Anything by George Orwell

Zinmasterb · 09-03-2007, 09:22 PM

Seriously, Animal Farm was crazy, I mean as a metaphor it was pretty gruesome.
1984 was also a great book, I've never seen the movie though.
A few other authors I love to read are Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicals, read it back in 7th grade and I still love it), Stephen Hawkings and Stephen King (my fave of his is The Running Man, you know he was high on coke when he wrote that book, finished it in one night).
Anybody sharin the love?

Maniacus · 09-04-2007, 07:30 AM

Yea he (Orwell) was a really good writer, ive read animal farm and also Brave New World which was written by him i think but i might be wrong.

Mortaea · 09-05-2007, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maniacus

Yea he (Orwell) was a really good writer, ive read animal farm and also Brave New World which was written by him i think but i might be wrong.

Nope, Brave New World was written by Aldous (spelling?) Huxley.

I personally despised 1984. I'll agree, Orwell is a skilled writer, but the book as a story didn't tickle my fancy.

Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 is one of my favorite books that I've ever read.

It strikes me odd that I enjoy the latter book and not the former book mentioned since they are similar, but I have no valid explanation for it other than opinion.

BadTouch · 09-08-2007, 12:00 PM

I hate that man... i hate his books, not only were we forced to read about it and analyze it in school but i think it is completely ludacris that he repeats the Russian Revolution with frickin pigs. all i have to say to him is nice try but it didnt work and i hate you lol.

Vyndara · 10-22-2007, 12:59 PM

Bad Touch.....I agree. Animal Farm should never be inflicted on anyone who is not studying Russian history.

HOWEVER.....There are five books that I think no one should go through life without reading and Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of them. And no, I'm not sayig this just because of an MA in English Lit..... I beg you to give Orwell another shot. He wrote it in response to the political control climate of WWII and it's transferable across countries and cultures (moreso than Animal Farm). This story has meaning on all kinds of scary levels other than just being "watched" by Big Brother.

It's also about how the official, shrinking NewSpeak Dictionary shrinks language, limiting the population's expression choices and therefore its mental and critical thinking abilities (because language shapes thought, see current techno-acronyms as examples) and how history and truth itself can be boldly rewritten monthly, weekly, dayly if the media professes new truths often enough (see recent American political propaganda as RL example). It's about how children and sex are used as control mechanisms, keeping people in fear....(see ALL KINDS of current events examples).

No other text carries a stronger warning about the fragility of personal freedoms and their effects on culture and control.

Draven · 10-22-2007, 02:43 PM

Fahrenheit 451 was amazing indeed, his book Dandelion Wine, however, was terrible and made me wish i was hemmoraging out my ears.

Maniacus · 10-31-2007, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadTouch

I hate that man... i hate his books, not only were we forced to read about it and analyze it in school but i think it is completely ludacris that he repeats the Russian Revolution with frickin pigs. all i have to say to him is nice try but it didnt work and i hate you lol.

Ye but back when he started writing it was during the holy crap the evil communists are coming era and the card carrying commies are already in this country era (dont remember the name of the American president who started this) so his reffering of the pigs and various animals to people wouldnt be as offensive back then though it does make it as though he thinks where he comes from is superior.

Razgriz · 10-31-2007, 11:38 PM

Animal Farm FTW.

Annyah · 04-13-2008, 03:37 PM

If you think about it, 1984 is a pretty cool book. I don't doubt that reading it in school and having to analyze it their way has destroyed the book for a lot of people; I was one of the lucky ones who read it on my own, and has never gone through a school's analysis of it.

Follow me for a second here, and feel free to fuss at me if I get too deep! My favorite quote is, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

Isn't that true today? The history books written today aren't always 100% accurate; they have today's twist on them, and we see history as somewhat filtered. (Not always, but sometimes- don't yell at me too harshly for that). We as a public don't always have an accurate view of what's going on in other places of the world, or sometimes even with our own nation. Records are falsified, files deleted, etc. So the "powers that be" have an immense control over history, past, and to-be.

I could go on forever, there's alot of stuff in that book that's well on its way, just in milder, less scary forms.

Showtime · 04-13-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vyndara

Bad Touch.....I agree. Animal Farm should never be inflicted on anyone who is not studying Russian history.

HOWEVER.....There are five books that I think no one should go through life without reading and Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of them. And no, I'm not sayig this just because of an MA in English Lit..... I beg you to give Orwell another shot. He wrote it in response to the political control climate of WWII and it's transferable across countries and cultures (moreso than Animal Farm). This story has meaning on all kinds of scary levels other than just being "watched" by Big Brother.

