well i was super paranoid before i read that book but after i tell ya i dident leave my house for days everytime i talked about it my computer would go all funky like someone was cleaning my hard drive ..it such an eye opener i think that why it's "marked" it plays into everyday life so much ..i recomend everyone to read it !! we whatch it.. it whatches us .. it in our living rooms kitchens bedrooms everywhere ...T.V ... cigarettes..alcohol..gambling ..WORK ..bills..sex religion..all that keeps the masses TO busy to rise together over big brother ..it's set to manipulate and change opinions to keep everyone to busy to stop and look at what makes them happy and to change there life to what really does make them smile .. karma ..and love is all u need .. it all a big plot .. keep them working 40 hours a week ..add entertainemt to spend there money on (gagets.. alcohol cigs..ect.)which has tax so even more money goes back to them plus they all own shares in these company SOO more money goes to them !! or go out to bar where the rest of them go in hope of finding somethign different but everyone is dressed the same with the same hair cut and same collard shirt on.. NOW think theres 168 hours a week im pretty sure .. 40 hours is spent working the rest sleeping or going out ... so how much time does the 'masses" spend digging in there minds .. NOne OR very little .... it scares them or life is great without thinking about that ... well i say weed is what makes us think .. once u smoke it u are mellow think clearly and are entertained at stuff that makes you happy and doesent cost money ... paint music writting walks outside in the woods .. sunset trees ... that why it not legalized .. well one of the many reasons... lol ... well i could go ne forever >... anyone have any imput ?
Funny, I just finished reading it yesterday. Read it in one night, midnight till morning. I saw many wrong things with the book, but over all I was very impressed. One thing it certainly had was emotional effect on me. Throughout the book, I actually felt the same way as the main character. An entire array of emotions - some of which I rarely feel and don't agree with - were transferred to me in their entirety. In the end, I cried. On the political, prophetic level, I think it's slightly overrated. The similarities between Ingsoc and Soviet Communism are too strong and obviously intentional, and this can have very wrong effects on uninformed readers. While Orwell was himself a Socialist and was really talking more about totalitariandictatorships like Stalinism, I think that during the Cold War, an average reader of the book would think little more than "Damn pinko commies". Also, in terms of realism, the book is not too great. While it is possible for a truly Orwellian government to take over the world and arrange it like in the book, it's very unlikely. That's ok, though, because I see the book as being exaggerated intentionally. At many points, realism is even intentionally sacrificed for emotional appeal and overal intensity (which is not a bad trade, in my opinion). As for your comments, I think they apply even more to Brave New World than 1984. Your paranoia is not justified as of yet. Nobody's watching you. But with technologies like RFID [http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=166403260] and various ID cards, this may happen in the not too distant future. In fact, they may be even more efficient than Big Brother.
hmm ive never read the book but theres this band here in this hick town called "read 1984" and i think ill read it.
Im reading it again just now. Yeh it is a blatant attack on stalinism but parts of it are still relevant. I noticed how similar goldstein is to trotsky recently.
I've read it, i thought it was a good read, made me appreciate my civil liberites and freedoms a bit more, and i will always do my best to hold onto them at all costs. Peace and love michael xxx
yeh, but it also made me notice how little freedoms we might actaully have, i mean we think we are free but are we really free? there are cctvcmaera everywhere, we are still ruled by the ruling class, and we are contantly told that we are free and how great everything is.
I actually think Orwell, who had worked with the BBC as a reporter, was actually warning us of the upcoming times and warning s that this was going to happen, and now look around us? Change Emmual Goldstein to Al Queda, and this is 1984... Peace and Love, Dan
First off, I loved this book, amd have commented on it's political relevancy here before. And second, I love weed, and agree that it can help you expand your mind, only because it makes you think with different brainwaves that you wouldn't have otherwise. But weed is a sedative AND it's entertainment. Isn't it just another distraction preventing people from being pro-active? If you use it responsibly, then OK, but for most people, especially heavy users (that's me and my friends) it makes people lazy and indifferent. And don't fool yourself, the whole "war on drugs" is a red hearing. They like things just the way they are......
I remember I read this after I read Brave New World. Way after Brave New World. I prefer that book to 1984, but Orwell is always fun. It didn't so much make me paranoid as much as it made me sad. We're not quite there yet, and if my generation (who can vote) has anything to say about it I don't think we are going to let it go too far. When it comes to different ID things that the gov is throwing out I think it is because of the whole 9/11 thing. If big brother is watching me right now, he isn't bothering me. I still toke up without a FBI raid and all. I don't work for some crazy other country intelligence system so I don't think I'm going to be bothered. The government isn't perfect but what the hell would you do trying to make everyone happy with such a large population. You do what you gotta do. No big brother really. They don't care about you're little ass unless you're starting trouble. Then again I might have a problem with the gov if I start some of these radical activist movements I have been cooking up in my head. But I did love 1984 and I would recomend Brave New World. Huxley also wrote a sequal to it that I haven't gotten to.Good book choice.
It's funny you say that because my teacher's husband who taught me this book is from Britain and he said that when he was a young boy he grew up in a real poor family and his dad would often drink victory gin and victory vodka. That was a long ago though because he must be about 60 now.
Orwell's Animal Farm makes a nice preview to 1984. Pink Floyds The Wall should be listened to with 1984 in mind.
wicked imput my friends i would love to read animal farm to .. i remmeber it a bit from a long time ago .. but need to refresh the old brain
When I read it a few years ago I was very impressed, but I was fifteen then. Now I think it's a bit overdone. I liked the scene where he has sex with the girl, not because of the sex but it's the most beautiful peace of the book. Perhaps of the colours there, the rest of the book is sooo grey. But it's a good book, though I prefer animal farm.
Yeah i think it is overdone somewhat.. it was prety original i would imagine but then again maybe not.. maybe just well written. I thought the film was awful.. Maybe because it is all so cliched now and i am very cynical about 'big brother is watching you' (aka nowadays CCTV cameras catching muggers rapists terrorists etc etc ).
