1984?

[Zilch]

I've conflicting things about this book. I'm reading it for English in school, and so far, it's an engrossing book...but...I've heard some not-so-flattering things about it, but they were rather vague. Can someone clear this up for me?

[ThaKladd]

I have not read the whole book, but about halfways... Its about a future community- in 1984(but the story was written much earlier, therefore future story) - and its about a community where the State controls everything. there are cameras everyehre - and you are allways watched. The main person begin to think against this system - and have plans to act against it too. Thats where I stopped to read because it was a bit boring, and I had read two books that was almoist like it just before: Ayn Rand's "Anthem" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave new world" - both very good, and I liked them better than 1984. I am also going to finish 1984 sometime...


The funny thing after reading the book is to compare how the world is now, and how George Orwell thought it would be.... there are some likeness, but I think not that much(but people think different)...

[Technomancer]

1984 is a good book all the way through, and ought to be required reading (and I'm glad to see that is). However, I don't think that it should be taken as a warning about the future, but instead is much more about the present. Throughout the novel, we see the pervasive used of propaganda and the control of language in the service of the state. Orwell makes special note of this in the appendix, demonstrating how Newspeak is used to limit the scope of discourse.

The ideas presented in the novel, I think remain relevant today, given the use and abuse of language by idealogues of various stripes. As an interesting aside, this is a subject that Barry Unsworth also tackles in his novel "The Songs of the Kings".

As far as negative aspects of the book go, I can't really see any unless personal taste is an issue. There is one part, that some individuals might object to (which I won't spoil), but I would maintain that it's important to the story since it is in essence, a very personal form of rebellion.

[shooraijin]

I rather enjoyed the Newspeak appendix, actually (it was chilling, but fascinating, how well Orwell had considered the linguistic and cognitive ramifications of limiting vocabulary and grammar to the concrete and non-abstract). The little book-within-a-book by Goldstein was also an intriguing way of getting more dry theoretical discourse into the framework of the novel.

I'm pretty sure I know what Techno is referring to wth the "personal form of rebellion" but should one find it objectionable, it certainly isn't detailed or drawn out.

Incidentally, the movie version was terrible. Don't bother. (On the other hand, some of the movie versions of Animal Farm have actually been very true to the feel of the novel.)

[Twilly Spree]

Fantastic book, I'm also glad to see it's required reading. When you finish let us know what you thought!

[madphilb]

I was required to read this in High School. It was a pretty good read, but I can't say that I liked it enough to read again (though the whole "newspeak" thing is a very interesting concept that I've seen applied to real life at times, i.e. - don't say this, say this instead)

[Bobtheduck]

Oh yeah, PC talk... That's very true... I hate PC talk...

[Angel37]

1984 was, in my opinion, an awesome book in the sense it showed you a side of the future you don't necessairly hear about. You usually hear of robots and space, no one likes to think that such a horrid society could exist in either future or present but I believe it definately could or will. I'm a sucker for political books and practically ate up George Orwell's Animal Farm so.....but don't read it for spiritual value. It doesn't say much about religion and some of it is not very moral, but one looks past that to see the point the author was trying to make. I enjoyed it immensely. The ending gave me heartache for about two days. ^_^
-Angel

[TwilightApostle]

The scary thing about 1984 was that it showed HOW that kind of thing could happen. It wasn't just like "Hey, a scary future." The oppression was reasoned out right there on the paper...it made me think of how close we've come to that in the past.

[righteous_slave]

1984 is one of the most frightening books ever written, not only because of what it presented, but because of how prophetic it has turned out to be. England (Oceaina) is rapidly developing thier 24/7 everywhere surveylance systems, America has to keep fighting to keep one from (officially) going up here, PC is newspeak and probably where it's orginators came up with the idea, and we are constantly rewriting history trying to reflect the current ideals rather than what happened. It definatley inspires one to move to a log cabin in the mountains, under heavy brush, no electricity, and a big arsenal. (need a smiley with paranoid eyes looking around everywhere)

[EvilSporkofDoom]

Ooh, I just finished that book about a month ago and I loved it.. Disturbing in some parts, but it's very thought-provoking and an overall good read. If you like 1984, I recommend reading Fahrenheit 415 as well..

[cbwing0]

I read "1984" last year (of my own volition, since it was never required reading for me). I really liked it, especially the second part of the book. It really makes you think about what you would do under an oppressive regime. It is also interesting to see a world in which there is no religion of any kind.

I have also read "Animal Farm," but that was required reading; so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.

[righteous_slave]

Farenheit 451 and Animal Farm. Those I had to read in school, but they were still awesome. Especially since I was an anticensorship freak in high school. still am, just tempered it with a belief in artist's responsibility.
It irritated me when I had a fast food job and some of the high school kids I was working with were griping so hard about having to read 1984, and couldn't believe that I had read it on my own without it being assigned. They just didn't get it.

[Gypsy]

I thought 1984 was very interesting, but I read it during a point where I wasn't interested in the message behind it - it was just a reading assignment. Besides, no one in my class was very mature about certain aspects of the books, so most of the main points were swallowed up with discussion of the few incidents of "acts of inner rebellion" I think they were called.

[Mangafanatic]

I've conflicting things about this book. I'm reading it for English in school, and so far, it's an engrossing book...but...I've heard some not-so-flattering things about it, but they were rather vague. Can someone clear this up for me?

I don't know what people have been telling you about this book, but I'll just tell you why I never finished it. I think I got about half way through the book and I simply had to put it down because of the fornication which was presented in it. I personally really hate sex in books, so that was my breaking point. That maybe what some of the people giving you bad reports were referring to.

[AZheng]

I thought that part fit in with the overall nihilistic tone of the book: that nothing Winston could do would be able to overthrow the Party and that his 'last hope', the proletariat, were too indifferent/ignorant to accomplish anything like that. So basically, it seemed like Winston was engaging in amoral activity because he had nothing else to turn to: he had rejected the Party, and wanted to experience the 'pleasures' that he could only find outside of his position as a party member. Politically, he (thought that he) joined the Brotherhood, personally he engaged in his 'actions'.

Hehheh...just my $0.02.

Sorry if you've never seen me around these parts before; I'm mostly a lurker and have been for quite a bit now. No harm meant .

[Hikage_Ninja]

I'm in the middle of reading it...although it's not required reading for me. I read Animal Farm...and enjoyed it enough to want to check out 1984. I'm enjoying it so far...couple of rather slow parts, but still overall it seems like an enjoyable book.