1984
- Thread starter Dr Pussymagnet
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Add me to the "read it on my own" category. It's a good book, and I hope you'll enjoy it. There were some "blah" chunks, like with any book, but there were parts that were pure genius.
As for books I read in school, I really like The Lord of the Flies. It was an easy read. I also got to read The Hobbit, but I was too young to appreciate it. I like it now, but then I like reading a whole lot more in my advanced age. However, one school book I did not enjoy, hated actually, was The Great Gatsby. Wow, what a dull piece of crap. I heard it was the ultimate American novel. Well, I'm Canadian.
As for books I read in school, I really like The Lord of the Flies. It was an easy read. I also got to read The Hobbit, but I was too young to appreciate it. I like it now, but then I like reading a whole lot more in my advanced age. However, one school book I did not enjoy, hated actually, was The Great Gatsby. Wow, what a dull piece of crap. I heard it was the ultimate American novel. Well, I'm Canadian.
He was poor growing up and you've also provided no proof that "1984" was pro-capitalist propaganda. I believe they were fat men of the past who controlled the world with top hats in the novel. If I remember correctly.harhol said:
I loved 1984. I wrote a research paper examining its and Brave New World's settings, and it was probably the most interesting thing I've written for school.
If I could give you some advice: the story itself--that is, the interactions among the characters--is not the best part of the book. It's the setting and the psychological issues Winston faces. Read it for an appreciation of the philosophical issues it examines, and you'll like it much better than if you just read it for "Winston and Julia do X and then go somewhere to do Y and meet Z."
And just to throw it out there, I thought Great Expectations was okay, but can't touch A Christmas Carol.
If I could give you some advice: the story itself--that is, the interactions among the characters--is not the best part of the book. It's the setting and the psychological issues Winston faces. Read it for an appreciation of the philosophical issues it examines, and you'll like it much better than if you just read it for "Winston and Julia do X and then go somewhere to do Y and meet Z."
And just to throw it out there, I thought Great Expectations was okay, but can't touch A Christmas Carol.
I hated the Scarlett Letter and 1984 was a second runner up.
Classics I did like way back then:
1) All Quiet on the Western Front
2) Grapes of Wrath
3) I Heard the Owl call my name
4) To Kill a Mockingbird
Classics I did like way back then:
1) All Quiet on the Western Front
2) Grapes of Wrath
3) I Heard the Owl call my name
4) To Kill a Mockingbird
Apparently you need to provide proof since everyone thinks you're way off.harhol said:
Oh and here's this
Add in the fact that a lot of Oceania is based off of Stalinist Soviet Union, and that easily explains why it is YOU who should be providing the proof and not t'other way 'round.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialismharhol said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
I'll read that essay later, maybe tomorrow if I have time. Also, textual evidence is what I was looking for.
I HATED that book with a passion. We read it last year and my teacher wouldn't shut up about how good it was. We read it, and it blew. I hoped I had nothing to do with it again.mydogisblue said:
ANYWAY, back to the topic. 1984, it's a decent book, not the greatest in the pile, but it's still a decent book I think. Worth the read.
1984, probably one of the best pieces of fiction and so relevant to the world today. Look for comparisons between what is going on in the book and modern political, atmosphere.mydogisblue said:
I read 1984 in my study hall classes back when I was in high school, it was a pretty good book, never had to read the scarlet letter though (heard it was terrible),
although I read Silas Marner, a book my parents said was boring as crap, but I really liked it.
pretty much for my senior year during my study halls I was reading books, I tried to read more of the classics like Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, all the space odyssey books they had, all of their Hercule Poirot books, all of their Sherlock Holmes books,Dante's Divine comedy,
"As an ideology, Communism is usually considered to be a branch of socialism, a broad group of social and political philosophies, which draws on the various political and intellectual movements with origins in the work of theorists of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution."harhol said:
Right in the article PersianLlama was so kind as to post.
My Avatar is from 1984. Just a tip, the girl dies in the end. And Snape kills Trinity with Roseblood, who is really Tyler Durdan, while the Brotherhood throws a hammer throw Goldberg's face, in the study with a candlestick.
It's fun to play Half-Life 2 before reading it.
It's fun to play Half-Life 2 before reading it.
Yeah, any time you see a room marked "101" you'll get the chills.Deschamps said:
Um... Western Europe. Oh, and Social Security. Really, depending on how you define socialism, you could make a serious claim that almost any country in the world is "communist." Even the United States has socialist tendencies, beyond the aforementioned. The financial bailout(s) are basically socialist. They are certainly not purely capitalist. The pure capitalist response would be to let these firms fail. Check out Mitt Romney's analysis of the automaker bailout if you don't believe me: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=let%20detroit%20fail&st=cseharhol said:
In a pure capitalist society, we would let the market handle everything. Trust me, I know people who really think this is possible. I can practically guarantee that 99% of the people on this forum "embrace socialism" to some degree, whether they know it or not. And those people are not communists.
Same here. But PersianLlama is right; if you liked 1984, you'll like Animal Farm. They're sort of a literary Dynamic Duo.crimson5pheonix said:
I liked Nineteen Eighty-Four, though we didn't have to read it in school. In fact, it was from Brave New World that I went to Nineteen Eighty-Four, then to Animal Farm, then Fahrenheit 415. Enjoyed everyone of them. Though, I like dystopian novels (it extends into gaming as well, with my love of Half Life 2 and Bioshock), so your mileage may vary.
You disgressed but yes, the Mars Trilogy is a pretty good read although it's a bit long and very political by the third book. Plus there are so many characters you better not stop between one book and the next or you will have trouble remembering them all !crimson5pheonix said:
Also, 1984 is one of these books that when reading it, you somehow hope the book will last forever, and yet, you want to know how it ends quickly. Depressing book, but it makes you think... a lot. One more thing: this book ages very well, so much of it is familiar in the current world that it seems it was written yesterday.
I loved 1984...
Depending on your point of view, it could be seen to be closer to reality than people reaslise...
Depending on your point of view, it could be seen to be closer to reality than people reaslise...