OcUK Book Club #7: George Orwell - 1984

Nix · 5 Jan 2010 at 18:18

Happy New Year folks!

It's been a while, but as I promised, here's a new book to kick-off the New Year!

Feel free to dust off your copies if you've read it before, or indulge your fancy if you've always meant to but never quite got around to it.

So, sticking with the year theme, I give you: George Orwell - 1984

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four (also 1984), by George Orwell, published in 1949, is a dystopian novel about the totalitarian regime of the Party, an oligarchical collectivist society where life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, public mind control, and the voiding of citizens' rights. In the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), 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 into rebellion against Big Brother, which leads to his arrest, torture, and conversion.

phil675 · 5 Jan 2010 at 18:56

Read this recently, I feel that this book is so relevant to our society, the similarities strike so subtly. The 'two minutes hate' for example reminds me when terrorists, child murderers or 'the bankers' are on the news and everybody feels the need to comment on how much they dislike them. You can't help it.

I found the first half of the book more interesting than the second, the description used when introducing Airstrip One is just fantastic, it feels so real.

regulus · 5 Jan 2010 at 19:19

Great. Gives me an excuse to finally get my rear in gear and read this book. Just bought it.

p4radox · 5 Jan 2010 at 19:40

I'm going to read this again, I like it so much. Unfortunately I lent my copy to someone and can't remember who, so I'll have to pick up another.

Nitefly · 5 Jan 2010 at 19:47

It's a pretty strange book - I hope you guys enjoy it

semi-pro waster · 5 Jan 2010 at 20:06

Nitefly said:
It's a pretty strange book - I hope you guys enjoy it

It's an awesome book, easily in my top five of all time. If I'd seen this thread about a week ago I'd have brought my copy down here and given it a whirl again, I'll have to see if there's one here but if not I'll probably comment anyway once a few people have read it.

warren_1979 · 5 Jan 2010 at 22:46

Great book, probably my 2nd favourite Orwell book after Down and Out in Paris and London.

mctiny · 6 Jan 2010 at 00:55

regulus said:
Great. Gives me an excuse to finally get my rear in gear and read this book. Just bought it.

Funny that, I felt the same a few weeks back and got hold of this last month, I'm gong to be doing some heavy reading agian soon. :eek:

gillywibble · 6 Jan 2010 at 13:34

Read it several times, but doesn't hurt to go through it again.

randal · 6 Jan 2010 at 13:43

Just ordered 1984 and Down and Out in Paris and London. Looking forward to reading 1984, have been putting off watching the film until I've read the book.

Hamoodii · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:31

I have always wanted to read this book, will borrow a copy off my sis, hopefully she still has her copy lying around

regulus · 6 Jan 2010 at 22:56

If not, can pick it up for £4 from jersey.

apatia77 · 7 Jan 2010 at 12:23

Excellent book, now I want to read it again

Guy · 7 Jan 2010 at 14:27

DoublePlusGood

Think that its an amazing book and would join you in but I'm on another one that taking my time up.

randal · 7 Jan 2010 at 14:55

The rainforest people just confirmed my books have been shipped, should get here sometime next month weather pending I expect... bah.

Malakite · 7 Jan 2010 at 14:56

Had just finished reading a book when I noticed this thread so dug my cpoy of this out from my bookshelves and started reading again.

Madkjb · 7 Jan 2010 at 17:20

awesome book, havnt read it in a few years might try and start reading it this week

randal · 12 Feb 2010 at 23:02

Bit of a bump, as the quote thread reminded me of this one.

How is everyone getting on? I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and I'm utterly entrenched in it, I can't believe I put off reading this for so long.

Very much looking forward to working my way through Mr Orwell's works.

One thing I will say if you haven't started, ignore all of the notes and prefaces and analysis before the book. Why they put this here I'll never know, should be at the end with an epic spoiler warning before it.

mctiny · 12 Feb 2010 at 23:23

randal24 said:
Bit of a bump, as the quote thread reminded me of this one.

How is everyone getting on? I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and I'm utterly entrenched in it, I can't believe I put off reading this for so long.

Getting on rather well here considering, currently I have jsut ,today, finished 'part one'. enhoying it a lot so far, it took awhile to 'get into' but now I'm there it's gripped me.

randal24 said:
Very much looking forward to working my way through Mr Orwell's works.

Me too.

randal24 said:
One thing I will say if you haven't started, ignore all of the notes and prefaces and analysis before the book. Why they put this here I'll never know, should be at the end with an epic spoiler warning before it.

My copy doesn't have notes or such things in it, it just has a brief history of Orwell and that's it, thankfully.

randal · 12 Feb 2010 at 23:33

mctiny said:
Getting on rather well here considering, currently I have jsut ,today, finished 'part one'. enhoying it a lot so far, it took awhile to 'get into' but now I'm there it's gripped me.

I know what you mean, I think I spent the first part of the book wondering what to expect instead of just getting absorbed into it. Once I'd left that behind (about the time the diary writing starts without giving too much away) it was far easier to enjoy.

I'm not sure if I want to see the film adaptation once I've finished the book though, I've seen snippits and I'm not sure it'll do it any justice at all. I expect they'll remake it at some point though as seems to be the fashion...