A Stellar Title for My Fifteenth Post: Smile on Your Brother

Do you know, dear readers, what four things are crucial to writing a compelling book?

1. A great title.

2. An even more fantastic opening line.

3. A thrilling plot line.

4. A heart wrenching and show stopping last line.

“The Red Badge of Courage” has all four of these qualities. Right off the bat, Stephen Crane grabs the reader with his title. Then you open the book and flip past the cover page and are greeted by the line:

“The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting” [pg 1].

Wow- I don't know about you, but that is truly one of the most beautiful opening lines I have ever read. You see, the line doesn't always have to be dramatic and action packed, like: A tingling pain wriggled up my arm as the bullet tore through my flesh. Sometimes the deeply poetic and subtle opening sentence is the better choice- “The Red Badge of Courage” uses the latter example to its full capacity. Next on the check list is number three, and honestly- how could a book written about the civil war not be thrilling? I thought Crane did a magnificent job of writing about the subject of battle and the carnage which walks beside it. There are only two other 'war' books whose authors demonstrated as much talent in this area as Crane: Erich Maria Remarque's “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried.” I find it hard to review books, essays and poems about war. Mainly because I think that it is hard to critique something which I have had no experience in, however it's a double standard because I do not have this problem with other topics. For me at least, there is a certain reverence that goes along with war, and books written on the subject, especially by a soldier who lived through it. Whether or not the reverence is justified- it exists for me. Now having said that, my opinion on “The Red Badge of Courage” is still the highest I can give. On to number four on the check list- the last line. I cannot over exaggerate the importance of this one element, without it readers may feel left out in the dark and unsatisfied. But with it a novel and its author can lock themselves into literary infamy. I won't post the last line of “The Red Badge of Courage” so if any of you out there who are reading the book, and this blog, have no fear- I promise to not spoil the ending. However I will say this- this particular last line stole my breath away, a sensation comparable to emerging from cold water. Hitting me square in the chest, it left me stunned and eager to read it over and over again.

A wee bit on the author: Stephen Crane was born in 1871 to a large family in New Jersey. At the age of young age of twenty two, Crane began writing his epic war novel, and finished it two years later in 1895. During his life he wrote many famous short stories as well as poetry, but he is most known for his heart wrenching novel “The Red Badge of Courage.” Stephen Crane died in 1900, at the youthful age of 28, a premature end to the life of a most promising author. Civil War buffs and readers alike should pick up Crane's novel, because of its beautiful writing and its chilling account of a young soldier who battles with himself about the meaning of courage and cowardice.

A thought for the morning:

If the best things in life are free- then why are books still sold?

- BookBender

References: 

http://www.biography.com/articles/Stephen-Crane-9260647

A Glorious Title For My Fourteenth Post: The Sinners Alphabet: A is For Adultery

Who has not heard of the legendary story of Hester and her scarlet letter? I am even sure some of you reading this blog have seen the movie “Easy A,” a modern day tale of high school troubles centered around the classic, and banned book “The Scarlet Letter.”

“The Scarlet Letter” was written in the 1840s and was published in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, and split his boyhood between his birthplace and Maine near Sebago Lake. Hawthorne's first American relative, William, had been involved with religious persecution. Another of Hawthorne's ancestors, John Hathorne (Nathaniel added the 'w' to his name) was one of the three judges who sentenced people in the infamous Salem witch trials. He attended Bowdoin College, along with his classmates; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Franklin Pierce. Hawthorne's health failed him in the twilight of his life and died on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

“The Scarlet Letter” was banned in several communities because of its sexual material, and in one case because it was “pornographic and obscene.” And for the time the novel was written in- I can see why many people challenged it. If you hold it up to modern day literature, there are far more scandalous writings out there that have not been challenged or banned, so then I pose you this question, why is “The Scarlet Letter,” a true classic and work of art in the literary world, still banned and challenged when there is far worse, in my opinion, out there?

