Sales of George Orwell's 1984 surge after Kellyanne Conway's 'alternative facts' - Polidicks

[quote]Sales of George Orwell’s dystopian drama 1984 have soared after Kellyanne Conway, adviser to the reality-TV-star-turned-president, Donald Trump, used the phrase “alternative facts” in an interview. As of Tuesday, the book was the sixth best-selling book on Amazon. Comparisons were made with the term “newspeak” used in the 1949 novel, which was used to signal a fictional language that aims at eliminating personal thought and also “doublethink”. In the book Orwell writes that it “means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them”. The connection was initially made on CNN’s Reliable Sources. “Alternative facts is a George Orwell phrase,” said Washington Post reporter Karen Tumulty[/quote] [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/24/george-orwell-1984-sales-surge-kellyanne-conway-alternative-facts?CMP=twt_gu"]The Guardian[/URL]

Imagine this was fake news

Currenttimes fictionlife. Doubleplusungood, plusunbellyfeel.

Huh, I just ordered this book last night because I see it everywhere on lists of "Books to read before you die".

A book every school should supply.

[QUOTE=The bird Man;51721414]A book every school should supply.[/QUOTE] Hopefully not as a guidance book.

Arm yourselves with knowledge.

I'd imagine viewings of the Movie has gone up a fair bit too. It haunts you after you finish it.

Amazing book, great film adaptation. Extremely relevant nowadays.

[QUOTE=polarbear.;51721395]Huh, I just ordered this book last night because I see it everywhere on lists of "Books to read before you die".[/QUOTE] It's a good book even if it's kinda depressing. Orwell is a really good author.

They should be brushing up on "Animal Farm" as well.

[QUOTE=LittleBabyman;51721458]Hopefully not as a guidance book.[/QUOTE] Brave New World is the dystopian book people seem to be using for guidance these days

[QUOTE=KnightLight;51721575]They should be brushing up on "Animal Farm" as well.[/QUOTE] What does Communism have to do with this?

good to see people are aware of this stuff

[QUOTE=Destroyox;51721608]What does Communism have to do with this?[/QUOTE] A reminder that extremism in either direction is bad. Trump is on the "1984" side while the protesters in the streets are "Animal Farm".

[QUOTE=KnightLight;51721624]A reminder that extremism in either direction is bad. Trump is on the "1984" side while the protesters in the streets are "Animal Farm".[/QUOTE] I don't see how even a majority of the protestors are extremists. If anything Trump's team is more like Animal Farm because of how they just constantly interrupt facts with rhetoric.

[QUOTE=KnightLight;51721624]A reminder that extremism in either direction is bad. Trump is on the "1984" side while the protesters in the streets are "Animal Farm".[/QUOTE] "If you protest the american government you must be a commie"

I started reading this in Highschool at the end of senior year. But the school year ended before we even got to the half way point. I should find a way to watch the movie. Is this the movie or is there a different one? [QUOTE][video=youtube;fCZBnUt6rZ0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZBnUt6rZ0[/video][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=KnightLight;51721624]A reminder that extremism in either direction is bad. Trump is on the "1984" side while the protesters in the streets are "Animal Farm".[/QUOTE] Have [I]you[/I] actually read Animal Farm? Because a novel about a populist anti-establishment leader who, immediately upon reaching office, betrays all his supporters, keeps the old oppressive system going under his new leadership, becomes even more corrupt than the regime he replaced, and spouts egocentric self-serving lies that he forces others to follow under threat of retaliation, seems to be a hell of a lot more about Trump than the protestors. In fact, about the only thing I see that's similar between Animal Farm and the current protests is that the participants in both are generally on the left of the political spectrum. But so were the characters in 1984 - Ingsoc is newspeak for "English Socialism", in case you forgot that detail. Reminder: George Orwell was a democratic socialist, in the original sense of the term, influenced by Trotskyism and anarcho-syndicalism. He wanted to end capitalism and unite Europe. [I]Animal Farm[/I] and [I]Nineteen Eighty-Four[/I] are critiques of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, not Socialism or Communism in general, despite what American public-school teachers often claim.

:snip: [editline]24th January 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=MissingGlitch;51721710]I started reading this in Highschool at the end of senior year. But the school year ended before we even got to the half way point. I should find a way to watch the movie. Is this the movie or is there a different one?[/QUOTE] There's a superior one starring John Hurt that was made and released in 1984 itself.

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51721730]Sort of works better when you read it as you can think up the environments it plays in.[/QUOTE] I already have a general idea. But don't remember much.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;51721721]Have [I]you[/I] actually read Animal Farm? Because a novel about a populist anti-establishment leader who, immediately upon reaching office, betrays all his supporters, keeps the old oppressive system going under his new leadership, becomes even more corrupt than the regime he replaced, and spouts egocentric self-serving lies that he forces others to follow under threat of retaliation, seems to be a hell of a lot more about Trump than the protestors. In fact, about the only thing I see that's similar between Animal Farm and the current protests is that the participants in both are generally on the left of the political spectrum. But so were the characters in 1984 - Ingsoc is newspeak for "English Socialism", in case you forgot that detail. Reminder: George Orwell was a democratic socialist, in the original sense of the term, influenced by Trotskyism and anarcho-syndicalism. He wanted to end capitalism and unite Europe. [I]Animal Farm[/I] and [I]Nineteen Eighty-Four[/I] are critiques of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, not Socialism or Communism in general, despite what American public-school teachers often claim.[/QUOTE] Yes, as a matter of fact Orwell fought for the libertarian socialists in Spain, in which he recorded in his book Homage to Catalonia. What he experienced there (from the fascist war crimes to The Stalinist betrayel) would later help influence his works later on.

It's a damn good book, I hope it gets more attention. More likely though it's just gonna become a political buzzword for the first few years just like at the start of Obama's first term. [QUOTE=DOCTOR LIGHT;51721723]There's a superior one starring John Hurt that was made and released in 1984 itself.[/QUOTE] The eternal truth. Radford's 1984 > Anderson's 1984

I think the 1984 version of 1984 is best if you can't or don't want to read the book, since it captures the quintessentially British submission of it all. 1984's silent social submission, which lies at the core of IngSoc, is a very British sentiment. Especially life in central London.

[QUOTE=KnightLight;51721575]They should be brushing up on "Animal Farm" as well.[/QUOTE] Animal farm kinda blows tbh. Kids that don't understand it will think it's pointless, kids that do understand it might find it redundant. The pitfalls of communism are taught better in history class.

[QUOTE=MissingGlitch;51721710]I started reading this in Highschool at the end of senior year. But the school year ended before we even got to the half way point. I should find a way to watch the movie. Is this the movie or is there a different one?[/QUOTE] i think most people are thinking of the one with john hurt? it's a very gud film

They're gonna be upset when they realise the book was actually a criticism of the left, not the right.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51722561]They're gonna be upset when they realise the book was actually a criticism of the left, not the right.[/QUOTE] It's really a criticism of totalitarianism, which doesn't need to be either left or right.

Okay I'll admit that I haven't read Animal Farm in a long ass time so it might not be exactly what I remember it to be. I retract my previous statement.

[QUOTE=Popularvote;51721475]Arm yourselves with knowledge.[/QUOTE] And guns. Knowledge is meaningless if you can't enforce its applicability onto reality. Or if you can't defend it from tyrannical assholes who want to suppress it, for that matter. It works both ways.