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Garina
05-24-2002, 03:24 AM
I've just finished reading 1984, and I was wondering what other people thought about it. It was very good, but I found the ending quite disturbing.
Anyway, what do you think?
azalea
05-24-2002, 01:15 PM
I just read it recently and thought it was a very good, albeit disturbing book as well. I actually found Orwell's Animal Farm to be more chilling, though. Have you read it?
sun-star
05-24-2002, 01:36 PM
I found Animal Farm more disturbing, too, because in a way it was closer to home - 1984 will (hopefully) never happen, while many of the events in Animal Farm have already happened. 1984 is very scary though, and an amazing acheivement.
Blackheart
05-24-2002, 01:38 PM
4 legs good! 2 legs bad!

Orwell was very good at making people uncomfortable with totilitarian societies. Which is why I find him such a charming author.

1984 could hardly have ended any other way. They couldn't terminate him until he was a loyal member of the party again. To do otherwise only creates martyrs.

No escape of fancy, like Brazil, which I reccomend you watch if 1984 has gotten you down. It should cheer you up a bit. (only a little bit though)
Garina
05-24-2002, 02:37 PM
Yes, I have read Animal Farm. I wasn't actually as disturbed by that as 1984 though.
Has he written any other books about totalitarianism?
Blackheart
05-24-2002, 04:06 PM
Orwell died relatively young, he might have written more had he been given a chance.

Here's a pretty good info site http://www.levity.com/corduroy/orwell.htm
azalea
05-24-2002, 06:21 PM
I think the reason Animal Farm disturbed me more was that the situation there was more treasonous, if you will. The other animals were betrayed by their fellow animals, whereas in 1984 it was a hidden government that just controlled everything...well it's hard to explain, but it was just sadder to me and I can't even talk about the part I really hated, it is so disturbing.
Don't get me wrong, though, 1984 was certainly an awful situation. It was a very well written book, and it's scary to think of having to live like that. I know there's a movie, but I've heard it wasn't very good. Has anyone seen it? The part where they are "caught" and the telescreen is revealed when the picture crashes to the ground would make an excellent movie scene, IMO.
The really sad thing to me is that through the whole book I held out hope that the Revolution was real, and it is such a letdown when that possibility seems dashed.
BeardofPants
05-24-2002, 06:22 PM
Nah. I was more disturbed by Animal Farm, than by 1984. Big Brother is already here. :rolleyes: That final scene where the pigs are walking around in the house. *shudder*

Azalea, I've seen the movie. I liked it. But then, it had John Hurt in it.
Blackheart
05-25-2002, 01:10 AM
Bah. Pigs are ok, it's when the Sheep start talking I worry :p
BeardofPants
05-25-2002, 01:40 AM
"Four legs good! Two legs bad!" - Guess that makes me better than you. ;)

Better start worrying then, cos this sheep has got lots to say! :p

Has anyone read his earlier works? I've got a big omnibus of them that are on my "to read" list...
Blackheart
05-25-2002, 04:45 AM
Coming Up for Air is pretty good, not as good as 1984 and animal farm though. in my opinion.
Carafin
05-25-2002, 09:58 PM
I just read Animal Farm, it was such a revelation about totalitarianism It was such a realistic portrayal, it just gave me the shivers when I first read it.
IronParrot
05-27-2002, 12:50 AM
Nineteen Eighty-Four was and remains the bible of modern political science.
FrodoFriend
05-28-2002, 01:33 AM
1984 is my second favorite book. I liked the movie too, from what I remember of it (it's been a while). The ending was perfect for the book; a bit depressing of course, but right all the same.
IronParrot
06-03-2002, 12:54 AM
If you liked this book, the movie to watch is Brazil.
cassiopeia
06-05-2002, 09:05 PM
How about watching Big Brother?:) I did read half of 1984, but I then got distracted and stopped. I will read it again when I get the chance.
XRogue
06-10-2002, 12:10 AM
1984 and Animal Farm are excellent, excellent books. They have been on my "regular re-read" list for years.

Another interesting book is Fatherland, which was written by Robert Harris. (author of Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal) Fatherland speculates on what might have happened if Germany had won WWII. Not, alas, as good as Orwell, but nobody is these days.

Fatherland was also made into a movie, starring Rutger Hauer.
Draken
06-14-2002, 08:59 AM
Orwell was deeply disappointed by politics of all hues, having renounced a comfortable middle-class colonialist lifestyle, gone to fight in Spain against the Fascists but finding his deadliest enemies there were the dogmatic doublethinking communist and anarchist factions who were supposed to have been on his side. "Homage to Catalonia" tells about it, and if you read that you'll see a lot of what pops up later as fiction in 1984.

He was also a pessimistic sod and was originally going to call it 1948, so near did he think it was. Also I think it was written as a warning, and so COULDN'T have a happy ending really.

Agree that "Brazil" covers the same theme, very differently though and with a wonderful dark humour. Not that it is less depressing, ultimately.

On the plus side, I really think that the more extreme and totalitarian a government is, the more seeds for its own downfall it sows. It might take years or even decades, but they all fall in the end.
FrodoFriend
06-16-2002, 01:07 AM
Originally posted by XRogue
1984 and Animal Farm are excellent, excellent books. They have been on my "regular re-read" list for years.