“The Scarlet Letter” is a tale woven with immaculate tact and skill tells the tragic story of Hester Prynne, who has an affair and ends up giving birth to an illegitimate child whom she names Pearl. The novel is narrated by a third party, a customhouse surveyor who finds the record of Hestor two hundred years after the fact. If I am going to be totally honest with you (and I am) I found this book hard to get into. Perhaps it is because I had just finished reading “Slaughterhouse- Five,” or maybe the novel demands more attention. But around the fourth or fifth chapter I was fully engaged and ensnared in Hawthorne's writing. The tone of the book can be, at times, bitter and judgmental- but there are also points where the writing takes on a more compassionate tone and that is where the reader is able to fully sink into the twisted tale of “The Scarlet Letter.” Overall I am very happy to have read the infamous “The Scarlet Letter” and recommend it to everyone who enjoys a book they can sink their teeth into. 

A thought for the evening:

Running is one form of escape. Reading a book is another. 

- BookBender

References:

http://classiclit.about.com/od/ladychatterleyslover/tp/aatp-ban.htm

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Gi-He/Hawthorne-Nathaniel.html

A Fine Title for my Thirteenth Post: This Post Begins With "What if I Were to Tell You That Our Lives Are Not Linear?" And Ends With "Never Trust Anyone Who Does Not Pack a Book When Traveling."

What if I were to tell you that our lives are not linear? What if I were to inform you that all of the moments in our lifetimes exist simultaneously, and that when someone dies- they don't really? These are just some of the views of the Tralfamadorians; two foot tall, green aliens, who, throughout the book, abduct the protagonist Billy Pilgrim several  times for experimentation. I think that my favorite quote in “Slaughterhouse- Five” is from chapter four and reads as follows:

“If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings,” said the Tralfamadorian, “I wouldn’t have any idea what was meant by ‘free will.’ I’ve visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe, and I have studied reports on one hundred more. Only on Earth is there any talk of free will.”

Right off the bat Kurt Vonnegut presents us with the idea that not only are we not alone in the universe, but on top of that, the life forms out there are more evolved- and he even proposes that mankind is not the most evolved life form. Woh. Secondly Vonnegut states through his green martian characters that there is no such thing as free will. Woh. I loved this book to bits, the writing was all over the place when it came to when the story was happening, and the different times were presented over a few paragraphs, then once you were all situated in a particular time zone- ZAP! You find yourself, along with Billy, somewhere else. It's fantastic, Vonnegut mimics what the Tralfamadorians believe, that all of the moments of our lives exist together and can be viewed all at once. Sheer brilliance. In some parts of the book read as poetry, and even though the time line jumps around (or does it?!) it is relatively easy to follow.

“Slaughterhouse- Five” was written between the years 1945- 1968, and was published for the first time in the year 1969. Not surprisingly the book has been banned in numerous communities, including in Ohio, Florida, North Dakota, Georgia, Kentucky and Wisconsin. “Slaughterhouse- Five” was even burned in Drake, North Dakota. The reasons being that the book contained extreme profanity, explicit sexual language and deviant sexual behavior, references religious matters, depicts bestiality, and specifically the sentence: “The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the fly of God Almighty.” I thought this book was splendid, because it not only transported you into the story of Billy- but Vonnegut presses his readers to ask more than just: why- and does not let the reader sit passively saying to themselves “so be it.” “Slaughterhouse- Five,” I think, will continue to be relevant as long as people are willing to challenge the idea of free will, and as long as there are readers out there who are willing to fully throw themselves into a truly moving and ensnaring novel.

A thought for the evening:

Never trust anyone who does not pack a book when traveling.

- BookBender

References:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm

http://www.highlands.edu/academics/library/banned/books.htm

A Dandy Title for my Twelfth Post: My Twelfth Post

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.“ This is the infamous way Vladimir Nabokov begins his world renown novel “Lolita” with the chilling musings of the main character Humbert Humbert. The book is basically in two parts; The foreword is narrated by John Ray, Jr., Ph.D., three years after the deaths of Humbert and Lolita. The rest of the novel is the story of Humbert and his erie fascination with young girls- especially his infatuation with Dolores “Lolita” Haze. The book was written from 1949-1955, and was first published in 1955. Where technique is concerned, this book is sublime. Nabokov ensnares the reader by having the narration voice be Hunbert, and you are taken into the inner workings of his mangled mind.

