Your thoughts to George Orwell 1984

[Noemergencyexit]

Hey folks 

 

Let me ask you about 1984 by George Orwell what's your thoughts 

 

I read 1984 and I loved it because people these day say we aren't free but I say if we was in that world (1984) we would beg for this world. I've read it a few times and each time I think to things such as would it be worse living here and now or then again I never know what one is the better one. Something I also don't understand is how comes in some schools such as the USA they read 1984 for English classes but we don't here (well I didn't)  that book is about an alternative time and London England is where its based I just done understand it. 

 

So after reading this what's your thoughts to 1984 because I think it's a classic and I have 4 copies of it 2 paper back one hard back and one digital 

 

So get in touch and let me know what your thoughts are about 1984 

 

Much love 

 

Shadow c/o noemergencyexit 

[Madeleine]

It used to be studied in schools, I studied it for A Level in the early 1980s and hated it.  However it's the sort of book which would make interesting reading now, I wonder what Orwell would make of the whole Big Brother phenomenon plus of course CCTV cameras pretty much everywhere, not to mention all the digital and online tracking, even down to supermarket loyalty cards and the direct marketing that comes from that.

[KEV67]

I started to read it when I was 15 or 16. I got about three-quarters of the way through, and realised there were not enough pages left for Winston Smith to escape, join and maybe even lead the counter-revolution. I was disappointed and stopped reading. I should have read Fahrenheit 451 instead. When I was forty I read 1984 again and I thought it was brilliant. It has so many ideas you can see being acted out around us and around the world. The re-writing of history to suit a political agenda; the abuse of language to control thought; thought crime itself;  double-think, which is the cognitive dissonance you put yourself through when you force yourself to believe what you know not to be true, because it is unsafe not to. I think that is partly why George Orwell is admired so much by the right in America and other places. It is a book about the deep cynicism of certain political leaders who manipulate social revolution to gain and maintain control of a state. If you read Orwell's later books and essays from Homage to Catalonia onwards, you can see that 1984 is a culmination of all his later political ideas.

[Noemergencyexit]

8 hours ago, Madeleine said:

It used to be studied in schools, I studied it for A Level in the early 1980s and hated it.  However it's the sort of book which would make interesting reading now, I wonder what Orwell would make of the whole Big Brother phenomenon plus of course CCTV cameras pretty much everywhere, not to mention all the digital and online tracking, even down to supermarket loyalty cards and the direct marketing that comes from that.

He would turn over in his grave in my opinion. I read roll of thunder hear my cry in high school years ago I would loved to have read that in English class I could have done my course work around it 

[Noemergencyexit]

5 hours ago, KEV67 said:

I started to read it when I was 15 or 16. I got about three-quarters of the way through, and realised there were not enough pages left for Winston Smith to escape, join and maybe even lead the counter-revolution. I was disappointed and stopped reading. I should have read Fahrenheit 451 instead. When I was forty I read 1984 again and I thought it was brilliant. It has so many ideas you can see being acted out around us and around the world. The re-writing of history to suit a political agenda; the abuse of language to control thought; thought crime itself;  double-think, which is the cognitive dissonance you put yourself through when you force yourself to believe what you know not to be true, because it is unsafe not to. I think that is partly why George Orwell is admired so much by the right in America and other places. It is a book about the deep cynicism of certain political leaders who manipulate social revolution to gain and maintain control of a state. If you read Orwell's later books and essays from Homage to Catalonia onwards, you can see that 1984 is a culmination of all his later political ideas.

Hmm I might look online for them and check out what you mean but if it came down to it which time would you want the current one or the orwell's me as much as we've not got much difference we are tracked by websites and all such check our what Madeleine at the top posted she got it spot on even know I'm currently thinking about it 

[KEV67]

Oh yes, Big Brother, CCTV, mobile phones, everything being connected to the internet, deep surveillance. There was that side to 1984 too. 1984 is often classified as science fiction. When I read it, I wondered where the science fiction was. The only bit of technology that was not available when the book was written were two way screens and cameras. In the Cold War era, Communist countries such as East Germany and China encouraged the population to denounce their neighbours if they suspected they were not ideologically pure. I think if you had to constantly worry you might be denounced to the secret police by a colleague, friend or neighbour for not showing enough enthusiasm for the political system, that would make you more unhappy than the thought that the state was looking through your old social media posts.

[Noemergencyexit]

12 minutes ago, KEV67 said:

Oh yes, Big Brother, CCTV, mobile phones, everything being connected to the internet, deep surveillance. There was that side to 1984 too. 1984 is often classified as science fiction. When I read it, I wondered where the science fiction was. The only bit of technology that was not available when the book was written were two way screens and cameras. In the Cold War era, Communist countries such as East Germany and China encouraged the population to denounce their neighbours if they suspected they were not ideologically pure. I think if you had to constantly worry you might be denounced to the secret police by a colleague, friend or neighbour for not showing enough enthusiasm for the political system, that would make you more unhappy than the thought that the state was looking through your old social media posts.

That's very deep you know I loved that book I got 3 copy's of it one paper back one digital and one hard back I think it's absolutely amazing book and the views Orwell was talking about we are basically there know there's no where private social medias have seen by everyone you walk down the road to the shop and your on cctv police cars go past and they might look your way the book is fiction but really it's not you hear about them people who live off the gride and some think is what they doing right or wrong 

[timebug]

It impressed me when I first read it aged around twelve.Have re-read it a few times since, and although bits are dated, most of it is still powerful stuff!

[Noemergencyexit]

1984 is one bit of classic it's an absolutely amazing thing to read even though we aren't really in that time frame but it's very close alot of it almost now we could actually be living in that universe and not even know it what if Orwell was trying to tell us with out a trip to some place and your never seen again thing