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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
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1984 by Orwell
Brilliant book, as is "Animal Farm" by the same author, and - for some strange reason - now, it is even more relevant than ever.
No idea why it would be more relevant today. I read it about five times at different stages of life, and I always found it relevant. It's indeed a great book that moves through the ages. As the character in the movie Hackers said... "1984? That's a typo."
I am actually shocked to know that a large part of the population has never read it before... it's truly outstanding; even the book within the book (Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism) is great. At least the two chapters that we have! Oh well, Emmanuel Goldstein lives!
I think the reason it's becoming so relevant lately is the sharp rise in collectivism in mainstream discourse now, as well as the redefining of words and distorted views of reality. It's non-stop, particularly from post-secondary schools, politicians, and the media.
Thought right now I'm reading Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists... it's a hoot.
Well, the fact that Orwell wrote the book in 1948 and we're still discussing it indicates that the themes are quite universal. It's not news that government, entities, and yes even individuals tend to play with words, meanings, etc. in order to push an agenda. 1984 is relevant today, as it was relevant when social media started (the camera in every room?), as it was relevant earlier. I think that only some of the parameters are different, and I don't think that Orwell could've predicted the self-inflicted orwellian world we live in.
Thought right now I'm reading Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists... it's a hoot.
Gosh, man... too simple!
Absolutely.
Perhaps the only thing that's changed is that people are realizing that it is indeed quickly becoming a reality here in the West.
Ben Watson
Former football player for the Georgia Bulldogs
Former Patriot, Saint and current Baltimore Raven, rehabbing from injury
Enjoyed the book and worth the read
You will be hearing more about him
Former football player for the Georgia Bulldogs
Former Patriot, Saint and current Baltimore Raven, rehabbing from injury
Enjoyed the book and worth the read
You will be hearing more about him
I have been wanting to read this for a while now so I picked it up for my Kindle:
C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters
Can't wait to start it tonight.
C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters
Can't wait to start it tonight.
I returned to "Imperium" by Ryszard Kapuscinsky, as there were a number of chapters that I wished to re-read.
Orwell's book has been trending since the Snowden revelations. Animal Farm has seen an uptick since the Iraq War. And for good reason, too.
Both books are well deserved classics - beautifully written by a master of prose and philosophically and politically insightful, and simply brilliant. They work as stories and as searing critiques of philosophy, politics, and power.
Masterpieces, pure and simple. I used to tell my students to read them, irrespective of what else they read.
1984 by Orwell
Since so many people have said they liked this, I think I just found my next book!
To be honest, it's more than simply liking this book. It's stuck with me forever, and I am pretty sure that it conditioned the way I analyze things. Heck, I haven't read any fictional work in the past few years, it's time to re read it.
i've always assumed you were an american high school student at one time in your life, so how have you not read this already?
it is great. enjoy!
And you must - and I mean must - read "Animal Farm" as well.
Put it this way: I'd sell my soul to be able to say I had written such timeless masterpieces.
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And as far as Animal Farm is concerned even to be able to so completely capture meaning, and deliver your message in such a concise, and succinct a manor... wow.
I should read that. I had really enjoyed the book detailing his African experiences, The Shadow of the Sun. I was very taken by a remark near the end of that book when he mentioned another book on Africa, Roland Oliver's The African Experience.
“During precolonial times, and hence not so long ago, more than ten thousand little states, kingdoms, ethnic unions, and federations existed in Africa. Roland Oliver, a historian at the University of London, draws attention to a general paradox in his book, The African Experience (1991): it has become common parlance to say that European colonialists partitioned Africa. Partitioned? Oliver marvels. Colonialism was a brutal unification, brought about by fire and sword! Ten thousand entities were reduced to fifty.”
Even if I never read the Oliver book, I am grateful to Kapuscinski for sharing Oliver's mind-altering observation.
Anyway for now maybe I'll "move over to Europe"
and read Kapuscinski's Imperium, I believe I saw it in the iBooks Store one day looking for something else. I hopped around in the African one as the format let one do that, being more of countries rather than chronology. Is that how Imperium is set up, or is it best taken in sequence?EDIT: finally looked up poor Ryszard's last name...
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I can't wait to read this now.... I am currently in the middle of another book, but I have already bought the kindle version and will dive in as soon as I am done with my current book.
I was and tell me about it. I feel like I missed something! I will have to remedy this....
I will put this one down also! I knew there was a reason I loved this section. I just got back into reading and there have been some really good suggestions!
