Wahrheit Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 [center][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/1984first.jpg[/img][/center] [quote][i][b]Nineteen Eighty-Four[/b][/i] (sometimes written 1984) is a 1949 dystopian novel by George Orwell about an oligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meagre existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion. As literary political fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a classic novel of the social science fiction subgenre. Since its publication in 1949, many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, and Memory hole, have become contemporary vernacular. In addition, the novel popularized the adjective Orwellian, which refers to lies, surveillance, or manipulation of the past in the service of a totalitarian agenda. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Nineteen Eighty-Four thirteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.[/quote] This book not only led the populace as a whole to question their government at the time of publishing, but it has continued to do so as a cornerstone of political rhetoric for years. This is another one of the books that if you have not read it yet, you will likely do so before you earn your high school diploma and definitely before your Bachelor's. I suggest reading it ASAP anyway because the words flow in a manner not quite describable by myself. George Orwell is famous for his critical literature but this one really doesn't cease to amaze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznhobo Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Big Brother is Watching.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehmani Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Arguably the most influential political book ever written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut - Envoy of the End Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Can't comment on this, but Animal Farm by the same author was an amazing book. Because all animals are equal. But some are more equal than others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umbra Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 This is probably the best piece of literature I have ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~ P O L A R I S ~ Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 [quote name='Mikhail Tal' timestamp='1298674160' post='5034226'] Arguably the most influential political book ever written. [/quote] It'd be an extremely uphill argument. I'm thinking The Republic. 1984's still a good read though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenzoTheHarpist Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 [quote name='Mikhail Tal' timestamp='1298674160' post='5034226'] Arguably the most influential political book ever written. [/quote] I severally doubt that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehmani Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 [quote name='~ P O L A R I S ~' timestamp='1299196643' post='5049185'] It'd be an extremely uphill argument. I'm thinking The Republic. 1984's still a good read though. [/quote] Influential political book? [i]The Communist Manifesto.[/i] [quote name='GenzoTheHarpist' timestamp='1299442312' post='5056057'] I severally doubt that. [/quote] When someone is critical of a "Nanny state", what are the words that are used? "Big Brother", "Orwellian", "Ministry of Love" etc. This book produced a plethora of political memes that are still commonplace today. I would say that it's the most influential fictional political book ever written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrekstasy Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='Umbra' timestamp='1299196153' post='5049160'] This is probably the best piece of literature I have ever read. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehmani Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 A survey released several years ago said that the book most people had lied about reading was 1984. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Rai Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 i can understand why people would lie about reading it. An amazing book. Really thought-provoking and a great piece of political literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wahrheit Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='Cursed Reaction' timestamp='1303066316' post='5146112'] i can understand why people would lie about reading it. An amazing book. Really thought-provoking and a great piece of political literature. [/quote] Which part did you find the most interesting, specifically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Rai Posted April 17, 2011 Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 I found the end, while not a giant twist, a really great idea. Embracing Big Brother was definitely not what I expected at first. The rest of the book is just as great, interesting description and also provoking ideas on political views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fusion X. Denver Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 I didn't like or dislike the novel, but it did bewilder me with the vague, powerful concepts. Especially through their methods of brainwashing, it made the grim reality of the captured citizens all the more realistic. I could see myself being tortured like this and then turning out to believe in Big Brother. The ending left me feeling like it was lacking, but the book certainly made an impact and I don't doubt if it's considered as the most influential political novel to be written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raine Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 I love this novel, ([s]because of the sex scene[/s]) Its powerful authoritarian future was a nice play on the crisis at the time it was written and while less relevant now in today's events the story and magnitude of such a entirelly possible world is breathtaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Origins Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 I really need to get around to reading this. I recently read Animal Farm, which is amazing in its own right (Love the clincher; Some are more equal than others!) I've heard it's good, going to pick it up at my library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tin Trooper Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 This and War of the Worlds are two of my favourite books of all time. Of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsianGuy1137 Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 I'm kind of surprised by all the positive feedback. Sure the book is thought-provoking, but how exactly does that qualify it as one the most influential books on political philosophy/best book ever written? I'll repeat my basic thoughts on it from the awful books thread: 1984. I'm gonna defy the government by having lots of unprotected extra-martial sex with someone who's like fifteen years younger than me even though it doesn't really do anything except express how selfish and base I really am. Ha, take that post-war British dystopia! But seriously, I really don't understand what the author was getting at. He writes this intricately philosophical book about the dangers of power and how easily idealism can be corrupted while hinting that there was once and might someday be a better world yet completely abandons any notion of ever expanding on that and basically admits that humanity is destined to screw itself over in repeated cycles of self-destruction. I liked the explanation given in 'The Book Within the Book', but that was pretty much it. I guess you could argue that it portrays how senseless and deluded human nature is that we'll all eventually become mindless automatons so long as our basic primal needs are satisfied. I don't see it as an accurate depiction of reality more so than being just another idiosyncratic exaggeration fit to fulfill the author's personal grudges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MortalKombatSmoke Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 I haven't read this but I have read Brave New World and I've heard them compared together before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flinsbon Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 This might be the best book I was ever required to read in school. THEY FINALLY CHOSE SOMETHING RIGHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Origins Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 ^ Way to necrobump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flinsbon Posted August 22, 2011 Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 [quote name='Lunar Origin' timestamp='1313808284' post='5456290'] ^ Way to necrobump. [/quote] lol sry it was only like the 6th thread on the list xD OT: Also, I wrote my research paper on this. I was talking about how the book's writing just after WWII influenced the countries that make up each global power in 1984. For my one point, I just talked about the countries that fought in WWII and which countries they took over or allied with. Ween I got my paper back, I had lost like 10 points because my teacher wanted research that specifically noted which countries were allied and which ones were conquered. I was like - isn't this common knowledge? (Like Japan taking over China and Africa being fought over and the US defending Australia from Japan). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Expelsword Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 1984 was weak. I prefered '85 [media='']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xorgqoL_t0k[/media] For serious, this could be made into an action thriller movie like "A Sound of Thunder", of course, just like that movie, it would lose a lot of the extraneous subtext. Someone needs to bring that Party down, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ykfdf Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 This is probably the best piece of literature I have ever read. -------------------------------------------------------- [url=http://www.mmoggg.de/]WoW gold[/url]|[url=http://www.mmoggg.de/Diablo-3-gold/]Diablo 3 Gold[/url]|[url=http://www.mmoggg.de/Guild-Wars-2/index.html]Guild Wars 2 gold[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Unclean One: VK Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Though I like it, I gotta give props to Brave New World on being much more scary and plausible. Also: [img]http://abetterkuwait.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/orwell-huxley.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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