George Orwell

[Anonymous No.15769852]

Alright /lit/

Give me three reasons to read George Orwell's 1984.

Never got around to it but now I have a copy someone gifted me.

>inb4 HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ IT

[Anonymous No.15769858]

>>15769852
This book is too triggering, anon. I used to cover my tv with a plastic bag because I thought there were a camera inside of it. I'm a paranoid, I can't read shit like that.

[Anonymous No.15769860]

Why the fuck are we discussing entry level books that everyone has read again?

[Anonymous No.15769866]

>>15769852

[Anonymous No.15769873]

I should probably look for help but it is just that this never hindered me too much.

[Anonymous No.15769876]

>>15769860
Because I'm asking you to.

[Anonymous No.15770000]

1. It's short
2. It's free
3. It has cool ideas like the neolanguage, rewriting of history, permanent war and some valuable insights on bureocracy and disciplinary societies

[Anonymous No.15770066]

>>15770000
/thread

[Anonymous No.15770083]

Read Down and Out too

[Anonymous No.15770111]

So there are pros and cons of this book.

Pros
Short, simple, straightforward storyline without the need to hyper analyze metaphors.
Extremely well written and with descriptions that really put you there.
Definitely a good start in understanding events that happened in the early 1900s from a very abstract point of view. With the advent of certain technologies there is an unavoidable situation of the government gaining control over your daily life by default.

Cons
The main character is dumb and its annoying to deal with his flawed logic sometimes.
It is not a very good reflection of our modern society but could be interpreted as a critique on modern government but is way too simplistic when dealing with the human condition.
I consider the following a con because it misses the goal of the story: the tvs in their world are really expensive and you are watched by them. In reality our phones are how we are surveilled and not only are they cheap but everyone has one.
The biggest problem i have with the book is that sometimes it doesnt address how much people will seek out and crave pure propaganda simply for the sake of feeling secure in their life view.

All in all a very prowerful story that makes you a bit critical of our modern governments role in the information presented to us, especially the ability to gain higher education and have access to ideas that challenge the concepts the establishment proports. Obviously its a dystopia and we arent quite living in the same dystopia as Orwell describes but its close enough honestly. Either that or he was way off on the timeline because we are merely on track to exactly the world scenario that he depicts.

Let us know what you think, im almost done reading it so I'd love to discuss the ideas of the novel.

[Anonymous No.15770131]

>>15770111
It's been a while since I read it but I figure the TVs are government mandated. Whether you buy them yourself or not. If they weren't the main character could have just taken his TV down. In any case TVs were an emerging thing at the time the book was written and not so much handheld phones. It's just a case of the author not being able to foresee how tech would evolve.

[Anonymous No.15770135]

>>15770111
>>15770000
Digits of truth
/thread

[Anonymous No.15770156]

>>15770111
First few lines definitely piqued my interest

"He disliked nearly all women, and especially the you and pretty ones. It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy."

Too close to real desu

[Anonymous No.15770166]

>>15770131
Yea that's true.

In a real ingsoc society, i feel like it wouldnt be changing the history so much as diluting it. Then there would be people who are 'intellectuals' and would study the dilutions of history as fact which further legitimizes the falsehoods added to history.

Its just hard to fathom that the government would be able to fool everyone who has a living memory into not remembering simple things like being at war with a different nation like 10 years ago. I guess it doesnt matter that much but the scenario described can only be attributed as accurrate to Stalins soviet union, Kims north korea, and in a great stretch potentially to Xis china.

[Anonymous No.15770179]

>>15770000
This, checked btw.

[Anonymous No.15770180]

>>15770156
Definitely. We see that in america with political women who lack both life experience and the perspective that comes with it. Ingsoc manipulates the emotions such as with the 10 minute hate, that way as emotional beings, women are more susceptible to that ideology

[Anonymous No.15770193]

>>15769852
has interesting concepts like double meanings and general idea of how an openly authoritarian states work. my criticisms is that it doesn't really captures other form of authoritarianism as this book focuses of leftist and right wing authoritarianism rather than capitalistic forms of authoritarianism. not book related issue, but people also treat the book like the bible for political science when its bare bones introduction into the field and act like anything government does is immediately "ORWELLIAN NIGHTMARE WAKE UP SHEEPLES"


tl;dr good intro into polsci, not great to learn more about authoritarian states

[Anonymous No.15770210]

>>15770166
The society in 1984 is just a specific thing, which I guess you're right in that it's applicable to those specific societies you listed. It's the end result of that type of government (in Orwell's view). It's less that people with living memory don't remember when it was different, but if they go against what is said they'll be punished or killed, so people just accept whatever the government says and if enough people act like something is the case you're going to doubt yourself until you start to think the same way. It is a pretty exaggerated implementation of these kinds of things but I think that was on purpose and Orwell didn't want to make something subtle where his message might be missed. It's very on the nose so as to elicit the highest reaction from readers. It also helps illustrate the shear absurdity of the things that the society is leading people to believe.