It's also about how the official, shrinking NewSpeak Dictionary shrinks language, limiting the population's expression choices and therefore its mental and critical thinking abilities (because language shapes thought, see current techno-acronyms as examples) and how history and truth itself can be boldly rewritten monthly, weekly, dayly if the media professes new truths often enough (see recent American political propaganda as RL example). It's about how children and sex are used as control mechanisms, keeping people in fear....(see ALL KINDS of current events examples).

No other text carries a stronger warning about the fragility of personal freedoms and their effects on culture and control.

Out of curiosity what are the other 4 books that you should not go through life without reading lol?

09-03-2007, 09:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Zinmasterb Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,738 Blog Entries: 1	Anything by George Orwell Seriously, Animal Farm was crazy, I mean as a metaphor it was pretty gruesome. 1984 was also a great book, I've never seen the movie though. A few other authors I love to read are Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicals, read it back in 7th grade and I still love it), Stephen Hawkings and Stephen King (my fave of his is The Running Man, you know he was high on coke when he wrote that book, finished it in one night). Anybody sharin the love?

09-04-2007, 07:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
Maniacus Chartered Accountant lolol Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 2,157	Yea he (Orwell) was a really good writer, ive read animal farm and also Brave New World which was written by him i think but i might be wrong. __________________

10-22-2007, 12:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
Vyndara Follow Me... Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 1,010	Bad Touch.....I agree. Animal Farm should never be inflicted on anyone who is not studying Russian history. HOWEVER.....There are five books that I think no one should go through life without reading and Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of them. And no, I'm not sayig this just because of an MA in English Lit..... I beg you to give Orwell another shot. He wrote it in response to the political control climate of WWII and it's transferable across countries and cultures (moreso than Animal Farm). This story has meaning on all kinds of scary levels other than just being "watched" by Big Brother. It's also about how the official, shrinking NewSpeak Dictionary shrinks language, limiting the population's expression choices and therefore its mental and critical thinking abilities (because language shapes thought, see current techno-acronyms as examples) and how history and truth itself can be boldly rewritten monthly, weekly, dayly if the media professes new truths often enough (see recent American political propaganda as RL example). It's about how children and sex are used as control mechanisms, keeping people in fear....(see ALL KINDS of current events examples). No other text carries a stronger warning about the fragility of personal freedoms and their effects on culture and control. __________________ Chaotic Garden Last edited by Vyndara; 10-22-2007 at 01:08 PM.

10-31-2007, 11:38 PM	#8 (permalink)
Razgriz Crusher of Dreams Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Orange County Posts: 374	Animal Farm FTW. __________________ It begins when the time comes in and brings forth a dead current, a motion set for certain demise. We watched them come from the depths but we couldn't see it 'till we looked in their eyes. Behind the mask the demon resides, the meat was stripped from their bones. WE DESTROY.

04-13-2008, 03:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
Annyah ...failure beats the hell out of never trying Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 580 Blog Entries: 1	If you think about it, 1984 is a pretty cool book. I don't doubt that reading it in school and having to analyze it their way has destroyed the book for a lot of people; I was one of the lucky ones who read it on my own, and has never gone through a school's analysis of it. Follow me for a second here, and feel free to fuss at me if I get too deep! My favorite quote is, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Isn't that true today? The history books written today aren't always 100% accurate; they have today's twist on them, and we see history as somewhat filtered. (Not always, but sometimes- don't yell at me too harshly for that). We as a public don't always have an accurate view of what's going on in other places of the world, or sometimes even with our own nation. Records are falsified, files deleted, etc. So the "powers that be" have an immense control over history, past, and to-be. I could go on forever, there's alot of stuff in that book that's well on its way, just in milder, less scary forms. __________________

09-08-2007, 12:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
BadTouch is a hardcore runner Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: California Posts: 926	I hate that man... i hate his books, not only were we forced to read about it and analyze it in school but i think it is completely ludacris that he repeats the Russian Revolution with frickin pigs. all i have to say to him is nice try but it didnt work and i hate you lol.

10-22-2007, 02:43 PM	#6 (permalink)
Draven Hand of the Dark Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 705	Fahrenheit 451 was amazing indeed, his book Dandelion Wine, however, was terrible and made me wish i was hemmoraging out my ears.

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