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
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Liz, now having read all your posts to date, I am ignited by your enthusiasm tempered by critical reading. Here is a hard question: 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?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the future for banning with the internet allowing all publication? Now, we will have full disclosure and no discussion about banned books. Thank you for reminding us a bout historical significance of banning. Maybe your next series of books will look at thos banned in other countries: China, Iran, Palestine...L.