“Lolita” was actually first published in France, by a pornographic press, and soon after its publication it was banned in France by officials for being “obscene.” Officials in England, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa all ended up banning the book as well for the same reason. Many authors have created characters or words in their writings which have leapt off of the page and come to life. The most notable example I can think of right now is Charles Dickens and his character Ebeneezer Scrooge. What things come to mind when you hear that name? Hopefully the unflattering characteristics of being removed, judgmental, a penny-pincher, frugal, and harsh are among those which arise, and if not, perhaps reading “A Christmas Carol” again would be beneficial. Nabokov's young character of Lolita is now synonymous with an oversexed teenage siren. Lolita, like Scrooge, does get redemption, however Humbert is an entirely different matter. Regardless, Lolita's story is legend, and not part of modern literary vernacular. 

I found “Lolita” hard to finish, because the entire time I was reading it I was uncomfortable. It is not an easy book. Because of the stylistic choices Nabokov made, he is able to make all of the characters so very real, at least for me, and then to layer that with the fact that the entire book is about a grown man with a deep fascination and obsession with Lolita- I get goosebumps just thinking about it, and not the good kind! Overall- beautiful writing regarding a nasty subject.

A thought for the afternoon:

Karma is like a boomerang- what ever you throw into the word will come back to you, however there is no rebound with books.

-BookBender

References:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1842832_1842838_1845288,00.html

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/nabokov/lo_excerpt.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm

A Brilliant Title for my Eleventh Post: Eighty Seven Thousand Six Hundred and Seventy Two Hours

When I think of great Russian authors, the names Chekhov, Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, and Tolstoy immediately come to mind. After reading “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,” the book, and it's author Alexander Solzhenitsyn join the ranks of truly magnificent Russian writers. In order to fully understand his writing, I feel like I should share with you a little bit of Solzhenitsyn's life story. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in December of 1918 in Kislovodsk, to his father, a soldier (who died six months before he was born while fighting in the first world war), and his mother who made her living as a shorthand-typist. Solzhenitsyn studied Mathematics and Physics, later on in life his studies would lead him to a post in the Russian army in the second world war. In 1944-1945 Solzhenitsyn was arrested because he had made disrespectful remarks about Stalin in letters to a friend. In July of 1945 he was sentenced to eight years in a prison camp, which for then was considered a light sentencing. Halfway through his time in the prison camps, he was moved to a 'special camp,' where only political prisoners were kept. Solzhenitsyn lived in exile from March 1953 until June of 1956. In 1954, Solzhenitsyn's cancer was treated, and cured, which enabled him to continue teaching Mathematics and Physics, as well as to continue writing novels for the rest of his life, which ended in in 2008. When reading a short autobiography, Solzhenitsyn said of his own writing, which by then had grown to a substantial size:

“During all the years until 1961, not only was I convinced that I should never see a single line of mine in print in my lifetime, but, also, I scarcely dared allow any of my close acquaintances to read anything I had written because I feared that this would become known. Finally, at the age of 42, this secret authorship began to wear me down. The most difficult thing of all to bear was that I could not get my works judged by people with literary training. In 1961, after the 22nd Congress of the U.S.S.R. Communist Party and Tvardovsky's speech at this, I decided to emerge and to offer One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”

