Just started 1984 By George Orwell

Wonderful book, I think - I have not read it in years, though - far more rich and humane, I think, than "Brave new World" - although that is brilliant. Speaking of Dystopias, have you read "Animal Farm"? They form a sort of classic dystopic trilogy of the era, if you will!

Will you come back and share more about 1984 as you read?

They wouldnt let me read animal farm last year because its a book that is in the circiculum in 9th grade. I will definately share more.

THe part when he buys the marble book confuses me some

For anyone who has read Orwell's two famous fiction works and enjoyed them, I recommend his memoirs of fighting in the Spanish Civil War: Homage to Catalonia. A short and vastly entertaining read, in my opinion it surpasses his fiction work.

I read it, and it worked for me, Tyrius. Maybe it won't ever really get hold of you, but go ahead and finish it. Some works of fiction become apart of the culture, and this is one of them. 'Scuse me for preachin'.


What kind of school do you got to, anyway? They wouldn't let you? I can not even visualize a school system that won't let you read above your nominal class level.

I go to a private school. They wouldnt let me read it becuase its part of 10th grade circiculumn. So they dont want me to get a head start . Ive finished 1984 i really enjoyed it. I think im going to barnes and nobles and read Animal Farm any way

Animal farm is a hoot. You can probaby read the whole thing in less than 2 hours.

"Beasts of England" will crack you up.

plusgood

A little background for you . . . Orwell had been a socialist, but he had become profoundly disillusioned with socialism when he admitted to himself (as so many of his contemporaries in England did not admit) that socialism had been a failure to that point in Europe's history. In particular, he was disgusted by the totalitarianism of the soviet state. The second world war had just ended, but England was fighting communist insurrections in variuos places around the globe (most notably in Greece), and this is the origin of his thesis that any socialist state in the west would take power and continue itself in power based upon a continuing war which authorized their continuance in power and their repressive measures.

You might also enjoy Down and Out in Paris and London, which is about his days as a young man just graduated from university.

IM in the middle of the shinara series right now ill pick up beats of england soon. Orwell sounds like a genious

FYI
Orwell also reported a list of 13 communists in UK. As fair as it sounds (to some of you), it does collide somewhat with the morals you get from 1984.

I never read 1984. Read Animal Farm and Down & Out in Paris & London in high school, cool and easy reads.

Also, tho I never read 1984, I did read Huxley's Brave New World, which dlowan already mentioned, kinda its predecessor. Liked it.

Thing not many people know is that Huxley, again, had a predecessor that wrote yet again quite a similar book - and its really good. Thought it was better than Huxley's, even.

Name be Evgeny Zemyatin. Book is called "We". He wrote it in 1919-1920 - directly after the Russian Revolution. Talk of a troublingly keen foresight! That was when most modernist Russian writers were still excited by the radical promise of social, political, literary revolution - but Zamyatin already saw where the idea was headed. Consequently, he was the first Soviet writer to have a novel banned by the Soviet censorship board.

It was eventually first published in 1924 - in English, in exile. Until then he'd only read it to private groups. It only appeared in Russian in 1927, published by an emigre journal in Czechoslovakia. That again was the pretext for Zamyatin's public persecution back home. In the end, thanks to intervention of Maxim Gorki (the writer-turned-Soviet-bureaucrat), he was 'allowed' to go into exile himself, as well.

I read "We" in one big, tense, involved stretch. It was deeply troubling, and moving.

'Ccording to the editors of "Russian Literature of the 1920s - An Anthology", the novel is "in many ways artistically superior" to Huxley's and Orwell's. Which is not to say you shouldnt read Huxley or Orwell, of course! :-D

That all on an aside ;-).

Geez i havent touched a book in 2 weeks

but you're still keeping us talking about them ;-)

So, Tyrius, I think your school's faculty must want to have books read in a certain order as a way to gradually open up a world of literature to you all at a speed that won't shut off slower students, and cover the books in a sequence that has one amount of learning set with a foundation by another book.

Eh, forget it. Read what you want. I think most of us here did.

I am fairly disturbed, as Roger was, to hear of someone actually shutting down reading energy. Let me guess the teacher didn't really mean to shut you off of reading exploration, but that still gave me a little chill.

It is true that you can run into reading that sends you exploring in useless or even harmful directions. Oh, well....

I went to a private (girls) parochial schools myself. Lots of books were censored by our church, as were movies, and most of us wouldn't have considered reading or seeing them. I remember in particular that Voltaire was "condemned" by the Church, and generally, by my teachers. His books on the Index of Forbidden Books were probably individually named. I still have not gotten around to reading him from his books, but I have seen many quotes and have agreed with the quotes I have read.

You can go off in strange directions from books; even on the best occasions of agreement, you aren't the same person as the author. Stand a bit away then, but enjoy.

I have found a copy of Animal farm and will read it as soon as im done my lifting

Heh! Osso, I just do not believe in teaching to the lowest common denominator.