Jais Nereis Reviews
#01 - 1984
1984
Just-This-Guy
Description: I grew up a loser in personal relationships. Ending up in an operating room after an accident, I suddenly was somebody else 25 years in the past. Could I become someone new and or was I destined to still be me?
Codes: MF Mf TimeTr 1st
Review:
Nineteen Eighty-Four is not a pornographic take on the classic novel by George Orwell. That’s kind of a good news/bad news thing for me. I really want to write one and if someone else did it, someone competent that I could trust with the project, like just-this-guy, I could go on vacation and write something else. It’s still on my to-do list however and I’m kind of happy about that.
Like the Orwell novel, this is a story about time and future events, but that’s pretty much where similarity ends. Where Orwell was predicting one of many possible futures and using his prose to warn society about the perils of totalitarianism, the protagonist in just-this-guy’s story already knows the future and luckily for him, time is like play-dough and he’s able to mold events and change history. At least for his former loser self.
The story is well-written and I’ve always enjoyed the author’s style. I like the way he puts words together and I especially like his treatment of the main character in the first chapter. Once the initial confusion wears off in the succeeding chapters and our hero realizes who’s who and what’s what, I found the story a little too predictable maybe, slightly preachy in some ways as the narrator uses the wisdom of hindsight to address the social issues plaguing both his new and former lives.
Side note: I was always wondering who John Coleman was before Chris Walker took over his life...and where he went.
I skipped most of the sex, or skimmed over the scenes, I should say. They’re rather fundamental and inserted more out of obligation than any real need to advance the story, I think, but perhaps the author will slap me down for saying that. I wouldn’t blame him. I’m just trying to say I found the story entertaining enough, and the characters engaging enough, that the sex was like interrupting the story for a message from our sponsors – in this case, an erotic website. I do the same thing and eat a big box of chocolates afterwards.
All in all, 1984 is a fun story and very enjoyable as light fantasy fare for grownup boys who can’t afford a sports car. I could easily see it on the big screen as a romantic comedy starring River Phoenix and Tom Hanks, with cameos by Van Halen, The Police, and Nancy Reagan. Or maybe not…Read it and decide for yourself.
Jais
Technical: 9 Plot: 8 Appeal: 7 Stroke: 5
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