The censorship beneath Stalin was particularly cruel and rigid. If a work of writing did not sing Stalin's praises, or the glory of Russia, then it was silenced. If the writing spoke of the government in any terms other than respect and adoration, not only was the writing censored, but the author was as well. It got to the point where Russian authors would play games with the censors, to see how much anti-government they could pass with by shrouding it with metaphor and symbolism. Solzhenitsyn is no exception. His writing it truly magnificent, to state it rather bluntly. The plot is about a group of Russian prisoners, and the daily challenges they face in a Gulag. The narrative voice is free indirect discourse, which when applied with Solzhenitsyn's skill with the written word, made it difficult sometimes to differentiate between the narrator's voice and the main character Shukov's. Stylistically the writing is simple, and straightforward, further magnifying the voice of Shukov, as well as the other prisoners. Solzhenitsyn was able to bring to light the injustices and truths of life in a Russian Labor camp in the 1950's, and does so in a way that does not scare the reader away. Rather his writing draws the reader further into the horrific world he, as well as his novel's characters, lived in. It takes courage to write about the events such as the ones which occur in “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.” Furthermore it takes a true master of the written word to do so in a way which is poetic and beautiful, I hope Solzhenitsyn will be read by generations to come, as we can all learn so much from his writing.

A thought for the morning:

Time flies, books don't.

- BookBender

References:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/113.Best_Russian_Literature

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1970/solzhenitsyn-autobio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn

A Spiffing Title for my Tenth Post: The Battle Cry of Silence

"Im Westen Nichts Neues" is the original title for Erich Maria Remarque's war novel, known in english as “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I honestly find my impression of this book hard to put into words, so let me start out by saying that I think everyone who is invested in the future of our world should read this book in its entirety. I had read “All Quiet on the Western Front” in parts before, but I found from cover to cover, this is so much more than a novel. Hidden within the pages of Remarque's writing are the small, and not so small revelations of young officers and soldiers during their time fighting in, what was supposed to be, the war to end all other wars. The astounding thing about the writing is that it it reads like poetry- but somehow avoids being heavy handed and overly gruesome. That is not to say that there isn't any gore, it is a book about one of the bloodiest war in the history of the world. This book also brings up the question of morality, and whether or not it has a place in war.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” was written in the late 1920's in Berlin, and was first published in German in 1928, nine years after the peace treaty of the first world war. The novel was banned in Germany during the second world war, and was burned on Nazi fires because it depicted the Wehrmacht (German Military) in a unfavorable manner. In 1938 Remarque lost his German citizenship, and then proceeded to live out the rest of his life in Switzerland, and then the United States. Luckily “Im Westen Nichts Neues” was translated into twenty different languages, and was available to the rest of the world.

The most heart wrenching passage for me was at the very end of his home visit, after talking to his mother, the main character a German soldier, Paul reflects:

“I bite into my pillow. I grasp the iron rods of my bed with my fists. I ought never to have come here. Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless- I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end. I ought never to have come on leave.” [p 185]

Doesn't it cut you to the core? I honestly think that if more people took the time to read this novel, and others like it, war would not be as common an occurrence. Because Remarque takes us into the mind, and the stream of consciousness of a young soldier. He exposes the reader to the horrors of the war in the moment, with the benefit of time and wisdom. This is a book for the ages, and will continue to feel modern because of the style in which it was written, and because Remarque was able to tell his truth about war, and the strife, and happiness which accompany war.

A thought for the evening:

The pen is mightier than the sword, and a book makes a dandy shield.

- BookBender

References:

http://www.shmoop.com/all-quiet-on-western-front/

A Top-Notch Title for my Ninth Post: A Study in Salman

The past two weeks I have been focusing on reading banned American books written by American authors, with this post I begin my journey with authors and banned books written from around the world. The first book matching this criteria I read was “Shame” by Salman Rushdie.

Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India, in 1947 to a middle-class Moslem family. As a young teenager Rushdie was sent to school in England, and his family moved into Pakistan, a move which would end up dividing the Rushdie family due to the war between Pakistan and India. After writing “Grimus” and “Midnight's Children,” Rushdie wrote his novel “Shame.” It is a modern fairy tale, where Salman Rushdie uses the family as a symbol for the country. At some points in the book I was confused, and had to read several passages over again. I find that when reading Rushdie, you have to keep a fluid mind, and be open to connections you never thought existed between two separate ideas. The novel is about a country that is “not quite Pakistan” and tells the tale of a boy born of three mothers, and of two waring families of men; one of a noted wager of war, the other of a debauched lover of pleasure. Even within that, Salman Rushdie portrays a country torn between honor, and humiliation- two things which are viewed opposites, but after reading “Shame,” the two become closely associated by the reader. I am a huge fan of Salman Rushdie, and have read several of his other books. Rushdie is able to take the reader into his novels, which in many ways reflect the inner working of his mind, and expose us to the madness and sanity of his writing. I should hope everyone reads at least one of Salman Rushdie's novels at some point in their lives, as his writings are not merely books, but journeys.

