03/2008 Winner: 1984 by George Orwell

GWC Community Book Club Winning Nominees and Polls
#1

Lawyer Bill suggested this one in his top ten list, but I wanted to give it a new thread since I think it deserves it!

I admit I hadn’t read 1984 until about four years ago, and I was absolutely blown away. I didn’t read it in the context of a class or a group or anyone else’s recommendation - just cold (or as cold as you can get with a book already considered a classic).

But 1984 continues to keep its perch in the back of my conscious mind, always popping up here and there when I’m reading the news or contemplating current events, like the oppression by the military junta in Myanmar. They shut down the Internet over there, seriously.

It’s a sobering read, but it creates great discussion and is relevant to our lives at any given point.

#2

Even if we don’t end up reading 1984 – which we should! – I’d just like to second the concept of classic sci-fi in general. Sometimes the older or less glitzy material doesn’t get the attention it deserves in the fan community. Sure, it requires a bit more imagination to enjoy than, say, Sr Ws, but it’s also the stuff that really sticks with you.

#3

I’m game for this book. It’s one that, sadly, I’ve yet to get to in my life but is perpetually on my list (kind of like Moby Dick). I’ve been meaning to read it since 2003 or so, in context of our current national politics, but I’ve not wanted to be depressed by finding parallels between our worlds. Now that things have changed somewhat I think I could handle it, at last.

#4

Sounds like a great idea for a stickied thread across all genres…films, books, music, etc…perhaps with links for easy lookup and procurement perhaps? :smiley:

#5

Armando, it’s a great read – much more user-friendly than Moby Dick. :slight_smile: And quite a bit shorter! Of course, there’s no Queequag, but that’s the sacrifice you make.

#6

Oh man! No Queequeg? That’s it, I’m not reading it!

(I’m having flashbacks to the Futurama with the brain creatures that make everyone but Frye dumb and the final showdown in the library, with Queequeg and other literary characters helping out. What an odd combination it would be to have, say, Big Brother be part of that mix!)

#7

I picked this up at the beginning of summer when I couldn’t find anything new to read. They had a bunch of classics all set out. I also picked up Lord of the Flies. I had never read either of them and thought, “what the hell… they are short.” As short as these books are, it took just as long for me to read them as it would a longer work. These stories are so condensed! I felt like I was missing something if I started reading too fast or spaced out for a page.

#8

An amazing book–and a little too contemporary at times for my taste. I think orwell was off by about 20 years.

Dave

#9

More importantly there is no Starbuck in it ether (I’m hoping that Starbuck was in Moby Dick, like 98% sure I have the right book, I hope, I hope…anyway) I read 1984 every year and follow it with a chaser of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. I think 451 has become more important over the years, not protecting books as it was intended, but showing were a very decadent and self centered socity like the US’s maybe (I say IS) will end up.

#10

Two points for you! Moby Dick is an old favorite of mine and indeed does feature Starbuck!

#11

Although, it should be mentioned that Starbuck was not, in Moby Dick, a chick.

Actually, he was much more like Lee. Or Helo.

Hmmmmm…

#12

check out the torture scene! four lights? five lights? and then go re-watch ST TNG Chain of Command, part 2…

#13

After reading this book recently (finished it about a month or so ago) am I supposed to feel depressed after this book? I mean what happens to the main character and his interest in the book is really appalling and then at the end you are left with just this “wow this is fucked up” feeling. I mean is that what i am supposed to feel after this book?

#14

of course it’s appalling. that’s what totalitarian states do to their people. appalling things. remember, this was written in 1948, with the Soviet Union just having overrun Eastern Europe, brutally establishing satellite regimes from Moscow as far West as the Elbe River, the year of the Berlin Airlift, Stalin holding over a million people hostage in Berlin, trying to literally starve them out, also the time when Mao Zedong was victorious in China, establishing there yet another Communist regime, torture, bloodshed, oppression, GULAG, basically it’s WWII continued, with the enemy being their own people. Remember that Stalin killed even more people than Hitler. It’s a time when the future looked utterly bleak, the US had dropped the A-bomb, twice, the USSR was developing their own nuclear weapons program, the CSSR was taken by the Communists in a coup d’état and many in the US intelligence community were expecting a war over Berlin in the near future. living in that kind of world, you can’t blame Orwell for his bleak vision of the future.

#15

In a word, yes.

It was supposed to be a cautionary tale, after all.

#16

Thanks Ranger and Pike.

#17

GWCers have spoken, and this month we’re all diving into some classic sci-fi: George Orwell’s 1984. Obviously the year in question has come and gone, and we’re not living in the world Orwell imagined.

He certainly couldn’t have predicted Big Brother.

But then again, his vision of things-to-come still seems relevant – and certainly lives on in our culture.

This classic is available widely in used book stores – I scored a paperback for $1.50 this last weekend! – and new copies are available in multiple printings from Amazon and many, many others.

I read this back in high school – and once later – but I’m looking forward to giving it a more adult read, and I’m really looking forward to discussing it with you.

#18

Excellent graphic on the home page, but if Orwell had a little more David Lee Roth in him, maybe the book wouldn’t be such a downer.*

  • Very dry (and lame) joke.
#19

No more dry (and lame) than mine in the graphic. :slight_smile:

#20

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