Another interesting book is Fatherland, which was written by Robert Harris. (author of Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal) Fatherland speculates on what might have happened if Germany had won WWII. Not, alas, as good as Orwell, but nobody is these days.

Fatherland was also made into a movie, starring Rutger Hauer.


The author of Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal is Thomas Harris. Is he still the same guy who wrote Fatherland?
Jadera
06-20-2002, 12:55 AM
I just finished reading Animal Farm two days ago. It was on the disturbing side, I found. I have to friends who read it, one of them thought it was funny, and the other thought it was scary. I tend to agree with the scary theory.
Like someone else said, I held hope throughout the enitre story that they would overthrow the pigs and start again.
The most impact part to me was when Napoleaon ordered the 'vet' for poor Boxer...
And yes, the end scene when they couldn't tell the pigs from men was quite alarming.
It was a very well written book, with the subliminal and not-so-subliminal political messages.

Interesting fact though, that while Orwell criticized Communism, he himself was a Socialist.
BeardofPants
06-20-2002, 12:59 AM
Originally posted by Jadera
Interesting fact though, that while Orwell criticized Communism, he himself was a Socialist.

Well, they are different! :mad:
Jadera
06-20-2002, 01:08 AM
Oh, yes, I know. :p
I never meant to infer that they were the same 'ism' if you will, but I thought it was slightly ironic since they are similiar in foundation and process.
Agreed, not the same.
sun-star
06-20-2002, 01:26 PM
I believe he saw Communism as a betrayal of Socialist ideas, or at least the way it was applied to ruling countries.
IronParrot
06-22-2002, 10:05 PM
Yeah... I think Orwell was a democratic socialist, opposed to Stalinism, not the actual Communist ideal. A true socialist society would not have the dramatic class differences and separation that are found in Orwell's Ingsoc.
Shadowfax
07-11-2002, 05:59 PM
I had to read Animal Farm for English a couple of months ago, and I think that although it was well-written, I would never have finished it if I didn't have to for school! Eek! And now, I have to read 1984 this summer for my English Honours class next year. I'm still in the first section of 1984, I'm not enjoying it at all. Actually, one of the first things that came into my mind when I started reading it was that it is kinda like a 'continuation' of Animal Farm, but with people. Know what I mean? It's kinda like Animal Farm was Part I, in which the world began to be corrupted, and 1984 is Part II, where it is fully corrupted. Does that make sense???
IronParrot
07-12-2002, 01:57 AM
Good observation!
eowyn144
07-12-2002, 05:23 PM
so if i've read animal farm and wanted to progress onto something else you would recommend 1984?
IronParrot
07-12-2002, 06:40 PM
Yes, but of course, I'd say that you should read 1984 in any case. :p
Shadowfax
07-12-2002, 07:25 PM
Originally posted by IronParrot
Good observation! Thanks! I was hoping that made sense!
eowyn144
07-13-2002, 12:03 PM
i'll give it a go then. i'll let you know how i get on.
Menelvagor
07-19-2002, 11:27 PM
I read Animal Farm when I was about ten. Emotionally scaring. I just read 1984 for english next year (in the process of writing a report on it, in fact- well, that is to say, procrastinating furiously :o ). It's rather disturbing, I was reading it in the car as we were going to Wal-Mart one day, and then, when we got there, I stepped out of the car and there's this big sign 'security cameras in use' and all the cameras on the roof; frightening really, Big Brother is watching!

The Big Brother Awards (http://www.privacyinternational.org/bigbrother/us2002/) - for companies that invade individual privacy.
Erawyn
07-24-2002, 11:44 PM
read Animal Farm when I was about ten. Emotionally scaring
I can imagine! my father read it to me when i was i think younger than that. I obviously couldn't really understand it ( i don't know what he was thinking, trying to make me a socialist at a young age i suppose) but i found it terrifying. 1984 is on my to read list but i havn't got around to it yet.
eowyn144
07-29-2002, 10:11 AM
well i've got it! my dad bought me 1984 so i've started reading it. i'm only a few chapters in but am already finding it rather disturbing.i take it it gets worse right?
azalea
07-29-2002, 01:24 PM
Yes, very.
eowyn144
08-03-2002, 12:36 PM
i see what you mean.
i don't think i've ever read a book which required me to think that much.i had to reread several parts of it, trying to let it sink in. i think i'll read it again when i'm older though.as a younger reader i think some of it when right over my head.
Shadowfax
08-22-2002, 03:04 PM
Can anyone help me with the theme of 1984?
osszie
08-31-2002, 08:58 PM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Blackheart

1984 could hardly have ended any other way. They couldn't terminate him until he was a loyal member of the party again. To do otherwise only creates martyrs.

Yes his whole point was "if you are no use to the state, you are no use at all" which is the essence of 1984.

Orwell was not a social democrat...........social democracy is wot the Nazi's called themselves. I think orwell was more of a social realist, find your place.......or be found

;)
webwizard333
09-01-2002, 01:03 PM
"Four legs good, two legs better."


Can anyone help me with the theme of 1984?

There are lots of themes in 1984, though most are concerned with privacy and the ruling class. Such as: the rights of people to not have the government run their lives or the eternal power stuggle for control of the people through various systems of government.