1984 by George Orwell

[VicariousShaner]

I just got done finished with George Orwell's 1984. I can say it is classic literature for a reason. If anyone here hasnt read this, I would highly reccomend you should. The depressing tone of the ending was one of the most powerful, emotional, meaningful endings in anything I have watched or read in quite a while.

[Mercurial]

I enjoyed it for the sole reason of the antagonist winning.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Since you can see 1984 in so many other works it wasn't as powerful to me since it all seemed so familiar. I don't think the writing itself flows that smoothly, either. The ending though is definitely excellent.

[staySICK]

[Enervation]

One of the best books I've ever read. After 1984, Brave New World seemed like a bastardized cousin in terms of plot, really.

[staySICK]

my Freshman year of HS we had the choice between Brave New World and 1984 for a class book, I chose 1984, finished it in one night, then checked out Brave New World from the library and read it on my own, so I could be in both discussions in class.

 

I really hated Brave New World.

 

I should probably give it another shot, sometime.

[Mr W Phallus]

I don't think the writing itself flows that smoothly, either.

I love Orwell's prose. It's deceptively simple, so that you could even be fooled into thinking you a reading a (for want of a better word) 'lowbrow' novel, yet the underlying themes are incredibly sophisticated.

 

Animal Farm is also great, and I really enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London which is stylistically quite different, being (semi)autobiographical, but still a great read.

[Toshi]

I liked 1984. I felt nerdy because I saw a sign for oldspeak at a cafe and felt a momentary moment of nostalgic glee.

[TheForgetfulBrain]

Themes aside, the writing in the book is stunning. It is just beautifully written literature.

 

The fact that Orwell's work has proven to be prophetic in many different instances and to such varying degrees is also quite startling.

 

Also, how many bits of popular fiction have been inspired by this book.

 

It really is something else.

 

I wish they had taught this at my high school instead of Animal Farm.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I disagree with it being beautifully written. I find the themes and concepts to be far more outstanding than the actual writing itself and that's where the legacy lies and where the influence comes from.

[Akuam4n]

I read this, Animal Farm, and Brave New World. I prefer Animal Farm and 1984, but I think they are all excellent.

 

He makes the book easy to read, while letting you dig deep to discover things. I love it.

[TheForgetfulBrain]

I disagree with it being beautifully written. I find the themes and concepts to be far more outstanding than the actual writing itself and that's where the legacy lies and where the influence comes from.

 

The themes and content are of course the primary focus of the novel, but aesthetically, I think the writing is outstanding.

[Showmeyomoves!]

One of my favorite books, by far. I can see where Faiblesse is coming from, but I enjoyed the writing myself, despite feeling quite 'bare bones' at times.

 

Writing something that's easy to read is often harder than writing something that sounds fancy. For instance, I did not care for the self-indulgent pretentiousness of Fahrenheit 451.

[Enervation]

Writing something that's easy to read is often harder than writing something that sounds fancy. For instance, I did not care for the self-indulgent pretentiousness of Fahrenheit 451.

 

Ah, I remember reading that one as well. It didn't strike me as pretentious though, what parts of it did you think was pretentious?

 

The only books I've never, ever been able to get into were Charles Dickens' books. Eurgh.

[slithy toves]

one of my favorite books. i actually like orwell's prose, but i can see where some people might find it bare bones or ungainly. if you read orwell's other works, however, there is a simple kind of elegance to it all and i think you'll find the style he wrote 1984 in was quite deliberately bare bonsed.

[VicariousShaner]

I liked 1984. I felt nerdy because I saw a sign for oldspeak at a cafe and felt a momentary moment of nostalgic glee.

 

The Chestnut Cafe?

[Showmeyomoves!]

Writing something that's easy to read is often harder than writing something that sounds fancy. For instance, I did not care for the self-indulgent pretentiousness of Fahrenheit 451.

 

Ah, I remember reading that one as well. It didn't strike me as pretentious though, what parts of it did you think was pretentious?

 

It's funny, actually. When I first opened the book and started reading, the way the sentences were structured struck me as pretentious (though I should mention I'm very quick to think of certain writing styles as pretentious). I kept reading and eventually dismissed it, thinking 'it's probably just me'.

