1984 Discussion Thread.

[Gingersnap]

The people have voted and our first book will be 1984.

Here's a link to the book that you can use to read online for free: George Orwell Org.

I'll sticky this thread and leave it up to you guys to figure out how much time everybody needs and all that.

[hazlnut]

Um, Wilbur... This is your party. What next?

[GF Kennan]

Ok, I'll start. The first sentence of the novel...

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Orwell was a very meticulous writer. Any ideas on why he starts the novel referencing the month, and particularly the month of April?

[Bubba Dawg]

Good choice.

I was in South Carolina at the beach this week and was at this place that is a Nature Trail and it said there was 'video surveillance.' Thing is, I couldn't see any cameras...and I looked.

Creeped me out. Reminded me of the TV watching you when you were watching the TV in 1984.

[Gingersnap]

Ok, I'll start. The first sentence of the novel...



Orwell was a very meticulous writer. Any ideas on why he starts the novel referencing the month, and particularly the month of April?

April is the cruelest month. In the opening paragraph there are no references to the normal notes of spring. On the contrary, it's cold and cheerless. The only color in the streets comes from propaganda posters.

[Bubba Dawg]

April is the cruelest month. In the opening paragraph there are no references to the normal notes of spring. On the contrary, it's cold and cheerless. The only color in the streets comes from propaganda posters.

True. Also, The State could declare it was April even if it were bleak midwinter. The State could say cold is warm, up is down, etc....and it would be accepted, however reluctantly, by members of The Party.

What the State says, in Oceania, is....

[hazlnut]

Ok, I'll start. The first sentence of the novel...



Orwell was a very meticulous writer. Any ideas on why he starts the novel referencing the month, and particularly the month of April?

The first sentence brilliantly prepares the reader to enter a world different than the one we know.

Thirteen.

That one word tells us that everything is a little off--we understand it to be 1pm, but not really. Because when using military time, we'd say 1300 hrs. But to say the clock strikes 13...we know right away that something is wrong.

The months may be the same, the weather may be the same, but something is little bit off in this world of 1984.

[PoliCon]

Ok, I'll start. The first sentence of the novel...



Orwell was a very meticulous writer. Any ideas on why he starts the novel referencing the month, and particularly the month of April?

Orwell was not actually condemning communism - like many think - he was condemning totalitarianism. Specifically, it was a indictment of Joseph Stalin. Keep in mind that Stalin was the model for Big Brother - hell the whole book is modeled after Stalinist Russia.



In April 1922, Stalin became general secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), a post that he subsequently built up into the most powerful in the country. This position was an unwanted one within the party (Stalin was ...In April 1922, Stalin became general secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), a post that he subsequently built up into the most powerful in the country.

[Gingersnap]

True. Also, The State could declare it was April even if it were bleak midwinter. The State could say cold is warm, up is down, etc....and it would be accepted, however reluctantly, by members of The Party.

What the State says, in Oceania, is....

Bingo.

[hazlnut]

True. Also, The State could declare it was April even if it were bleak midwinter. The State could say cold is warm, up is down, etc....and it would be accepted, however reluctantly, by members of The Party.

What the State says, in Oceania, is....

Good point. But I'm reading Oceania as a dystopian UK--it could be bright and cold in April.

Are we thinking nothing is what it is? Then we need more clues to get a frame of reference. To really be clear of how Orwell means for us to see this world.

Should read the first chapter and reconvene. or wait for wilbur?