And @Scepticalscribe is indeed correct. Animal Farm is another incredible masterpiece, and I agree that it MUST be read. Multiple times if possible.
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Currently reading "Navigators of Dune". Great continuation of the series by Herbert's son and Kevin J. Anderson. Nice, clean writing and a joy to read, (if you're a Dune fan).
Let me know how it is. I have read them all except this one. I like the BH&KJA books, with the exception of Paul of Dund and Wind of Dunes.
I hope that Manford Torondo dies of a horrible, slow, painful death
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I should read that. I had really enjoyed the book detailing his African experiences, The Shadow of the Sun. I was very taken by a remark near the end of that book when he mentioned another book on Africa, Roland Oliver's The African Experience.
“During precolonial times, and hence not so long ago, more than ten thousand little states, kingdoms, ethnic unions, and federations existed in Africa. Roland Oliver, a historian at the University of London, draws attention to a general paradox in his book, The African Experience (1991): it has become common parlance to say that European colonialists partitioned Africa. Partitioned? Oliver marvels. Colonialism was a brutal unification, brought about by fire and sword! Ten thousand entities were reduced to fifty.”Even if I never read the Oliver book, I am grateful to Kapuscinsky for sharing Oliver's mind-altering observation.
Anyway for now maybe I'll "move over to Europe"
EDIT: fixed two different misspellings of poor Ryszard's last name I had supplied
Imperium was the first of Ryszard Kapuscinski's works I read, and it was one he had held off writing for most of his life as the subject matter was too close to the bone, as he subsequently admitted himself.
In essence, in the 60s, 70s, 80s, he was the preeminent - almost the only - foreign correspondent writing for Polish (and other Warsaw Pact) media. Wisely, he chose to cover the rest of the world - apart from the Soviet sphere - and seems to have been given a completely free rein.
The conditions of glasnost allowed him to think about writing of the world he came from, and - eventually - he did.
Imperium breaks down into three parts: The first is a sort of memoir, recalling how Kapuscinski, as a small child, experienced the outbreak of the second world war. He writes about the his memories of the outbreak of the second world war, when Poland was invaded by two countries, Germany and the Soviet Union.
The second part grew out of notes made from a swing through of the Soviet Union in the 1960s, which he didn't publish for decades, but used as a contrast to the third section in Imperium.
And the third section replicates some of those same journeys from the second, travelling through the "Imperium" - the Soviet Union, in the latter part of the Gorbachev era, when things were beginning to implode; at its best, - and some of the chapters are stunning - it is magisterial, because Kapuscinski writes with an empathy, an insight, an understanding of power, an intimate awareness of the Soviet World - which is not entirely unsympathetic - and the trained eye of a superb foreign correspondent who had lived off scraps for over thirty years.
This - and The Emperor - his superlative work on Haile Selassie (which I passionately recommend) are, to my mind, his best works, but is probable because I "get" what he is writing about.
As I wrote to a Spanish speaking Scandinavian friend this week, - who has spent time in central and south America, and loved it - I don't speak Spanish, and I don't "get" the Spanish speaking world; but I do 'get' Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Soviet central Asia, so those books resonated more with me. Aside from that, much of what Kapuscinski wrote was about the world of central and south America. I have read it and thought it excellent, but I didn't thrill to it.
But yes, read Imperium. It is brilliant. "The Emperor", "The Shah of Shahs" and "Travels With Herodotus" are also excellent.
And @Scepticalscribe is indeed correct. Animal Farm is another incredible masterpiece, and I agree that it MUST be read. Multiple times if possible.
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Let me know how it is. I have read them all except this one. I like the BH&KJA books, with the exception of Paul of Dund and Wind of Dunes.
I hope that Manford Torondo dies of a horrible, slow, painful death
Oddly enough, I never warmed to the Dune books. I read the first few, and - as I didn't like Paul - (just as I never cared for Frodo), my preferences lie elsewhere.
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That said, I loved reading in HS but hated the books I had to read.
Sadly, for me, that meant that I never knew how good A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill A Mockingbird and a few others were until I reread them as an adult. So I apologize for shaming you...
But think of the kids who would never have met great literature if it wasn't for the compulsion of HS.
But yes, A Tale Of Two Cities is great - remember, when Dickens wrote it, he would have known and spoken with (especially as a young man) individuals who survived - or had witnessed - the French Revolution - this was still at the edge of living memory. Robespierre's sisters - for example, among countless others - lived to a great age - living well into the 1840s.
And, To Kill A Mockingbird is rightly considered a classic of modern American literature.