Hey wait, what? Yeah, in Delirium, love has been identified as a disease, which can be deadly for the infected person. When one is ‘cured’, he or she will be married to someone already matched earlier to them and they will supposedly live together peacefully and lead normal lives without the complications of love or heartbreak.

Lena may be impatient for her turn to receive the cure but she can’t help thinking back of her mother who committed suicide when Lena was still a child. Unlike other parents, her mother was as loving and fun as Lena could remember. Her mother even said those forbidden words – I love you – to her.

Still, Lena thinks the cure is the best thing for her. That is until she meets Alex, the guy with hair like autumn leaves. She never expected to fall in love with him but that’s what happened. She has never felt like this before and the days towards her procedure are passing by quickly. Now that Lena’s up in the clouds of love, she’s not so keen in getting the cure after all.

There’s been a lot of hype around this book and I was glad to download it from the very awesome Netgalley. I read the synopsis and thought ‘Wow, a story where love is a disease? Not bad.’ The beginning was interesting. I liked reading about Lena’s life, her family and friends. The government that runs Portland, where she lives, sounds very familiar like the one in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. There is constant monitoring on the daily activities of the people so there is no complete privacy and less opportunity for funny business.

I did not know what were ‘sympathizers’ and ‘resisters’ but I sort of figured them out as I continued reading. Anyway, there was no extra background on how love was called a disease. And did none of them ever traveled to other countries? Or people from other countries traveling and staying in the United States?

Lena’s relationship with Alex was new and unexplored so it should be exciting. But I wasn’t really pulled in to the story during the chapters on the new lovebirds. I was glued back to the story at the last few chapters though, wondering about their impending fate.

As for the ending, it’s a cliffhanger. There will be a sequel, Pandemonium, and its expected publication is on March 6 next year.

So, the story’s about Winston Smith who lives in London, Oceania. It’s the year 1984 and there are only 3 countries in the world: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. Oceania is always at war with both countries but will always insist that it has been at war with one country at all times. Meaning, if they’re at war with Eurasia now means that they’ve always been at war with Eurasia. But then, they’ll suddenly be warring with Eastasia and then they’ll say that they’ve always been at war with Eastasia. Anybody who contradicts will of course be punished severely. Then, they’ll be altering newspapers, books, documents so that ‘mistakes’ will be cleared. It’s pretty stupid actually but then that’s how it is in Oceania.

Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. One day during his lunch hour, he goes back home and starts a diary secretly. No one was allowed to keep a diary. No one was allowed to have personal thoughts. And no one had privacy. There were telescreens in the houses of those who belonged in the Inner Party and Outer Party. The telescreens transmits and receives, like an advanced CCTV (closed-circuit television). Meaning those in charge will be monitoring your daily lives.

The Party rules Oceania. Big Brother is the leader and he’s always right. No one knows if Big Brother exists but his posters are everywhere to remind everyone that he’s ‘watching’ them. Big Brother is like the symbol of Oceania. Anyone who has thoughts of going against Big Brother will be caught by the Thought Police and will be tortured and brainwashed so that they’ll really love Big Brother again. To even think of something bad about the Party or of Big Brother is called ‘thoughtcrime’.

Thoughtcrime is a word in the Newspeak language. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. According to Syme, one of the characters in 1984, ‘Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year’. You’ll encounter new words like ‘doublethink’, ‘crimestop’, ‘doubleplusungood’, and so on in this book. These are words in Newspeak. Oldspeak is what we’re speaking now.

Anyway, a woman from the Fiction Department, Julia, secretly hands Winston a note. He thought she’s a spy and that she’ll report him to the authorities sooner or later. However, this was what’s in the note:

Since then, they’ve begun a secret and illicit affair. It’s not allowed to love another woman so what they’re doing is going against the Party. Like Winston, Julia hates the Party and will do anything to go against them discreetly. They also know that they will be caught. Winston knows that they are as good as dead.

Oceania would be a really scary and tough place to live in. There’s no chance to be an individual. Everything is for the Party. Everyone must love Big Brother and the Party. The three slogans of the Party are:

I finally read this book because my lecturer mentioned it in class. I’m glad I read it. You should pick it up soon so you’ll know how terrible it is to live in a country where there’s no freedom to do what you want, to believe in what you feel is right, to be a unique individual, etc.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Laura, Amanda