Sales of George Orwells book "1984" rises by nearly 7000% on Amazon, victory gin production rises by
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[quote]In the aftermath of recent revelations concerning a top secret government surveillance program aimed at monitoring the personal and private interactions of mostly innocent civilians, many Americans are naturally concerned with what the future might hold for a country being run by an All-Seeing Eye.
So they've turned to the past: According to Amazon's Movers & Shakers countdown, three different editions of George Orwell's alt-history book Nineteen Eighty-Four have shot up hundreds of spots on the chart since news of the NSA's clandestine spying program PRISM broke late last week.[/quote]
I wonder how many will miss the message of the book, if they manage to read through all of it.
I feel like the only person who didn't enjoy this book. I was pretty young when I read it, so I should probably give it a second chance, but Orwell's writing style is just ridiculously dry, too much so for my tastes. Much preferred Huxley.
I still love this book. I read it young, and I feel it really does send a message.
Please tell me this happened under Bush too when we passed the patriot act.
Oh wait nevermind, opponents of Bush weren't idiots.
Hmm, I [I]do[/I] need to read that book, since I've already read Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World.
I guess I'll...
go borrow my dad's copy.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41001115]I wonder how many will miss the message of the book, if they manage to read through all of it.[/QUOTE]
Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?
I've read this and Brave New World. Both great books IMO. Never read Fahrenheit 451 though. I was going to, just never got around to it.
If you haven't read "1984," you really should consider it. It's incredibly hardhitting and depressing. It's a great book.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;41001221]Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?[/QUOTE]
Totalitarianism is bad.
It was pretty much aimed at Hitlers Germany and Stalins Russia, but there's a few Conservative pundits who use it to argue against say socialism for instance, whilst happily ignoring the fact the author was a socialist.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;41001221]Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?[/QUOTE]
You can't fight agaisnt the authoritarian state alone, and you will end up loving it.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;41001221]Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?[/QUOTE]
I thought the message Orwell wanted was the dangers of fascism, totalitarianism, industrialization, removal of natural elements in human society and earthly occurrences. Also how flimsy, and malleable human perception can be.
Weird. I just bought it along with Animal Farm on Google Play a little bit ago, just because I've been meaning to read them.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;41001221]Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?[/QUOTE]
The message is that 2+2=5.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;41001221]Out of curiosity, what is the message of the book?[/QUOTE]
Control information, control what people think, and you control reality itself. If everyone believed that 2+2=5 then it must.
Of course it's against totalitarianism but that's hardly a new idea.
[QUOTE=.Isak.;41001159]I feel like the only person who didn't enjoy this book. I was pretty young when I read it, so I should probably give it a second chance, but Orwell's writing style is just ridiculously dry, too much so for my tastes. Much preferred Huxley.[/QUOTE]
Brave New World didn't work for me.
It was overly awkward at times, not believable, and the "Oh Ford!" "His Fordship!" puns grew tiresome far too quickly.
I remember reading it in high school. It's a great book. There was also a movie based on it (ironically filmed in the year 1984) but I would suggest watching it after you read.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41001265]Totalitarianism is bad.
[/QUOTE]
I think you have to be really screwed up to not get that.
Hopefully this means more people are actually reading the book and taking it's message to heart.
IMO, every single person in this country should read 1984 and Brave New World. If more members of the US Congress had read Orwell in their lives, USA PATRIOT and FISA would never have seen the light of day.
Personally I really wasn't too big on 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World were better, more believable.
Can't wait for the idiots who don't understand it's a warning of totalitarianism and not a critique on modern government.
Way too many people I know read it and then come out screaming shit like "WE ARE LIVING IN 1984!!!!"
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;41001381]Personally I really wasn't too big on 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World were better, more believable.[/QUOTE]
Brave New World was more shock-factor, wasn't it?
Haven't read it in a while, but I remember going "lol wut" over the baby shock-therapy
[QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;41001412]Can't wait for the idiots who don't understand it's a warning of totalitarianism and not a critique on modern government.
Way too many people I know read it and then come out screaming shit like "WE ARE LIVING IN 1984!!!!"[/QUOTE]
However, you must consider which direction we are going in. I don't think it's the right one in that there just seems to be increasingly a fundamental problem with our systems.
[QUOTE=HighdefGE;41001359]I remember reading it in high school. It's a great book. There was also a movie based on it (ironically filmed in the year 1984) but I would suggest watching it after you read.[/QUOTE]
You can actually find both the 1956 and 1984 films, along with a fantastically narrated audio book on youtube with relative ease. Despite having previously read the book I actually gave the audio book a listen and found myself getting drawn back into the story.
I need to put this and Animal Farm at the top of my reading list.
Out of the three books, Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite.
I liked 1984 because it had interesting concepts, like Newspeak and Doublethink, and purposely continuous war. I also liked how it never really explained everything, and [sp]how Winston never really fully understands Oceania.[/sp]
[QUOTE=Corey_Faure;41001471]I need to put this and Animal Farm at the top of my reading list.[/QUOTE]
I've recently read Animal Farm and I have to say, it is really good.
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;41001482]I liked 1984 because it had interesting concepts, like Newspeak and Doublethink, and purposely continuous war. I also liked how it never really explained everything, and[sp] how Winston never really fully understands everything.[/sp][/QUOTE]
Don't ruin the anticipation
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;41001457]However, you must consider which direction we are going in. I don't think it's the right one in that there just seems to be increasingly a fundamental problem with our systems.[/QUOTE]
Having seen improvement before us, why are we to expect deterioration ahead of us?
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;41001491]Having seen improvement before us, why are we to expect deterioration ahead of us?[/QUOTE]
Scientific progress =/= Societal progress
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