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I just finished reading 1984 by George Orwell...


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Hello!

I haven't read 1984 since high school (late 70's) and I have forgotten how it ended (never fear - I am sure I will be reading it along with my boys as we study the 20th century this year!), but I am totally with you about unexpected or undesired endings! As I tell my guys - this is a work of fiction (I do this mostly with movies) so I will mentally tweak it a bit.

 

Interestingly, my older son, the engineer wanna-be, got really irritated at the movie Enchanted. He totally was not expecting the couples to wind up as they did, (even though I could easily see it coming having watched many Disney movies over the course of my life!) and was quite vocal about his displeasure. We all got a good laugh about a teenage boy getting worked up over a Disney princess movie!

 

Blessings,

April (now curious about the ending of 1984...)

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Ha! Sounds like a good idea! I am currently reading a few stories from the American Realism Reader that came in our box of books for Tapestry of Grace year 4 unit (Animal Farm was also in the box - younger ds read it Monday afternoon - loved it). The Twain stories are hilarious, and the only thing I would tweak is to make them a bit longer! Perhaps I will jump the gun and read 1984 ahead of schedule, since my curiosity is now fired up!

Blessings,

April

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets worked up about fictional events, characters, etc.

 

 

I get all upset too if I have invested a good deal of emotions into the characters. If it ends really badly I feel like I've been ripped off. :mad: I haven't read 1984. Was it good other than the ending?

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and I'm SO MAD about the way it ended! It was SSSSSSSOOOO NOT what I wanted to happen!!! Ds16 finished reading it last week, and he didn't like the ending, either. However, he is laughing at me b/c I'm so worked up about it.:tongue_smilie:

 

Have you read any O.Henry? He is a "master" at the surprise, frustrating endings. I find myself hating/loving him as I can actually remember his stories but I am so irritated that he switched everything all up on me.

Thanks for the reminder about 1984.

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dh says if you want to get worked up about it - get worked up about it actually happening and being lived out in reality!

 

 

Exactly! I think that might be why it really bugged me & is actually haunting me in some ways. It's the idea that this could happen & in some ways is happening slowly & on a less severe level.

 

Of course, it had to end that way, or the point of the book would be lost.

 

Also, I, too, agree that it had to end this way in order for the point to be made. Still...I was just so saddened by it.

 

 

Was it good other than the ending?

 

Yes, it is a great book. I highly recommend it, even though the ending is tragic. It is very thought-provoking and eerie. It gives you lots of things to ponder.........

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  • 3 weeks later...

1984 is one of only two books that I've read three times. The last time I read it was in 1984 when I was 23, but it has stayed with me all these years, especially as I've watched the media and the political process become increasingly "Orwellian."

 

You have to consider that Orwell was not a very great storyteller and that his books are simply metaphorical vehicles for his political messages. The point isnt about Winston Smith or Julia or any of the characters, so the "chick movie" aspect of the story is irrelevant.

 

What I ponder after all these years is how the state can control individual thought by controlling the language. By shortening the dictionary, the people's ability to articulate certain thoughts is shortened. (Consider today's acronyms). Replacing emphatic emotional terms with generic ones (e.g. double-plus good) removes the ability to even think emphatic thoughts. By removing terms from the language, they remove the very concept from the collective memory.

 

We routinely see the media (i.e. the Ministry of Truth) rewriting old news stories or just throwing them into the "memory hole." We routinely see the media call good evil and evil good. I'm sorry to say, but in 1948, Orwell wrote a prophetic social commentary that has become an operating manual for the news media.

 

So anyway, once you get over the ending ("He loved Big Brother"), spend some time pondering the concepts and you'll come to appreciate the value of 1984.

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Dh is seeing our country headed the way the book 1984 is going. Too many similairites (sp?).

 

Any thoughts about that??

 

Holly

 

I am too dumb to know how to link it, but there was a great thread on the general board within the last few days that showed some cartoons comparing/contrasting Huxley and what happened in Brave New World to Orwell and what happened in 1984. We read these two books together in high school. I, too, forget the exact endings. Anyway, the cartoons/thread generally espouse that the world is going more of the Huxley way than the Orwellian way. Check it out!

 

Then read Brave New World.

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I am too dumb to know how to link it, but there was a great thread on the general board within the last few days that showed some cartoons comparing/contrasting Huxley and what happened in Brave New World to Orwell and what happened in 1984. We read these two books together in high school. I, too, forget the exact endings. Anyway, the cartoons/thread generally espouse that the world is going more of the Huxley way than the Orwellian way. Check it out!

 

Then read Brave New World.

 

The book the cartoon was based on (Amusing Ourselves to Death) is an excellent book. Read both (1984 and Brave New World,) then read Amusing. Then cry into your pillow.

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