1984

[Basstrap]

man, this books is so depressing. I read it once a few years ago but I just finished reading it again.

Sometimes I think the ending is a let down...but then, other times I think that it is the best ending possible for the book.

I guess it's human nature, we want Winston to get some kind of victory over Big Brother in the end...but you're left with the idea that this world will never be cast down.

That is what goulding was trying to do I suppose...go against human nature,

oh yeah....and I'm pretty sure this must be where radiohead got 2+2=5 from!

(and I recently read Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, and there was a Paranoid Android!...fun)

 

[vivaSA]

1984 is one of the best books I've ever read, I think that kind of ending is the best possible for this kind of book

WHO CONTROLS THE PAST NOW, CONTROLS THE FUTURE,
WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT NOW, CONTROLS THE PAST

there's so many things from this book that can be applied to the world we're living in at the moment, sometimes it's really scary

I can also recommend "Animal Farm", another book he wrote, those two are the best written by him, in my opinion.

 

[Zoorock Girl!]

1984 is one of my favourite books of all time. I know what you mean about the ending, especially the last sentance. You just feel so defeated at the end. All of that for nothing. How does it go again? "He had finally won the battle with himself. He loved big brother."

 

[Basstrap]

yeah, that's it,

It is the perfect totalitarian state....it can never be beaten

and, yes, there are certainly parallels to our own time!

 

[Zoorock Girl!]

yeah, that's it,

It is the perfect totalitarian state....it can never be beaten

and, yes, there are certainly parallels to our own time!

I guess so. It depends where you live. Are you in North America or Europe?

 

[fah]

Some pigs are more equal than others...

 

[cass]

(and I recently read Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, and there was a Paranoid Android!...fun)

that would be Marvin... we privately call people, when they are in that mood "marvins" when they make statements like ... oh nothing ever goes right, no one takes any notice of me, that's right you have fun and just leave me here alllllllllalone

Douglas Adams
I have been looking for a 2nd hand copy of 1984 for about the past 6 months. Looks like I'm going to have to lash out and buy a new copy
I loved my high school English teacher, he had us read 1984 and Animal Farm. There is an animated film of Animal Farm, crikes it's sad. I love the draught horse of course( I've forgotten his name) and the movie of 1984 is very well done too...heavy as all get up, but good. I can't quite recall, I think it is Roddy McDowell who plays the part of Winston.
* a thought*You don't want to sell you copy of 1984, do you?

 

[The Sage]

you could have my copy that i failed to ever return to the school English department...

 

[anitram]

It's depressing to realize that I read Animal Farm 12 years ago. Where has the time gone?

 

[Salome]

must have been about 12 years indeed

 

[Basstrap]

I've never read animal farm

 

[cass]

...I did the frilly bits.......

you could have my copy that i failed to ever return to the school English department...

why didn't I think of that? Because Mr Dent ...
seriously the English teacher responsible for making sure text books were returned at my school was Mr Dent...unfortunately his first name wasn't Arthur

anyway I was just working away in the garden and I thought..!!
John Hurt!!! I think John Hurt played Winston Smith.
possibly maybe

 

[Bono's shades]

Oh, man, it's been YEARS since I read 1984. I think it was sometime before the actual year 1984! I must go to the library and check it out.

 

[nbcrusader]

I look forward to re-reading these works - hopefully they will be on my son's reading list soon.

 

[Schmeg]

1984 was my brother's summer reading assignment before his junior year of high school and my junior year of college...I read it, he didn't. ork: I'd liked Animal Farm in high school, and I'd always wanted to read 1984. I've been thinking about digging through the books and finding them both again, interesting stuff.

 

[Danospano]

Great novel, yet nobody seems to be concerned about the current war on terror and it's similarities to the world of Big Brother and the neverending war. When I heard about the Patriot Act back in the days following 9/11 I almost thought I was dreaming due to its similar wording and philosophies.

I read the book about 8 years ago, but our teacher didn't give a worthy presentation the text and its significance. Sometimes I regret my schooling.

Lastly, this thread should read, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" not "1984". Orwell felt that in the future everything would be condensed into numbers and symbols, thus destroying the beauty of the written word.

 

[ylimeU2]

Great novel, yet nobody seems to be concerned about the current war on terror and it's similarities to the world of Big Brother and the neverending war. When I heard about the Patriot Act back in the days following 9/11 I almost thought I was dreaming due to its similar wording and philosophies.

I'm concerned about it. Which is why I am not commenting on it, if I'm being completly honest.

I really need to re-read that book. Everytime I try, I get a little freaked out by all of the similarities and have to stop.

this thread should read, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" not "1984".

Orwell had a point there, too, don't you think? It's much easier to type "1984" then "Nineteen Eighty-Four". Although that is more of an issue of laziness, it is still a good observation on his part.

 

[OzAurora]

one of my fave books ever!

My grade 12 english teacher got me hooked on George Orwell, I did an assignment on comparing the social issues in both 1984 and Animal Farm and got an A+ for it. I just love both those books...

If you like 1984 have you tried reading Aldous Huxleys 'Brave New World', its good too and kinda in the same genre

 

[vivaSA]

"Brave New World" is also one of my favorite books!
Have any of you read any other Huxley's book? Anything to recommend?

 

[Kieran McConville]

I'm optimistic about totalitarian systems in that while they probably can't be 'brought down', they will in the end bring themselves down. The centre cannot hold.

I must admit I have never read 1984. Somehow that one passed me by. Catch 22 is in a similar vein from what I can gather (though obviously not about totalitarianism).

 

[Basstrap]

I'm optimistic about totalitarian systems in that while they probably can't be 'brought down', they will in the end bring themselves down. The centre cannot hold.

I must admit I have never read 1984. Somehow that one passed me by. Catch 22 is in a similar vein from what I can gather (though obviously not about totalitarianism).

my dear ass, you were poorly misinformed

catch 22 has almost nothing in common with 1984

the former is more like a twisted physchotic M.A.S.H...and the latter is a dreary dytopian tale

 

[OzAurora]

Yes, Catch 22 is NOTHING like 1984, but a great book nonetheless. Catch 22 probably has more similarites with One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest than 1984, again another great book. The line that always gets me in 1984 is near the end when Winston says "do it to Julia", meaning that BB had crushed him, a very poignant book, considering what is happening in the world at the moment and the fact that it was written in 1948. ALthough I do reccomend NOT watching the film, its pathetic

 

[Kieran McConville]

Yeah I realize the two books are about very different things, but I think the phrase '2+2=5' could be applied to both.

 

[Basstrap]

Yeah I realize the two books are about very different things, but I think the phrase '2+2=5' could be applied to both.

I agree...

 

[ILuvLarryMullen]

ALthough I do reccomend NOT watching the film, its pathetic

I saw the beginning of that movie, it was very lame indeed.

I love 1984, it's one of my favorite books. I've read it twice, once in 9th grade and once in 12th. Definately understood a lot more the second time haha. I should read Brave New World sometime, i've always wanted to.

War is Peace.

 

[ylimeU2]

Yes! Read Brave New World. It's incredible. Especially when you think about cloning and what ramifications that could have.