Just finished 1984

mhstennis100 · Oct 14, 2007

I thought it was a great book. Kinda depressing after Winston gets arrested. It has a good message about government. Time to start the English project

Anybody else find it to be a great read?

thefederman · Oct 14, 2007

ya, actually i just finished reading it for my history class and greatly enjoyed it. Watch V for Vendetta if you haven't already, i'm sure you'll enjoy it

Bodacious DVT · Oct 14, 2007

i LOVED that book! definitely one of my all time favorites.

caesar66 · Oct 14, 2007

Its a wonderful book. Orwell is a great writer, Animal Farm is probably my fav. of his books but 1984 is great as well. If you like the story of "totalitarian gov't rules all and a few individuals try to undermine it", check out Anthem by Ayn Rand, V for Vendetta (film and graphic novel), and Equilibrium (great film starring Christian Bale)

thefederman · Oct 14, 2007

caesar66 said:
Its a wonderful book. Orwell is a great writer, Animal Farm is probably my fav. of his books but 1984 is great as well. If you like the story of "totalitarian gov't rules all and a few individuals try to undermine it", check out Anthem by Ayn Rand, V for Vendetta (film and graphic novel), and Equilibrium (great film starring Christian Bale)

A great read on real life "totalitarian gov't" is RED CHINA BLUES.

StealthGnome · Oct 14, 2007

caesar66 said:
Its a wonderful book. Orwell is a great writer, Animal Farm is probably my fav. of his books but 1984 is great as well. If you like the story of "totalitarian gov't rules all and a few individuals try to undermine it", check out Anthem by Ayn Rand, V for Vendetta (film and graphic novel), and Equilibrium (great film starring Christian Bale)

I'm going to watch it again right now!

caesar66 · Oct 14, 2007

StealthGnome said:
I'm going to watch it again right now!

its such a highly underrated, awesome movie. I may be wrong but I think it came out around the same time as one of the matrix movies and kind of got lost in the mix, but I love it

caesar66 · Oct 14, 2007

thefederman said:
A great read on real life "totalitarian gov't" is RED CHINA BLUES.

I'll have to check that out

Deuce · Oct 14, 2007

mhstennis100 said:
I thought it was a great book. Kinda depressing after Winston gets arrested. Most books I've read for school seem to be happier, as in the situation is bad but the character finds a way to escape it without such terrible consequences. It has a good message about government. Time to start the English project Anybody else find it to be a great read?

It's interesting how, when '1984' was first published, it was a fictional book - but today, it is non-fiction.

'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley is somewhat similar.

SoBad · Oct 14, 2007

Is 1984 seriously required HS reading for you?? What about 451F - that also projects the dark side of American society.

mhstennis100 · Oct 15, 2007

I read F451 last year. 1984 wasn't required. We had the class pick between 5 books so me and 2 others ended up reading 1984. Brave New World was another choice I think.

Duzza · Oct 15, 2007

Well that's great, but now try finishing 2007 :|

rum02 · Oct 15, 2007

Deuce said:
It's interesting how, when '1984' was first published, it was a fictional book - but today, it is non-fiction.

'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley is somewhat similar.

I don't quite follow. I think it had more real life relevance at the time it was published (40's wasn't it?), with the communist rule in russia, the rule of hitler and the communist revolution in China all taking place around or during this timeframe wouldn't that oppose your point? I think by and large it is fiction, with a few references to totalitarian regimes, sorry if I misinterpreted your view or got mine wrong deuce (which i probably have done). I'm in year 12 and have to say this is probably the first piece of art/whatever done at school that didn't make me hate the thing, just because we studied it at school. I've read it several times and I'm yet to tire of it. "The quiet american" and "I'm not scared" on the other hand, I didn't find nearly as enjoyable.

AM28143 · Oct 15, 2007

1984 is, in my opinion, the third greatest novel of the 20th century. Only the Catch-22 and The Great Gatsby are superior.

Deuce · Oct 15, 2007

rum02 said:
I don't quite follow. I think it had more real life relevance at the time it was published (40's wasn't it?), with the communist rule in russia, the rule of hitler and the communist revolution in China all taking place around or during this timeframe wouldn't that oppose your point? I think by and large it is fiction, with a few references to totalitarian regimes, sorry if I misinterpreted your view or got mine wrong deuce (which i probably have done). I'm in year 12 and have to say this is probably the first piece of art/whatever done at school that didn't make me hate the thing, just because we studied it at school. I've read it several times and I'm yet to tire of it. "The quiet american" and "I'm not scared" on the other hand, I didn't find nearly as enjoyable.

Today's incarnation of 'Big Brother' is far more dangerous than that of 50 or 60 years ago.
And I'm not referring to Russia or China, either - I'm referring to North America.

Govenments have learned, over the years, how to more effectively manipulate and control in secrecy, without much of the populace being aware that it's being done. Some of it has to do with so-called 'advancements' in technology, and some simply to do with learning new 'tricks' over time.
Sure, we hear in the media about a few things that they get 'caught' doing - but that is just a tiny tip of the iceberg.

Deuce · Oct 15, 2007

Another book that should be required reading in school is 'Catcher in the Rye'.

CanadianChic · Oct 15, 2007

Catcher in the Rye is on my reading pile.

Wuornos · Oct 16, 2007

mhstennis100 said:
I thought it was a great book. Kinda depressing after Winston gets arrested. Most books I've read for school seem to be happier, as in the situation is bad but the character finds a way to escape it without such terrible consequences. It has a good message about government. Time to start the English project Anybody else find it to be a great read?

Yep great book. Written in 1948 the last two digits just transposed. I class it as the greatest work of Science Fiction. SF has some awful dross but some truly great books.

Try Brave New World.
A Handmaid's Tale
Children of Men
Fahrenheit 451
A Clockwor Orange

It's really a warning against any form of totalitarian state. Glad you enjoyed it. Not sure about your idea of the consequences not being too terrible. Wasn't Winston Smith due to be executed at the end?

Tim

mhstennis100 · Oct 16, 2007

yea I'm not to sure what I meant either.

drakulie · Oct 16, 2007

mhstennis100 said:
I thought it was a great book. Kinda depressing after Winston gets arrested. It has a good message about government. Time to start the English project Anybody else find it to be a great read?

Funny how the USA is the one that is looking more and more like "Big Brother". Everywehere you go there is a damn video recording you.

Just finished 1984

Semi-Pro

Rookie

Semi-Pro

Professional

Rookie

Semi-Pro

Professional

Professional

Banned

G.O.A.T.

Semi-Pro

Legend

Rookie

Semi-Pro

Banned

Banned

Hall of Fame

Professional

Semi-Pro

Talk Tennis Guru

Similar threads