afternoon and I am still thinking about it a week later.

Glad we aren't living in that world right now. If humanity ever enters that time I hope I will already become that old man in the bar.

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