A Little More on Salman Rushdie:

Salman Rushdie has the distinct honor of being a banned author. And it all started with his novel for the ages “The Satanic Verses.” Shortly after publication, the book was banned by the Indian ministry of finance, Ayatollah Khomeini called on all zealous Muslims to execute the writer and the publishers of the book, Rushdie was forced into hiding. Soon after that, Khomeini issues a price on Rushdie's head, a tidy sum of one million dollars. In 1997, the price was doubled after Rushdie's publicist was wounded in an attack outside of his home in Pakistan. The highest Iranian state prosecutor Morteza Moqtadale renewed the death sentence, and issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Iranian clerics did not retract their death threat after Rushdie wrote and published “In Good Faith,” and issued an apology as well as restating his respect for Islam. As of now, Rushdie is unable to return to his home country because there is still a price on his head in 2011. 

A thought for the morning:

A tree is best known by it's fruit, but books are not edible. 

- BookBender

References:

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rushdie.htm

http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/salmanrushdie/about.html

A First-rate Title for my Eighth Post: The Toils and Laws of the Primordial Beast Regarding the Love and Mastership of Man.

As a small child, I grew up knowing the legend of Balto, the courageous tale of a dog who saved a town of children from dying by delivering a very much needed vaccine. Here is another tale of a dog, and his own path to greatness. “The Call of the Wild” was written by Jack London in 1903 as a series in the Saturday Evening Post, the book was then published in it's entirety later on. London spins a tale of courage, love, loyalty, faith and strength in the one hundred and thirty nine pages that transport the reader into California, and then into the harsh reality of Alaska and the Klondike region of Canada. A particularly moving passage for me was on page thirteen, and reads as follows:

“He was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once and for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned a lesson, and in all his afterlife he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law, and he met the introduction halfway. The facts of life took on a fiercer aspect; and while he faced that aspect uncowed, he faced it with all the latent cunning of his nature aroused.”

This quote, for me, sets the tone for the rest of “The Call of the Wild.” Every thing Buck would learn, and strive for would stem from this pivotal moment. The entire time I found myself rooting for the protagonist Buck, as he fought within himself, against his primitive nature, as well as the many masters he has. The truly amazing thing is that Jack London based “The Call of the Wild” off of his experiences in the Canadian wilderness as a gold prospector, as well as his ideas about the natural world and the primitive side of mankind. “Call of the Wild” has not been challenged/banned in the United States, rather it was banned in Italy (1929), Yugoslavia (1929), and burned in Nazi bonfires (1933), on the grounds that London's writing was “too radical.” But where would we be if there were no radical writers? If you think about it- the literary world would be akin to a bowl of day old, cold, plain oatmeal. It is writers like Jack London who spur the writers of tomorrow to dare to push the envelope and to write outside the conventional boundaries of writing. London is one of my favorite American writers, having also written “The Sea Wolf” and “White Fang”, and I encourage any of you who love a good adventure, to pick up Jack London's “The Call of the Wild.” 

So thank you Jack London, for weaving a tale which illuminates the good and bad of human nature, and for letting us know that it's okay to walk on the wild side every now and again.

A thought for the evening:

A dog may be man's best friend, but you don't have to feed a book.

                           - BookBender

References:

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned/index.cfm

An Inspiring Title for my Seventh Post: Big Brother Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.

