Overall, what do you think of “Julia”? (no spoilers)

Overall, what do you think of "Julia"? (no spoilers in this thread please)

Overall, I thought it was interesting. I am always intrigued by the female perspective in a work of fiction and in this case I was very curious about how Sandra Newman would adhere to the ambience and events of Orwell's "1984". I feel she did an admirable job in capturing the atmosphere of the previous work and in matching the situations and events and emotions we are familiar with in the classic. It added so much to the narrative to learn of Julia's actions, thoughts and emotions and I am glad "Julia" is now part of my book collection.

This book was not what was expected; it came off as unsettling and a bit disappointing. It would be difficult to recommend this book to anyone else. It was a bit of a waste of time with no redeeming qualities.

After reading Julia I reread 1984. Although I did not like Julia in this book I did like reading how she survived though this horrible time.

I agree with Tired Bookreader. I can't recommend this book to anyone.

I thought it excellent, both in its own right and in comparison to 1984. Like most of us, I've read "1984", but decades ago, so I reread it and found it labored in comparison. I found Newman's take refreshing and insightful. I particularly appreciated how she added additional depth to the world of "1984" and how she so cleverly reframed the character of Julia.

JuliaB took the words out of my mouth (er... keyboard?). I didn't have a lot of hope for this book when I asked for it, but ended up thinking it was way better than 1984. I think I have a bias against books that are a rewrite of others, but Julia proved to me that it can be well done and can provide more layers to the original story. Julia was actually one of my favorite books of the year.

I'm curious - If you didn't like the book, what about it did you find lacking?

I read 1984 before Julia arrived and found it to be stark and chilling. It was to the point, sparse, and really portrayed the fear that people felt. On the other hand, I felt Julia elaborated on the story with more depth and description. I knew more about her world and the evil intent of authoritarian power than in 1984. I liked seeing the women’s point of view and how the regimentation effected every minute of life, anybody see any parallels to todays limitations on women’s reproductive health care and governments interference? A warning for us all about one party making decisions that the majority doesn’t agree with.

I haven’t read 1984 and, after reading Julia, I can guarantee you I never will. This was the most depressing, hard-to-continue, hopeless book I’ve ever read. If I thought our future even remotely resembled this portrayal, I’d jump off a bridge. This was not an uplifting, light-at-the-end of the tunnel, representation of the future of humanity. I loved Pollyanna.

With the first chapter of Julia I felt Ms. Newman captured the essence of Orwell’s 1984. I really appreciated reading about the same experiences from Julia’s perspective. I cannot judge how Winston or Julia acted or reacted because I’ve been fortunate to live in the USA with the freedoms afforded by our Republic in the Constitution. This document affords Americans freedoms unparalleled in any other country. When Orwell wrote Animal Farm and 1984 he was presenting a cautionary tale as to how totalitarian governments oppress. In particular he had the contemporary experience seeing how Stalin and Mao had subjected the people and destroyed rich histories. Consider that if Chiang Kai Shek and the Nationalists had not transported the treasures of China to Taiwan, all of those artifacts would have been destroyed by the red guards during the Cultural Revolution, when children reported their parents, neighbors reported neighbors, landowners were murdered, and property confiscated. I think 1984 and Julia should be REQUIRED reading for every high school or college student followed by a vigorous discussion. These books are supposed to be enlightening and depressing. It is easy to consider that the theory of Marxism is aspirational. However, these books, albeit fiction, establish how these totalitarian societies actually work.

I thought Newman did an excellent job of bringing the world of Big Brother to life, making it real and vivid in a way far more compelling and relevant to our world today than Orwell’s—which, to be fair, he wrote as he lay dying, and which he thought of as a political fable rather than a novel. And his insights are brilliant, his plot and setting are chilling, but the characters did not seem real. Newman does more than give us a female protagonist, while remaining true to the plot; she develops our understanding of how women would be exploited in Big Brother’s world, and also how regardless of gender, how essential human needs, emotions and relationships would be thwarted, exploited or twisted in this world—-aspiration, intimacy, parenthood… We need this wake-up call.

I absolutely disagree with the folks who did t like this book. Yes, it is incredibly unsettling, but that’s the goal. It depicts a totalitarian fascist regime and does it by pulling threads from our modern life. It is not a one sitting reading, but it’s ability to make you feel trapped is it’s conceit. It’s hard because it is too close to what already exists. It makes its point and then some.

I was hesitant to request JULIA since I never loved 1984 but felt (and still feel) Orwell's novel was important in its warning about wannabe dictators and totalitarian governments. Afterall, I never forgot reading 1984 and never forgot how depressing and frightening that world was. As soon as I began reading Newman's retelling, I felt that she had captured Orwell's depressing atmosphere. I appreciate the fact that Newman provides readers with a glimpse into the life of women in Big Brother's scary world, and this aspect might entice a new generation of students to read 1984 along with JULIA. The depressing and frightening aspect of both books could lead to some very interesting political discussions in the classroom. However, I don't think schools should assign only JULIA because the story really is Orwell's. So Newman has expanded and fleshed it out, and in a way... is this literary fan fiction?

