Terrible Reviews of Great Books: 1984 by George Orwell

There is no such thing as a universally loved book. In this series, I revisit Time’s 100 best English-language novels and unpack the weirdest reasons readers can’t stand them. From the nasty to the snarky to the downright absurd, I’ll highlight some of the strange reasons why some people hate these great reads. It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these features and what could be more appropriate for review than 1984 by George Orwell.

1984 by George Orwell was first published in 1949 and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. In 2024, it saw a 300% increase in sales, and you’ve probably come across quotes from the book floating around social media—usually posted alongside some variation of “this is basically happening right now.”

Interestingly, the book didn’t win any major awards during Orwell’s lifetime, but it has since become one of those novels that critics love to canonize. It landed on Time’s list of the 100 best novels, was inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction in 1985, won the Retro Hugo Award in 1996, and even made it onto the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. In other words, it’s kind of a big deal.

1984 is is an unsettling dystopian novel about a future society ruled by constant surveillance, government propaganda, and total control over truth and individual freedom. It follows Winston Smith as he quietly rebels against a regime that punishes independent thought and rewrites reality itself. Is it bleak? Yes, but it’s also considered one of the most influential books of the last century.

And readers agree… mostly.

The book has 122,609 customer reviews on Amazon. The average rating is 4.6 stars and only 1% are 1 star reviews. On Goodreads it gets a 4.2 average rating from over 5 million ratings. Most of the 1% reviews on amazon were due to bad formatting or complaints about the editions that people received and not critiques of the actual content. But the remaining reviews? They are… something special. Here are some gems from the 1-star reviews.

NOTE: I did not edit for grammar or spelling. All reviews were copied exactly as posted on Amazon or Goodreads.

• To me it is in the class of garbage books.
• I am trying to digest this horrible book. Its purpose, so far in my reading if it, is to make clear, or attempt, that people and government are disgustingly horrible. After a bunch of scifi about Big Brother watching thru the TV it inserts a mini novel at the 2/3rds point. This 2nd novel ALSO enforces how horrible people and government COULD/MIGHT be. Back many decades I was assigned this in high school…. why? Well, because it is marxist propoganda intended to corrupt a young mind. Thank GOD I did not read it then.
• I have recommendations for you if you feel the need to enjoy actual literature or film instead of depressing joy void rants such as Orwell’s novel. These things cover the same basic premise of 1984, (some in a round about way) but the journey and characters actually make it worth your time.
•  No government will ever be like that. Humans would overthrow any government long before it got to that point. But besides the talk from conspiracy cuckoos or people living in some fantasy world, the book itself was so incredibly boring i am amazed i even finished it. They could have easily made it a 20 page short story and it still would have dragged on too long. One of the worst books i ever read. If you want a book about a controlling society, Animal Farm by this author is much better and actually more realistic… despite talking livestock! I would not recommend this book to my worst enemy.
• I expected a book that was non fiction but that was not the case. When I started reading it, I was disappointed so I stopped altogether.
• All that being said, I would not ever suggest this book to my grandchildren. Why put this ‘stuff’ in their heads.
• my favourite part was when winston was reading the book to julia and she fell asleep
• It was boring and thecauthor seemed to delight in describing the hideous details of torture. I would not recommend it to anyone, even my worst enemy. Why would anyone wany their head full of this disgusting garbage. The book should never have been printed. 
• misogynistic shit
• Praise the lord and pass the amunition, I am finished with this beast of a book. My brain feels like sludge, I just want to crawl into a hole and forget all that was engrained into my poor head. Why, oh why did I have the noble idea to read such a monster? How am I supposed to rate such s#@$????? 
  I believe, like some of you that this might have been better had I read it in a class or with a group. Alone it was fingernails to chalkboard miserable.
• I finally finished 1984, and honestly, it felt less like reading a novel and more like serving a sentence. Page after page of dull descriptions, gloomy thoughts, and characters who seem determined to drain any remaining joy from the reader.

If nothing else, these reviews prove that even one of the most famous novels ever written can’t compete with the rage of someone who thought they were buying nonfiction.

We want to hear from you? Did you read this book? What did you think?

Want to read more? You can check out our past Terrible Reviews of Great Books:

The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
The Lord of the Rings
Nineteen Eighty Four
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Flies
Animal Farm
The Catcher in the Rye
The Grapes of Wrath