George Orwell (1984) (1 Viewer)

[SitDownStandUp]

Amazing. Anyone read this? any comments?

 

[mcdickpants 2.5]

most misinterpreted novel ever

 

[= Jennifer =]

its on my reading list i cant wait to read it

 

[McLake]

Very good. I highly recommend to everyone ...

 

[mayhemily]

yeah I went to the library to get it the other day and it wasnt there so I got animal farm... which I haven't read past the first page...

 

[super katie]

Incredibly freaky, the bit with the rats just scared the hell out of me but its a great book. People can be so manipulative

 

[McLake]

yeah I went to the library to get it the other day and it wasnt there so I got animal farm... which I haven't read past the first page...

This is a good book too, possibly better than 1984 ...

 

[aim54x]

i hate to be the different one, i studied it in english dis yr, it was quite bleak, not ur entertainin novel. i was hell tryin to get past part 1. as an example of writin it is very good, it lacks the entertainment value 4 me.

 

[dingding]

most misinterpreted novel ever

go on.....

 

[SitDownStandUp]

are you always judgemental?

most misinterpreted novel ever

please inform us of your intepretation?

 

[_Amie_]

All I can say is : awesome, awesome, awesome...

 

[chelloveck]

most misinterpreted novel ever

yeah. how so? i find it funny how you have such an aversion to 'alternative'-popular opinion. not saying you're wrong here, just saying that you have this necessity for dissidence.

but the two books that i've read from george orwell (1984 and animal farm) have this amazing ability to freak the fuck out of me, which normally doesn't happen with books. like someone said before, the bit with the rats in 1984, but what was scarier and more disturbing for me was the image of the pigs walking and in human clothing in animal farm.

 

[neuro_logik]

One of the greatest novels that I have ever read! Orwell was right about the direction our world is going, he was just 20 years off.

 

[Sycochild]

1984 had a unique writing style, unique characters, and an amazingly refined plot. It was a refreshing a change from all those fast paced action mass market thrillers that i've read

I see from your username that you listen to Radiohead . They seem to share similiar ideas to george orwell (bleakness, pessimism etc.)

 

[cyko]

sorry but i found 1984 very boring ..
not my type of book
had to read it and do an essay on it for english dis year .. all i did was looked at summaries and made up most of my bs from there .. only some parts were interesting i guess .. but overall not i book that i would dare touch again

 

[chelloveck]

1984 had a unique writing style, unique characters, and an amazingly refined plot. It was a refreshing a change from all those fast paced action mass market thrillers that i've read

I see from your username that you listen to Radiohead . They seem to share similiar ideas to george orwell (bleakness, pessimism etc.)

...the gloaming...

 

[Gregor Samsa]

yeah. how so? i find it funny how you have such an aversion to 'alternative'-popular opinion. not saying you're wrong here, just saying that you have this necessity for dissidence.

I'd actually agree about 1984 being misinterpreted. The main problem is that the text critiques all forms of totalitarianism, rather than specifically attacking Communism. Where this becomes problematic is in many readings of the text, which is perceived as attacking not only Communism as practiced in the USSR, but all forms of socialism. These readings, funnily enough, often came from an capitalistic stance, especially enjoying capital during the Cold War, and in the present day. This reading, of course, is entirely contrary to Orwell's intention, even stating in interviews that the novel was by no means meant to critique socialism. Orwell considered himself a 'democratic socialist' afterall..

It is a very good text, although I wish people would acknowledge the text that heavily influenced Orwell in it's composition, Yefgeny Zamyatin's We. Composed in 1920, this work manages to anticipate many elements of Orwell's dystopia, right down to mental restrictions and oppression culminating in a doomed revolt.

 

[chelloveck]

yeah, i never said it wasn't. my comment was at mcdickpants, not his statement. but i had no idea the book was interpretated like that, i was always under the impression that the book was seen as a satire of all types of socialism and totalitarianism, i.e fascist italy, nazi germany and soviet russia. i never knew that it was popularly perceived as exclusively an anti-commuist novel.

 

[PaleReflection]

It's easy to interpret it as being a criticism of all forms of socialism, with the Party being called Ingsoc (English Socialism).
However, Gregor Samsa is right, Orwell did consider himself a democratic socialist, and his novel did not serve to attack socialism, but self-serving people who call themselves socialist (as it is obvious the political system in the novel could not be farther from socialism).

 

[asscookie]

I read it in year 9. Being the typical rebellious 14 year old that I was, I couldn't put it down. I like Orwell's writing style.