If “1984” were a roller coaster, it would leave you with wobbly knees, a sloshing stomach, and a greenish tint to your face. Orwell is a master puppeteer when it comes to the reader's emotions. Through his writing he is able to form this umbilical chord between the characters in his novel and the reader. With each page I turned I became more and more invested with Winston's struggles and victories, as well as those of Julia, and surprisingly Big Brother. At the end of the first book Orwell finishes with a message of hope, that Winston's existence will find meaning and that individualism is achievable. The second book leads the reader on to think happiness is an obtainable thing, only to bring it crashing down around our heads. Orwell works black magic in the third book, by managing to fuse the reader to the pages of “1984.” Because Orwell writes in the third person, and it is mainly limited to Winston's own thoughts, Orwell makes it easy to reach into the Winston's mindset and extract the emotion behind his harrowing experiences.

This book was banned in Russia, and considering the time period which it was written in, I can totally understand why. “1984” denoted a communist society in the most unflattering lighting. And perhaps this was due to the fact that when Orwell was writing this novel he was very sick with TB. In any case, I thought “1984” was illuminating and thought provoking. This novel should be on every avid readers list, and I believe, will continue to be relevant as long as there are oppressive forces in the world.

Answers to Questions:

Just because it is banned, does that make a book important, well-written, stylistically significant? What if a banned book is poorly written - what kind of attention do you give it? And would you read it if it were not banned?

Just because a book is banned, does not mark it as a classic or a must read. In fact several come to mind that are banned and not particularly well written. Becoming a banned book means someone out in the world did not agree with something within the writing, and cared about it enough to challenge it. In my opinion, if a book is banned and is poorly written, there is no glitter to be had, simply give it the time of day it deserves. I know that may sound harsh, but there are so many marvelous books out there in the literary world that it does not make sense to read a book based simply on the fact that it is banned. Some books should be read due to their lyrical nature, or the rich style of writing, or the plot line, or what have you; and some books, although banned, simply are should not be read. All of the books I have read and posted about so far, I would have read on my own accord, and will most likely revisit later on in my life. And I will be among the first to admit, reading a banned book has it's thrills and allure. Yet, at the same time there are many books that are magnificent testimonies to the power of the written word, that are not banned. So I suppose my philosophy towards literature is: read good books that you like, regardless of them being banned or not, for as any reader will know- there are far too many wonderful books in the world, and not enough hours in the day to read them all.

A thought for the evening:

Rules are made to be broken, books are made to be read.

- BookBender

An Incredible Title for my Sixth Post: Current Issue? Or are we past it yet?

Which out of the following four places would you rather work, the minitrue, minipax, miniluv or the miniplenty? All four are rather whimsical titles for Ministries in the futuristic world in George Orwell's “1984”, although technically the book is set in the past future, which can be simply put as the past. Highly amusing is it not? Then we must ask ourselves, if this book is about a past future, then why is it still read today? Hopefully by the time I turn the last page of this novel I will have a foothold towards the answer. In the meantime I busy myself with the deeply disturbing, yet poetic future world of London through Orwell's eyes.

The date of the first publication of “1984” was in 1949, thirty five years before the setting of the novel. It has been challenged and banned by several communities, including Stalin's Russia. It was banned because of sexual content, as well as containing a pro-communist agenda. I have only read about half of the book, and honestly find myself slightly confused by the plot line. But we all know Orwell does not write simplistically. Evidence is shown in his equally famous earlier novel “Animal Farm,” which was first published in 1946, beneath the same pseudonym of George Orwell. His real name was Eric Blair and he lived from 1903 to 1950, dying a mere year after “1984” was finished and published. You have to wonder why Eric Blair wrote beneath the name of George Orwell, as well as why do his books feel so contemporary and modern, applicable to todays strife. And although I have not understood some of what has occurred within the first several chapters, I have throughly enjoyed the whimsy (if that word can be used to describe Orwell's writing) of “1984,” and hope to be able to answer some of the initial questions I have stumbled upon as well as the questions I am sure will arise with my reading of the rest of the novel.

A thought for the evening:

An apple a day will keep the doctor away; and a book a day will keep the cobwebs from forming.

                             - BookBender

References:

http://www.deletecensorship.org/downloads/booklist_hpb.pdf