60th Anniversary of Nineteen Eighty-Four

1. pwscott
   June 12th, 2009 at 3:05 pm

   Kind of looks like a cross between James Cromwell and Frank Zappa.

2. Mytake
   June 12th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

   More relevant than ever with all the nanny state dumbness and politically correct newspeak festering on certain countries.

   Needles to say, it's one of the truly essential readings of all time.

3. angstrom
   June 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm

   I recommend trying his other works too, the non-fiction. Especially Down and out in Paris and London, or Homage to Catalonia, also his short essays. It's all good stuff.

4. CrypticJ
   June 12th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

   Thank you for the link!

   I've always wanted to read this book and now I have an easy way to do so on my netbook.

5. Tempscire
   June 12th, 2009 at 7:53 pm

   To celebrate, we can increase the chocolate ration from 4 grams to 3 grams! =D

6. Miss Cellania
   June 12th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

   We are at war with Oceania. We have ALWAYS been at war with Oceania. War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

7. Dude
   June 12th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

   "We are at war with Oceania. We have ALWAYS been at war with Oceania. War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

   What?

8. madcap
   June 13th, 2009 at 12:56 am

   Recall the 1984 film (in 1984) too. Unforgettable. John Hurt and Richard Burton (his last film).

   Magnus frater spectat te

9. Alex
   June 13th, 2009 at 1:02 am

   Orwell was probably spinning in his grave when Apple used his imagery for the Macintosh ad.

10. Thebes
    June 13th, 2009 at 2:38 am

    Is it really possible that they ARE watching everybody, all of the time?

11. kat
    June 13th, 2009 at 3:49 am

    i loved the book... the movie brazil was pretty decent.

    just another reason why people born june 12, 1984 are so awesome... yes... yes we are.

12. 1525
    June 13th, 2009 at 4:03 am

    I've never understood how intelligent could possibly rate this book so highly. At its best, it's naive and ill-informed. At its worst, it's ham-fisted propaganda. The most favourable thing I can say for 1984 is that I can imagine its ideas were innovative and bold when it was published. Since then, it's been done over and over again, usually as part of a larger plot, and usually better.

13. Mytake
    June 13th, 2009 at 8:57 am

    1525, please tell us what's the "propaganda" in 1984, since it's been understood to be precisely the opposite of that, i.e., an indictement of all forms of propaganda and groupthink. Also, being a work of fiction that takes place in a dystopian future, I don't see how it could be "ill-informed"...

14. Kalel
    June 13th, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    I think I would like the book better had it been written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

15. Skipweasel
    June 13th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    kat:- Yup - Brazil was a far better film of 1984 than the film of 1984 that came out in 1984 was. Then again, it's by Gilliam, so it'd be hard pushed to be bad.

16. ted
    June 14th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Mytake, it could very easily be anti-propaganda propaganda. I think our definitions of propaganda have probably loosened up. Now it means "whatever the other side is saying".

    It could be ill-informed if it were based on imperfectly formed or poorly researched premises.

17. Mytake
    June 14th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    ted, no, sorry, neither explaination attempt cuts it.

    "Anti-propaganda propaganda" sounds uncannily like the newspeak Orwell was denouncing. If you read the book, you see he clearly does not take the side of States or institutions, his focus is on the individual.

    Again, "ill-informed" and "premises" make no sense in a dystopian novel. I invite you try and present examples of misinformation taken from the book itself instead of just pointing out a vague possibility.

18. Kalel
    June 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm

    And lol@pwscott...

    Now I can't look at Orwell's picture without seeing James Cromwell and Frank Zappa.

19. jochsner
    June 15th, 2009 at 7:24 am

    Let's see--we don't have crimethink nor joycamp. We do have "hate crime" and "sensitivity training". Hmm.

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