 

After I finished the book, I noticed there was an interview with the author in the back. When I read that, all the feelings of pretentiousness came rushing back. Two things that stuck out to me were that he called Moulin Rouge (the movie) a prime example of the ADD MTV generation (I love that movie), and that he genuinely believed that his book was more relevant than 1984. That last one made me dislike the author (and his book).

 

Hm, that's quite a rant. Sorry.

[Mr W Phallus]

The only books I've never, ever been able to get into were Charles Dickens' books. Eurgh.

Which one(s) have you tried reading? I had always wanted to read Dickens novel then when I was 15ish we studied Hard Times in class. Luckily we stopped about 2 chapters in because it was awful and I was convinced I'd never pick up a Dickens ever again.

 

Skip ahead a couple of years and my friend (who had also suffered through Hard Times with me) decided to read Great Expectations, since he was applying for English Lit. like me and wanted to broaden his literary scope in preparation for uni interviews. He told me it was much better than Hard Times and that he was really enjoying it. Sceptically I read the first few pages and confirmed that it was infinitely better than Hard Times. I still haven't read it yet but I plan to one day.

 

And the moral of the story is: don't judge Dickens by just one of his book.

[Enervation]

The only books I've never, ever been able to get into were Charles Dickens' books. Eurgh.

Which one(s) have you tried reading? I had always wanted to read Dickens novel then when I was 15ish we studied Hard Times in class. Luckily we stopped about 2 chapters in because it was awful and I was convinced I'd never pick up a Dickens ever again.

 

Skip ahead a couple of years and my friend (who had also suffered through Hard Times with me) decided to read Great Expectations, since he was applying for English Lit. like me and wanted to broaden his literary scope in preparation for uni interviews. He told me it was much better than Hard Times and that he was really enjoying it. Sceptically I read the first few pages and confirmed that it was infinitely better than Hard Times. I still haven't read it yet but I plan to one day.

 

And the moral of the story is: don't judge Dickens by just one of his book.

 

I read three of his books, actually: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and if I recall the last one I read was David Copperfield.

 

Maybe it's because of the setting or the characters, but I never really did care much for his literature.

[Mr W Phallus]

Well in that case I diagnose you with a bona fide case of not liking Dickens.

 

Just wanted to make sure you weren't making the same assumptions that I did.

[Thursday Next]

I too dislike Dickens. I find his writing style laboured to the point where everything feels padded out to no avail.

 

Orwell's prose is in contrast to this much more to the point.

 

I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of personal taste though, so keep flying the flag you Dickens lovers out there.

[slithy toves]

great expectations is probably the most palatable dickens book out there. the rest of it is rather over the top victorian prosey which can be a matter of taste. i think everyone should read great expectations, though, easily dickens' best book imo.

[TheForgetfulBrain]

One of my favorite books, by far. I can see where Faiblesse is coming from, but I enjoyed the writing myself, despite feeling quite 'bare bones' at times.

 

Writing something that's easy to read is often harder than writing something that sounds fancy. For instance, I did not care for the self-indulgent pretentiousness of Fahrenheit 451.

 

While I love Bradbury, his writing style is very, very vibrant and flowery. It has its place, certainly, and is wonderful in his novels like Dandelion Wine, or Green Shadows, White Whale, where the work just shouts with life - and it's appropriate to the tone of the novels.

 

I am also, however, very fond of good clean writing. I see so much fiction that goes overboard and is completely self-indulgent with, "Oh, look at all these big words I'm using, and all in one sentence," and that style tends to nauseate me unless really, really well done.

 

When the writing is clean, flows well and has excellent sentence transitions, loads of concrete imagery - then when the metaphors or similes do hit, they tend to have so much more impact because they're not cluttered by a constant overload of flowery language.

 

I would have to read the novel again for specific examples, but I remember reading 1984 back to back with Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and the transition was very jarring at first. I hated that book initially (but ended up loving it later) because the writing just seemed so elementary next to the clean hand of 1984, but it's really just different styles, and when you switch between novels quickly, you really feel the difference in styles of writing.