Who's Read Nineteen Eighty-four?

I'm currently reading Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell, and the book is fascinating. I can connect the theme to today's government in the US, after all the mass surveillance and shit. Who else is reading, or has read, this book?

I've read 1984. It's tragic how relevant it is to our state of the world.

It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words...

Never seen it. Something I've haven't found interest in yet.

I Absolutely agree with you. It's incredible how the book was written in 1948, published in 1949, and it connects beautifully with our world today.

Really, it's the destruction of our government, foretold in words written a long time ago. Unless that's not what you meant. The book was a prophecy that took place later than the story suggested (from the background knowledge of the book that I've researched before reading it).

 

War is peace.

Freedom is slavery.

Ignorance is strength.

orwell is great... a must read.

loved Animal Farm too as well as several of his articles.

I have indeed read 1984, great read, very sad.

What is more disturbing (if you fancy putting on your tinfoil/trilby/cowboy/top hat) is that I attended an expo this week in London and one of the seminars was given by HACT (housing something something).

Essentially the housing association houses are going to be fitted with dozens if not hundreds of sensors that monitor everthing from which rooms are used to if the boiler needs mending. They were even talking about sensors that can detect if someone is struggling to walk or having difficulties.

The idea is that it allows the landlords to preempt repairs and the like but all I could think about was 1984.

As a note the guy presenting did note that the information can only be accessed by the people who own the house, all data is kept securely etc. And that in the future when it is more prevelant people should be able to say yes I want it on or no I dont.

 

1984!!!

animal farm is good too. describes how communism fails

I read that in high school, and I've forgotten the greater majority of it. The only thing that I can still remember is the basic intent of Orwell in writing it: to inform and forewarn the public that, at some point, an authority figure will figure out that it is possible to limit the freedoms even of your thoughts and that the restriction of information was only the beginning and, yet still, the harbinger of that evolution of control.


See also William Blake's "London", as it is where the phrase 'mind-forged manacles' comes from, which is occasionally tossed about by the likes of Christopher Hitchens. Speaking of whom, I suspect that 1984 drew significantly from the ideologies of religion and the misinformation promulgated by it and the idea of thought-crime which is central to the dogma.

I have not read animal farm yet, but I do have it somewhere.

I am currently reading this just bought the eBook after trying to find a physical for too long. So I am getting into it now. I really like the story, bleak and almost hopeless, very much looking forward to the rest of it. 

I've read it, and it should be really alongside of Brave New World.  There are big differences on how sexuality is predicted and handled in the books- almost like 1984 is a prediction of right-wing totalitarianism and Brave New World is left-wing totalitarianism.....generally speaking.

Fantastic read, although I recommend pairing it with Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World. 

You'll discover the later two are (at least in my opinion) more relevant to our society, 1984 was written when it seemed the red sea that was Communism was sweeping the world over. Orwell predicted that it would soon come to Britain and morph into what's seen in the novel.

Orwell was definitely 'in the know' back then when he wrote it.

It's on my "to read" list, i'm currently reading "Worm: The First Digital World War" by Mark Bowden. But after that i'll read 1984, nice to hear it's a good read.

It's a quote from the book...  it was just my way of saying I've read it lol.  (I reply, 2 months later)

10 Orwell quotes that predicted American life in 2014

It's actually quite terrifying if you look at where the world is heading.