1984 - Finished

I finished up 1984 last night and I want to say how much I love the ending to this book. Orwell could have made the ending a happy (and implausible) one, but instead he maintains the continuity and near-omniscience of the thought police. The shop owner being a member of the thought police is such a beautiful turnabout, and the best part is that it's completely unexpected: the reader never sees it coming. Their torture methods are brutal and pinpoint Winston's fears: rats. Then Winston and Julia meet up after they've been reeducated, which is so brilliant. Their exposition, where they come to the realization that they didn't love each other (and maybe never knew what love meant) was so perfect and concise that I have a hard time putting into words how much I loved that scene. The ending is fantastic, there's no great overthrow of the Party, no revolution occurs, nobody ends up better off, it's just a completely brainwashed Winston waiting for his eventual execution (the part where he recognizes that he loves Big Brother was brilliant).