Nineteen Eighty-Four

I read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in the last months of 2013. This is one of the classics on my list to read.

What struck me the most about Nineteen Eighty-Four was that it was clear when it was published, and even for decades afterwards, that it was a reflection on communism in Russia. But as a modern reader, I think that this futurist horror story is far more broadly applicable. The control of information is terrifying, particularly the manipulation of historical records and even journalism. Society in Oceania is also highly regulated, which our current society is increasingly becoming. Even the language was being reduced down to official language that took away expression, and perhaps the increasing use of acronyms in certain circles of our own society is another reflection of this.

   I think this is a book for all ages, all times, and the name could continually be changed to be twenty or thirty years ahead of the reader, and it would still be so relevant. It points our the dangers of authoritarianism, the degradation of the individual, and what can happen when power is completely taken away by dictators. The complete terror that Winston is living in, the terror that has kept him compliant all his life, is palpable. Then the terror of the torture and the reeducation is also teeth-grindingly present.
   The writing is beautiful. It is not difficult, it is not cliche, it is not preaching, and it probably rewards the reader with something new every time it is picked up. I can't wait to read this again. A true masterpiece.

Animal Farm

As part of the Classics Challenge that I'm participating in this year, I finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. The additional post as part of this challenge included responding to a prompt about the author: my post is here.

This is a very entertaining book with strong political and social themes. Parallels are drawn between the animals on the farm, that rise up and throw out the human farmer and run the farm themselves, and communist Russia. They have great ideals and commandments, but these change over the years, and in the end the hypocritical pigs merely replace one form of dictatorship (human farmers) with another (themselves). The commandments are gradually changed, giving rise to one of the most famous lines from the book: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
   In is such a quick read, and very very clever. The language is simple, the pace is good, and I am so glad that I finally read this book!

Rules according in Orwell

It's a bit of a coincidence. I am participating in the 2012 Classics Challenge and wrote a post on George Orwell a couple of days ago.
   As part of my goal to be a writer, I am doing a unit with Griffith university in creative and professional writing. My compulsory reading this week involved reading a George Orwell essay: "Politics and the English Language"!
   Here are some rules that Orwell thinks we should follow as writers, to improve the English language:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print;
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do;
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out;
4. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; and
5. Break any of the above rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change in attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style now fashionable.

   Coincidence that I'm being saturated by George Orwell at the moment.

A Classics Challenge

As part of my participation in the 2012 Classics Challenge, the host will be asking for a post each month based on a guided topic or questions. Here is the link to the first challenge: The Author.

I am reading Animal Farm by George Orwell as my first classic for the year. Luckily, the edition of Animal Farm that I have chosen has notes on the text in the front, so I have a lot of information on George Orwell already to answer the questions posed.  I also utilised Wikipedia.
   'George Orwell' is in fact the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, born in 1903 in India. His father was working in the civil service, and moved the family back to England in 1907. Eric won a place as a King's Scholar at Eton in 1917, where he remained until December 1921. He then joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma until 1927, when he contracted dengue fever and moved back to England. He lived for a time in England, then Paris, then back to London. He died aged 46, after various medical complications during his life.
   Although best known in England for his journalism, essays, reviews and columns in newspapers and magazines, he also wrote the following novels and narrative documentaries:

• 1933 - Down and Out in Paris and London
• 1934 - Burmese Days
• 1935 - the Clergyman's Daughter
• 1936 - Keep the Aspidistra Flying
• 1937 - The Road to Wigan Pier
• 1938 - Road to Catalonia 
• 1939 - Coming Up For Air
• 1945 - Animal Farm
• 1949 - Nineteen Eighty-Four

Eric liked to stir and provoke argument. He is widely remembered as being a socialist, but his political views actual swung a lot over his lifetime. He proclaimed himself an anarchist at one point. He was anti-Stalin, supported the war against Nazi Germany, opposed British imperialism, opposed the Anglo-Soviet alliance, and was highly critical of governments generally.

   Apparently, the British intelligence group, MI5, monitored Eric for about 20 years for his "advanced Communist views".