moonjuice

I just finished this book and it has become one of my favorites.

Although I still don't fully grasp the ending, I believe its unique and doesn't follow the steriotype endings of most books.

I recomend it to anyone who wants a good read.
What are you thoughts on this book?

evilbeefchan

Sadly haven't read it myself but can feel it's impact on modern entertainment and even society to an extent. I'm actually surprised (and slightly disappointed) that this wasn't part of any required texts for my classes.

It's sad how a 60 year old work of classic literature with such a wide influence and acclaim can so easily slip under someone's radar. I'm picking up a copy this weekend.

levite

A very good book. Instrumental in crystallizing the genre of the future dystopia story. (I'm not 100% certain who founded the genre, but it can't have been Orwell, since I'd say that HG Wells' The Time Machine was also an early foundational work, and that's around sixty or seventy years before 1984, if I recall right.) 1984, in any case, is certainly better than Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, to which it is often compared, probably because they date from around the same period.

To my mind, the best literary exemplar of the genre is Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. A raucously chilling bit of dystopia; if you read it, be sure to get an edition with a glossary in back.

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Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

itsnick

Like Frankenstein and a few other classics 1984 is a perception in the minds of those who have not read it....Frankenstein is not about a monster and 1984 is not about Big Brother ...well not the way we think about Big Brother now...it is certainly one of the greatest books around and one I try to read every 5 or so years...I find I can't watch the news without reflecting on 1984 most nights...Orwell's other books are also insightful .. and as for the ending ... wow ... Now to find my Victory Gin and a spare park bench...

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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." Mark Twain

Seaver

1984 is Orwell's worst work.

Honestly, it goes against our culture and nature to simply bow to oppression like that. I suggest yall read A Brave New World.

It's prediction of control through acceptance is much more realistic. Babies are born in tubes (ok, bit of a stretch), ones that are intended as pilots are constantly being put upside down, sideways, etc. while incubation so that as it grows up the person enjoys best working in said environment. It's not that the person couldn't do anything else, that's just what makes him happiest... so he is controlled but is perfectly ok with it because he is happy.

The drug (can't remember the name) puts people at ease, makes them happy, and enjoy sexual experiences. Essentially it is a cross between Alcohol, Pot, and XTC. The parallels are pretty obvious.

Besides, 1984 to be true our government would have to be effective and efficient. I think we all know that is far from the truth.

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"Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth." - Ashbel Smith as he laid the first cornerstone of the University of Texas

Charlatan

The drug is called Soma.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Baraka_Guru

Yes, he was more of an essayist. Do you have any personal favourites that you would recommend?

Aren't you going through that slow process right now?

This is metaphoric of DNA therapy.

I'm pretty sure something like this is happening right now, too.

Or is it? (Hint: Effective and efficient at what?)

* * * * *

These are both good books. I also like Animal Farm.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

moonjuice

Be sure to let us know how it works out.

Redlemon

While we're discussing dystopian novels, my favorite is ; you'll probably have to read a translation from the Russian, as I did. I found it much more raw and convincing than 1984 or Brave New World.

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kurty[B]

I personally enjoy Animal Farm over 1984, but it has been a long time since I have read Animal Farm and having an intelligent discussion about it would require re-reading (it's on my to buy list at the moment). I'll have to look at Brave New World, and some of the others here.

Reading 1984 from the point of view of when it was written makes it more interesting of a read than reading it from today's view.

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In the Absence of Information People Make Things Up.

The_Jazz

Animal Farm is a very interesting criticism of Stalinism considering that it was written at the height of Stalin's powers.

I wasn't as impressed by 1984, namely because Orwell neglected to take any side in his attack on government. I guess he saw totalitarianism sneaking back into everything.

I wonder what Orwell would think of the internet.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

allaboutmusic

1984 is one of my favourite books and I'm on my second copy now after wearing my first one out.

moonjuice

I remember reading Animal Farm back in high school.
It was a trip.
maybe going through it a second time around will help to a better undertanding of this book.

I'm still kinda mad that
*spoilers*


That the old horse(can't remember his name right now) totally got killed after being such an loyal and important part of the farm. So close to retirement.


*end spoilers*

SecretMethod70

I have to disagree with this. I think gradually figuring out the language through context is an important part of the book. Besides, if Burgess had intended for readers to understand every word from the start, he wouldn't have bothered creating a whole slang vocabulary for the book, or he would have at least included a glossary in the original. It took a little to get used to, but I think I enjoyed the book more by figuring it out myself than if I had used a glossary the whole time. Context provides all the necessary clues.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

levite

I dunno.... The first time I read it, there were three or four expressions I couldn't figure out for the life of me. Context provided possible meanings, but nothing definite. Then again, the first time I read it I was 14, so maybe if I were reading it for the first time in college or as a graduate, it might be different....

Well, either way, people should read it, because IMO it's definitely better than 1984. And way better than Brave New World. I'm a little surprised to see how popular that seems to be! I thought it was a little silly and juvenile when I read it the first time, and I was 17.... Didn't improve when I picked it up again, years later, when I was re-reading a whole mess of things I didn't like as a kid, on the assumption that tastes change over time....

__________________
Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

Hain

Hmmm I now am going to have to disagree with this.

Yes, not knowing the language makes the work more impressionable for us, the readers, as we compare it to our world, however the real impact of the characters and events are only achieved when the reader can feel fluent fluent with the world of the book so then to compare it with today.

I really have to reread that book now that I have just said that...

-

Damnit I type slow.

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////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

SecretMethod70

Perhaps. The first time I read it was while in college.

I haven't read Brave New World yet, though I'd really like to. I've always heard that the writing is not nearly as good as that in 1984, but I don't think the writing is why people like it so much. The reason it still appeals to me, despite hearing over and over again that it is relatively poorly written, is because the situations in Brave New World resonate particularly well with our world today.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

Hain

Or with experience/knowledge/different point of view.

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////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

levite

That's true. When I re-read it with more experience and knowledge, and from a different point of view, I found it silly and juvenile in completely different ways than when I was a kid....

__________________
Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

Mephisto2

I think he let the narrative speak for itself.

I enjoyed this book immensely, even though it's over 20 years since I read it.



Mr Mephisto

Mondak

Great book. Read it twice - once about 15 years ago and then last year.

In an unrelated note, funny how today our glorious leaders while looking out for the nations best interests passed retroactive immunity for our telco-companies illegal wiretapping programs.

__________________
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

Derwood

this is the only book i've ever read that gave me nightmares. nightmares about walking down the street and then military police grabbing me for no apparent reason and dragging me away