I understand why this book has left the mark it has. The first part feels important, weighted, dense with worldbuilding and atmosphere. I was sufficiently disturbed and immersed in the feeling of being watched, of words and expression being measured and cut. His work, his neighbors, small details complied to give a true sense of wrongness.
The second part of the book feels largely extraneous. A romance, whilst maybe would have been remiss to not explore in this context, was not needed and I didn't care for it. A character like Winston, who's more a representation of being the one or few people who suspect things are wrong - meaning he is therefore basically not a character at all, is not someone for whom it is advantageous to explore a romance with. This part largely felt like an interlude.
After all this, the third part of the book is mixed. The interrogation was spotty, not as disturbing in practice as the notion of it had been. I found certain parts (the rat, the wishing punishment on his girlfriend) a little heavy handed. There were a few moments of dread, but more at the implications of what was happening than what was actually happening. Details I thought would end up being important or affective - a war with EastAsia/Eurasia - didn't seem to culminate in anything. The ending was not as drastic as I felt the book was building up to, but I can appreciate the strange, sickening anti-climax.
Overall, having in my eyes lost its effectiveness over time, I feel the book accomplished what it needed to in its first half, and if it were a novella or a long short story, would have more closely matched up to its legacy.