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Tag Archives: 1984
“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell
Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens wrote specifically about the quote from Orwell shown in the title above. Very few people can “face unpleasant facts”. Hitchens: A commissar who … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged 1984, Animal Farm, dystopia, England, essays, George Orwell, nonfiction, politics, Russia, war
7 Comments
Orwell’s “nightmare world”
From George Orwell’s essential essay “Looking Back on the Spanish War”, where he reflects on all the lies and falsifications of that essential conflict, the rehearsal for Hitler-Stalin and all the monstrousness that followed. (It is the Spanish civil war … Continue reading
Understanding Propaganda and Newspeak: Book Recommendation
J.P. Stern’s Hitler: The Führer and the people was published in 1974 but remains unmatched in breaking down and laying out the reasons behind the hold Hitler had, the psychological and emotional hold he had on his people. It’s a … Continue reading
Thoughtcrime and 2+2=5: This is how it’s done
Symes’ monologue to Winston Smith, in George Orwell’s 1984: “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words … Continue reading
2017 Books Read
I got into a good rhythm with reading this year. I did a lot of re-reading, going back to books I haven’t read in 20 years or whatever. It was fun, like a reunion with an old friend. Much of … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 1984, A.S. Byatt, Bette Davis, books read, Camille Paglia, Christopher Hitchens, Edgar Allan Poe, England, France, George Orwell, Hannah Arendt, Herman Melville, Hitler, Ireland, Jack London, Janet Malcolm, Jean Renoir, Jeanette Winterson, Joan Crawford, Joan Didion, John Milton, Kim Stanley, Mark Danielewski, Mary Astor, Mary Gaitskill, Olivia Laing, Poland, politics, Robert Altman, Robert Conquest, Robert Kaplan, Russia, S.E. Hinton, Shirley Jackson, Tana French, Tennessee Williams, The Great Terror, war
4 Comments
Beware Perfect Language
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can … Continue reading
2014 Books Read
2014 was a good reading year. I re-read a lot of favorites, including Rebecca West’s 1200 page Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. There was a fun mix of re-reads and new stuff, of fiction and non-fiction. My year of being … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged 1984, Amongst Women, Anjelica Huston, August Strindberg, books read, E.B. White, England, Evelyn Waugh, friends, George Orwell, Henry James, In Cold Blood, Inherent Vice, Ireland, John Cassavetes, John McGahern, Love Streams, Mark Helprin, Mark Twain, Patrick O'Brian, Rebecca West, Roger Angell, Seamus Heaney, Sweden, Truman Capote, Wales, war
9 Comments
2+2=5
I know I’m reading a lot of totalitarian literature when I see the following gigantic billboard of Ray Liotta on the corner of 42nd and 8th and immediately think: I love Big Brother.
The Books: A Collection of Essays, ‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’, by George Orwell
On the essays shelf: A Collection of Essays, by George Orwell While I admire and love both 1984 and Animal Farm (and have done so, really, since I was first introduced them, in junior high and high school), it was … Continue reading