I read 1984 before starting Julia and am glad I did. 1984 was bleak, sparse and depressing. I had trouble finishing it, wanting to put it down and not pick it back up several times. After finally finishing it, I picked up Julia and was surprised at the depth of the novel. The author really captured the atmosphere of 1984, but was also able to provide more information about Party politics and tactics. Julia's character was fleshed out and interesting. While the subject matter was depressing and at times shocking, the story was engrossing and I could not put the book down for three days until I finished it.

I'm not sure this added much to 1984. I guess we are supposed to be engaged by a "woman's perspective," but again I can't see that this added much.

I really had a hard time getting through the book because of some of the darkness and hate.
Being someone you are not, always afraid that you are not portrayed the way "they" want you to be.
Having to change words/speech, being careful of what words you say in public to others.
It certainly was interesting to say the least.

I had a difficult time connecting with this book and with its characters. It never felt real to me. It took me a long time to finish Julia because it never drew me in. I enjoy "getting lost" in a book even if it's an unsettling one. The many descriptions of Julia's sex life seemed gratuitous and added little to the story. The torture was certainly graphic, but didn't frighten or chill me in the same way evil and heinous acts have affected me in other novels. The unveiling of Big Brother as a pathetic old man reminded me of the Wizard of Oz - did that occur in Orwell's 1984? I appreciate receiving both Julia and Orwell's 1984. I have never read 1984, but am interested in doing so now. I would be curious to hear from others who read Julia first.

Newman does a good job re-presenting Orwell's story 1984 from a different character's viewpoint. She handles that viewpoint extremely well. 1984 is not a happy or easy book to read. Newman does not change that at all in Julia, and yet.......

I had not read 1984 but decided to go ahead and read Julia first. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the time to read 1984 first only because 1984 seemed to do a better job helping me understand some of the fundamental elements and jargon in Oceania. For this reason, it made it a bit harder for me to dig into this book and really appreciate the first few chapters of Julia.
I read 1984 right after finishing Julia and found the details in 1984 made me go back and reread parts of Julia to better understand the female perspective of someone living in a 1984 world. Newman did an admirable job flushing out Julia’s life while staying true to Orwell’s 1984, especially with creating a strong female protagonist in a world dominated and run by men.
With the year 1984 now 39 years behind us, it’s possible that today, fewer people will pick up Orwell’s book. I think Julia brings to life what happens when a government evolves to one like the Inner Party but in a way that is little less labored with regard to the nitty-gritty details of the Inner Party’s workings and for that reason, I hope this fresh approach will be a book that many people read so that they see how this is a wake up call to understand and prevent some of the events with regard to falsifying, misrepresenting and censoring information, books, etc.

Overall, I thought the book was quite good. I had low expectations when I started it as 1984 is such a classic. However, the author did an admirable job of translating the story into the perspective of Julia. Do I like it as much as 1984? No, but I liked it a lot nonetheless.

I was not a fan of this interpretation of 1984. I did go back and read 1984 again before I read Julia, and I found this retelling to lack the gusto of the original.

I liked Julia but felt it could have been so much more than it was so I guess I’d say I was disappointed. I wanted more depth and detail
It did not have the same impact 1984 did and I think it could have

The novel was chilling from beginning to end, dystopian beyond anything I could imagine. Scenes and episodes were meticulously described although some of the sex was unnecessarily crude. Julia was hard to put down but I felt relieved when I finished the book because the intensity was overwhelming.

First - I was intrigued by how many did not like this book. I was completely enthralled by it. If I was in Julia's shoes I'm not sure I could be as independent thinking as she was. While she tried to follow the rules, on the outside, she was never completely in with them. I thought she would either surrender her soul or break out at any given time. The oppression was incredible to live under. How could there be any other way to live but deceptively. The only nice person was Vicky and she also was deceptive. She had to hide her love for Julia to survive. I thought the author did an excellent job of bringing the horror of women's lives into perspective.

Basically, I finished Julia in despair at the hopelessness. The thought that there is no end to the bitterness of life. And then I realized, not to be political, that we aren’t far from those times and might very well be headed that way. Julia sure isn’t light reading

Julia is a thought-provoking heavy read. At times I struggled to continue reading it because I felt overwhelmed by the despair and hopelessness.
Twice I woke up from a sound sleep and thought about Julia and wondered what would become of her.

I would not want to re-read Julia, but I am glad I read it. After the holidays are over, I am planning on reading 1984 to see how my thoughts may have changed since I read it more than twenty years ago.

Overall, Julia was an interesting read, although a slow read for me.
Dystopian books are disturbing and this book followed that path of making one edgy and disappointed in humankind. Maybe part of the discomfort comes from the feeling that some of the book’s points were to close to reality.

It took me a little while to get into the story, but overall I found it to be an interesting retelling of 1984.

I don't always want to read unsettling books, but I definitely agree with those who previously talked about the importance of occasionally seeing the less-than-appealing aspects of life. Then again, I often wonder how classics would be different if told from someone else's point of view and loved Newman's take on Orwell. I have actually recommended this to many of my teacher friends and can see a number of ways to incorporate excerpts or the entire text into a curriculum, especially one that focuses on point of view.

Overall, I really enjoyed Julia. I love stories that retell an original story/myth/event, etc. from a female perspective as female have been an active participant in every aspect of life.

I think this proves helpful for females to see, read, and learn that females are capable and can play an important roles in every aspect of life that they choose.