1984 - Writers Forum

Indigo · 09-30-2005, 03:34 AM

I've cheched around and I can't beleive no one has posted this yet. I just finished reading it yesterday and It was pone of the best books I have ever read. My English teacher was talking about it and he reminded me that i had been meaning to read it for ages so I went off to my school library and borrowed it.

I couldn't put it down! When most people talk of 'classic' books in my mind it usually makes me think of really heavy going stuff like the Lord of the Rings, (sorry, but I hated it). I had no idea that 1984 was anything like that. I started talking about it with my mum who read it when she was 17 and I'm trying to persuade my twin brother to read it too.

It was one of those books where all the way through you are unsure of wether the charcters are going to get out or not. With most books you have a pretty good idea. I don't agree with a lot of what Orwell wrote but I thought it was really interesting. The scene in room 101 really freaked me out. I know though, that a lot of people really don't like the book and I thought it would make an interesting debate about politics an the future. Sorry if this had allready been done.

I'm off to go borrow Animal Farm.

Julian_Gallo · 09-30-2005, 05:50 AM

Orwell was one of the greatest, I feel. You should read his other books as well. Hell, read all of them if you can find them. My personal favorites were "Keep The Aspadistra Flying", "Down and Out in Paris and London", "Coming Up for Air" and "Homage to Catalonia". If you enjoyed "1984", you will really enjoy the others as well. They're all different, but highly enjoyable.

Indigo · 09-30-2005, 06:18 AM

Sure, my mum said that 'Down and out in Paris ad london' is great. i'll be sure to try the others.

Ralizah · 09-30-2005, 04:29 PM

1984 is an excellent work of literature.

midlandsmuse · 10-03-2005, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starrwriter

Incidentally, Orwell wasn't writing about the future. He merely extrapolated the political and social trends of his own age, which produced fascism in Europe and totalitarian socialism in the Soviet Union.

A point made to me last month in a writer's group I attend. Orwell wrote the book in the early 40's and wanted to call it 1948 but no one would publish it. Then he changed it to 1984 and was published.

Quote:

Before you read "Animal House," you should know it is an allegory about the broken promises of Stalinist Russia.

I had to read Animal Farm at school and I hated it. But that was because I read it at the wrong age. 14. Too old for the cutesy animals talking and too young for the politics. I read the book again at 22 and absolutely loved it.

Indigo · 10-04-2005, 10:52 AM

Quote:

I had to read Animal Farm at school and I hated it. But that was because I read it at the wrong age. 14.

I myself am 14.

Ralizah · 10-05-2005, 10:29 PM

I read it when I was 14 and loved it.
I think it just depends on how deep your understanding of it's themes and what it satirizes is. I was a pretty well-read child, so I knew all about the revolution.

Mike C · 10-30-2005, 03:18 PM

1984 is possibly the finest novel of the 20th century - how many books have titles that become part of the language? 1984, Brave new world, Catch-22... I think that's it.

indigo, you say you didn't agree with everything Orwell said - what, exactly? The book works on many levels.

colvin11 · 01-11-2006, 11:47 AM

I read 1984, and loved it. except for the ending. I didn't like the way there was all that build up, with the pyscholgical torture. It should have neded there, the last bit where he meets the woman again just spoiled it for me

Mike C · 01-15-2006, 03:46 PM

The last part is essential, Colvin, to show that there is absolutely no hope of a triumph over big brother; that anyone can be made to sell their souls, grandmothers and lovers down the river to save themselves.

A happy ending would have left doubt, and would have demeaned all that went before.

Hodge · 01-15-2006, 04:19 PM

A happy ending for 1984? Who'd have even thought of such a thing? As it stands, the book's ending is perfect. I maintain that there is not a book more dreary, depressing, and bleak as 1984, if the ending hadn't been so anticlimactic it just wouldn't have worked.

Mike C · 01-16-2006, 04:01 AM

Indeed; the payoff being, of course, that England in 1948 (which 1984 satirised) was a bleak and dreary place, and that life under a totalitarian regime isn't about acts of heroism, but about mundane existance and conformity.

Mike C · 01-16-2006, 04:01 AM

Indeed; the payoff being, of course, that England in 1948 (which 1984 satirised) was a bleak and dreary place, and that life under a totalitarian regime isn't about acts of heroism, but about mundane existance and conformity.

Hodge · 01-16-2006, 04:09 AM

Eh, Orwell was actually talking about communism in the book and what would happen if it spread throughout the world. England was no totalitarian state.

What I especially love is how it doesn't come out and say what exactly is happening with the global climate. Are there really three superpowers trying to conquer the world or is it really just one superpower keeping its people in check by creating a state of constant war? Bombs are dropped on London, but Big Brother probably wouldn't hesitate to drop them in his own people. Maybe there are three superpowers working together, or maybe there is one totalitarian state that has completely cut its people off from the rest of the world.

Brazil does a really good job of combining the concepts of 1984 with those of Brave New World, and adding enough comedy and absurdity to make it an incredibly entertaining movie.

lisajane · 01-16-2006, 04:58 AM

I read Animal Farm at 16. Hated it. I can't stand stories about animals, but I did really like the whole Russian Revolution stuff (so much so I wanted to study it as my history subject a couple of years later, but the class wasn't held).

I've had people tell me to read 1984, but I don't know if I'll give it a try, it doesn't sound like my thing. Edgar Allen Poe is more my style.