Interestingly, I had a conversation with a student about
precisely this issue. Of course, overtly at least, this excellent dystopian novel is
written in very accessible and simple English. The level of vocabulary is not too
elevated and there is a sense in which Orwell is trying to communicate his story simply
and effectively.
However, and this is what my student
discovered, there are parts of this novel that are a lot more complicated and that are
written with a much higher level of sophistication and complexity. The main example of
this is the lengthy addition of the book within a book, when Winston Smith reads
The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel
Goldstein, which really discusses quite complex topics such as world politics, history,
policy and strategies for maintaining control. These chapters are very different from
the normal style of the novel, and are definitely more of a challenge to
read.
In spite of this, I would still argue that this is an
unpretentious work. There is a definite sense in which parts are more readable than
others, but apart from this, the novel does not come across as pretentious in my
opinion.
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