I think there was a part of the book that does show people not necessarily completely giving into the propaganda. The old guys (?) that sat at a table in that cafe. Though I can't remember more specifically.

>>15770193
Yeah people do talk about it in the same way they talk about shit like Harry Potter or Star Wars when bringing them into political conversations. Though even with the annoying usage I think it's still generally used correctly. Stuff like the surveillance. Though I don't think the aspects of language change is as popular. That might be because the same people that do the above are the ones that are all for changing the language to try and squash ideas though.

[Anonymous No.15770290]

>>15770000
Yeah this is pretty much the perfect answer to OPs question

[Anonymous No.15771304]

>>15769858
Wait why would a plastic bag help it ?

[Anonymous No.15771321]

>>15769852
>Give me three reasons to read George Orwell's 1984.
1) You have a copy.
2) It was a gift, read it out of respect asshole.
3) It’s for pseudo-intellectuals, and you’re on /lit/ so that means you. Animal Farm is better.

[Anonymous No.15772306]

>>15769852
Anyone else just have 0 interest in this American high school stuff?
1984, Brave New World, Slaugterhouse 5, How to Mock the Bird, Fat guy kills bunnies and his friend shoots him
I just can't seem to give a fuck about any of these

[Anonymous No.15772328]

>>15769852
1984 is practically a novella. You can read it in an afternoon, so why don't you? This is stuff given to fourteen year-olds, anon.

[Anonymous No.15772602]

>>15771304
Because I used a black one. I'm getting used to this idea though. But it still bothers me. I'm not covering the webcam of my notebook. I can't say that this doesn't bother me a bit.

[Anonymous No.15772824]

>>15772602
>hides away a book that looks like a camera a little bit
>doesn't cover up the actual camera that's filming him all day when he jacks off
What's your fucking problem pal?

[Anonymous No.15772953]

>>15769852
So you can say you did

[Anonymous No.15772961]

>>15772824
Dunno, anon. I tend to give some value to intimacy. Maybe I'm too old fashioned for this modern world. That is a bit of the reason why I left social media on the first place. Not enough intimacy. I don't want to be anyone on the internet.

[Anonymous No.15773544]

>>15769852
Read 'Homage to Catalonia' by Orwell, much more interesting to read.

[Anonymous No.15774584]

>>15770000
Chkd

[Anonymous No.15775776]

>>15769852
1. you own it, so might aswell read it
2. by reading it you're culturaly educating yourself
3. it's not complex, so you'll be able to finish it within a week or so
3. It's not complicated, so

[Anonymous No.15775811]

>>15769852
In order to be able to use the phrase "wow, this is literally 1984" correctly

[Anonymous No.15775964]

>>15769852
Read it because you will finally understand how retarded normies are when they think 1984 is all about surveillance, when really it's about an inescapable political system that has enslaved and brainwashed the whole population, even the rulers themselves.

[Anonymous No.15775980]

>>15772602
There is literally a folder in the NSA with your name and address, full of your webcam footage, with the corresponding browsing history synced to it.

[Anonymous No.15776208]

>>15770131
The TVs are more of a performative presence; the party had more covert methods of spying (like Winston repeatedly voices his fear of), as evidenced by his capture and how he was tracked for a span of years (even the speck of dust he intentionally placed in his diary was replaced; the implication being that video was taken in the spot where he thought he was out of sight).

[Anonymous No.15776219]

>>15769852
read Homage to Catalonia instead

[Anonymous No.15776221]

>>15775980
I use Linux, anon. But I download too much garbage to say that I'm safe.

[Anonymous No.15776775]

>>15769852
I read it less than 2 years ago and its worth it for the sheer amount of pop culture references drawn from it.
It also has NTR if you're into that.

[Anonymous No.15777349]

>>15772328
Okay mr. reader

[Anonymous No.15779203]

>>15772602
Taping over your laptop and phone cameras is just common sense, even some normalfags do it

[Anonymous No.15779275]

>>15769852
Remember orwell actually never went to the soviet union and based is view on it from propaganda.

[Anonymous No.15779889]

>>15779275
Reminder that 1984 isn't a critique of the USSR

[Anonymous No.15779977]

>>15779275
He fought for communists in the spanish civil war backed by them then betrayed by them, had a pissy little sook and left then said the nationalists were right.