1984 by Orwell

[Metella]

Just finished it. Some of it was what I expected, most of it was far superior than I had thought.

I didn't so much think it was a total pessamistic look at what our future could be; sure some of it was, but some of it was heroic even if the "hero" was not sucessful to the end, he held out an admirable amount of time.

For its time, with so much it lists as new and so much we take for old and for granted; I'm pretty impressed with Orwell's vision of how things would advance and how they could be used.

[romulanavatra3]

hey mettela have your read animal farm also by orwell.

very intresting. simillar sort of idea, but proabbly a lot more pessimesitic and very bleak.

it is well worth reading if you have already read it.
oh and dont get turned off by the fact that the main chracters ae animals( it is important).


reagrds rom.

[Metella]

oh, I like animal as characters ... I used to read a series when I was young - all with animals & who doesn't like Mr. Toad?

If it is More pessimistic than 1984 - then I think I will have to wait a year or so; give my reserves of happiness time to refill.

[Sirenna]

If you're into dark and pessimistic, shake hands with Albert Camus.

I don't think that guy ever cracked a smile a day in his life.

[janetcatbird]

Hoo boy, I read "The Stranger" last Spring in the same lit course where I read "No Exit". It's weird, the pleasure he takes in the ordinary moments, but then to be so apathetic about everything...a long time ago I read "The Plague" but I have very vague memories, and I didn't know about the allegory of Fascism.

I love "Animal Farm", wonderful story. It helped that before my 9th grade English class read it my teacher spent two days going through the history of the Russian Revolution so we knew for darned sure which animals stood for who. (Reccomended out-of-print book, "How DOes a Czar Eat Potatos?". It's a children's book, but it's a wonderful showcase of how the czar/noble life was so drastically different from the peasants. "How does a czar eat potatos? A regiment of soldiers shoots the potatos with a canon through a wall of butter into the czars mouth. How does your father eat potatos? Grabs a handful, eats them fast. Grabs another with some cabbage, if there's any." My mother used this with her social studies classes, even in middle school.)

Whoa, long digression. Anyways, I also enjoyed "1984", a scary narrative to make you take notice. Interesting characters as well, the whole journal release and then you wonder just how long you yourself could hold up in such a place. (There are supposed to be 3 major works of distopias: "1984", "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley--haven't read yet--and some other I can't remember.

Just a great little reference: on "Daily Show" Samantha Bee did a piece the other week about the spin artists for the Conservatives, the ones who come up with new phrases and cast the town hall meetings. Anyways, she gave this guy a list of phrases to see what the new spin buzzwords were:
Bee: "Drilling for oil"
Spin: "Responsible exploration for energy"
Bee: "Logging"
Spin: "I would say, 'healthy forests'."
Bee: "Manipulation"
Spin: "Explanation and education"
Bee: "Orwellian"
Spin: dead silent, mouth opens but he can't think of anything

Ha!!

[a2reed]

I read 1984 like two years ago and I was totally shocked by the way the future was depicted...
That torture scene at the end was particularly distressing That book made me sad

[LOCIfan]

I've read 1984 twice, but not in several years (as I just can't take it) and think it's a remarkable book. In terms of genre, it's one of several "dysotpian" novels that kind of served to define postmodernism in literature. For those interested in the genre, Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and WE by Eugene Zamyatin are a couple that preceeded 1984. Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, by Anthony Burgess, THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood and CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell followed. And lots, lots more.

Not that anybody asked, just thought I'd share...

[amberlight]

Authors feed to the sign of the times. In the 50's with Abomb testing, came the horrors of mutation. Also with Communism gaining strength, Orwell was terribly terrified of it's infiltration into the "free world" Hence he created the monster Communism into society contral and corruption of government by writing 1984 and Animal Farm " All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal then others". His fears were best sellers.

All the books you've mentioned i have read. Even as a child I was a bit sceptical about human potential for good if left to our own devices without social constraints.

[Metella]

Yet we got here from feudal times ..... ever forward - let's just hope we can bring more of the world with us into non-violence before they set off a chem-bomb.

Atwood - ah, that story left me chilled, and like all the rest, it was chilling just because it would be possible with just the right turns of history.

[LOCIfan]

Yeah, for some reason, visions of what could go wrong are more compelling to me than what could go right in society. That's either the realist or the cynic in me.

True, we have progressed from medieval times. Though someone with a utopian vision might put it differently: These are the depths to which we've fallen since Eden... (not MY view, mind you)

[Eléana]

I had to read 1984 my freshman year in high school. At the time I hated it, and thought the sex scenes between Winston Smith and Julia (which happens to be my real name, my friends still tease me for that, ugh) was just too disturbing. But after reading Huxley's Brave New World, I really begin to like 1984 because comparing that to Brave New World, 1984 is actually pretty orthodox and un-disturbing. Orwell's Animal Farm is a even better piece, I love his portral of people and communism through animals. The thoughts presented in that totalitarian dictatorship is just heart chilling.