this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023

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1984 by George Orwell (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago by freesoldier@sh.itjust.works to c/books@lemmy.ml

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I don't really know how to write this one as I am not really one of those who report on books.

Just wanna say to y'all who didn't read the book you should really go get it. It tells the story of a very dark world, where each uniqueness of our world is exaggerated and shaded, where all is inspected, monitored and controlled by a central authority. a centralized world, where nothing is beautiful but one thing - the common truth. How does living in a world like this feels? How far fetched is this world from ours? What is the nature of truth, and freedom?

These are my thoughts. hope that's working for you.

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[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's really quite a terrible book, by quite a terrible man. Yet there are many reasons why it is so highly regarded in our culture, primarily pertaining to its propaganda value.

https://redsails.org/asimov-on-1984/

https://redsails.org/on-orwell/

[–] unicorn@mander.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing these links, this is some very interesting context to Orwell and his writing. It seems I read 1984 quite naively, though some things did seem off even then.

[–] neo@lemmy.comfysnug.space 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you mean "because every collective world government treated it as a how-to guide"

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 year ago

No, I meant what I wrote. I'm not entirely sure what you mean with "collective world government."

[–] BaldProphet@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

1984 has become timeless and perpetually relevant. I'd also recommend Animal Farm if you haven't read it already. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (one of my favorite 20th-century science fiction authors) is also a great read that lives in a similar vein.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Don't forget a Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

[–] BaldProphet@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven't read that one yet, but I bought it for my Kobo yesterday.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

It's good, a far more likely scenario than 1984. They use something other than terror to keep everyone in line. Definitely worth the read.

[–] BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Breve New World is probably the most overrated Huxley book. Island is a much better summation of Huxley’s final perspective, and it is about as far from Brave New World as you can get. That said, I think BNW is still a good book, but it shouldn’t be seen as Huxley’s greatest work, nor did he see it as such.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I'll have to read it than, I've only read a Brave New World.

[–] Gonroz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One of my favorite books. Can be a bit slow at times. But nonetheless is a really neat read.

[–] freesoldier@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He is a bit slow, but he builds it up. I'm now reading "Down and Out in Paris and London" by him also. it's also seems slow, but fun and interesting.

[–] Gonroz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have not read that one. The only other book I've read of his is Animal Farm. Which we were required to read in highschool.

[–] Cmot_Dibbler@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I didn't read Animal Farm in school but i did really enjoy it as an adult. Social commentary aside, i love the way Orwell tells a story. Even though you know the characters are doomed you can't help but root for them and have hope they'll be okay or even win in the end. Which of course makes the revelations all the more heartbreaking.

[–] Gonroz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

That's not something I had noticed when I had read them. But looking back I agree with your statement. Regardless, I really enjoyed both of those books.

[–] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

It's an effective/good book, but I didn't enjoy it.

[–] NullSkull@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I thoroughly enjoyed it when I was younger and I've been meaning to reread it for a while. I'll have to try and pick up a copy!

[–] bigwag1@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

"We" by Evgeni Zamyatin

[–] AntY@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I didn’t like 1984, there are some cool ideas, but the book is horribly boring with characters that the author can’t get me to really care about. On top of that, I didn’t find it very well written and it seems to me that Orwell has some axe to grind that he can’t let go of, making the book feel a bit like a rant.

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I agree that the characters weren't the most engaging, but to me the engaging part of the story was the description of the society itself. The characters were only there to give the reader a perspective to view the world from.

[–] drz@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 year ago

Orwell's axe to grind was literal Soviet communism. He came into close contact with them in the Spanish civil war.

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think there are many other versions of the same story that aren't plagiarized, aren't written by horrible humans, and are also better written.

Personally, I'm fond of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I haven't read it, but you can skip Orwell's plagiarizing and go to the source and read Yevgeny Zamyatin's We.

[–] Entropywins@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Never heard of Orwell plagiarizing 1984... I'll have to dig deeper thanks for the info! And 100% brave new world was such an amazing read... it was my first novel in like a decade after reading popular science books and it seriously got me thinking.

[–] golli@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not sure if I'd call it plagiarizing, but he did heavily borrow from "We" by yevgeny zamyatin. Which he actually wrote a review of not long before starting with 1984. This Wikipedia section is an interesting read.

Definitely worth reading both and compare what Orwell copied and which original ideas he added.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

A classic book with a central theme that remains relevant to this day. I think it gets interpreted far too literally and it has become a meme to suggest any rules you don't like are exactly like 1984.

The writing at times definitely reminds you it was written by a man in the 1950s though. I remember there being maybe 2 named female characters and only 1 has a decent amount of dialogue and she's a sex object the main character fantasizes about raping. Definitely doesn't pass the Bechdel test.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A rapist, a snitch, a plagiarist, and a racist walks into a bar. The bartender asks; “How’s the new book coming along Mr. Orwell?

[–] src@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Believe it or not, it's entirely possible to separate the artist from the art. Shocker, I know.

Whatever it is you think about him really doesn't matter.

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 year ago

I can't agree with that anymore. Art is inherently human, it's inherently individual. The person or people who make it put a piece of themselves into it. It's not possible to separate the art from the artist, and their human ideas, actions, motivations, and class.

In this case, Orwell wrote from a very personal perspective, so his works are intrinsically linked to his deeds and ideology as a human.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

I completely agree, it just happens that in this case a terrible person was also a terrible writer. It was simply a joke.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is this because of the animation movie with the farm animals and your beloved leader bring depicted as a fat pig?

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't care about boring films about boring books, I've despised Orwell's works since the moment I've read them when I was a liberal, because they are of poor quality. 1984 is even misogynous with its portrayal of the female character and the whole story is poorly written, as others have pointed out, there are better implementations of the same idea, such as a Brave New World.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl -4 points 1 year ago

So you consider Orwell a plagiarist, but not Huxley?

[–] bigwag1@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But that's four people..

[–] 133arc585@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Was that supposed to be some sort of joke or do you actually not know Orwell himself was: a rapist, a snitch, a plagiarist, and a racist? One man, four horrible qualities.

[–] bigwag1@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago

No, the joke was the the former. And not the point of the post. Rather than dismiss the reality we're in, presented by various authors reflecting the cyclical nature of mankind, it would be advantageous to the self to reflect on as well.

[–] awwwyissss@lemm.ee -5 points 1 year ago

Why bother reading it when you can just go experience it by living under the boot of the CCP.

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