tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post112261192325039028..comments2023-10-18T16:25:13.593+01:00Comments on Famous for 15 megapixels: Let's party like it's 1948 (part one)Stefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122920705938689432005-08-01T19:25:00.000+01:002005-08-01T19:25:00.000+01:00lolI love Orwell's vision of a proletariat treated...lol<BR/><BR/>I love Orwell's vision of a proletariat treated by the Party as animals, living in squalor and poverty, kept sedate with vast quantities of beer, widespread pornography, and a national lottery <BR/><BR/>... boy did he get it wrong - that'll never happenStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122862333123446552005-08-01T03:12:00.000+01:002005-08-01T03:12:00.000+01:00"I pity any fifteen year old capable of comprehend..."I pity any fifteen year old capable of comprehending 1984. If such a teenager exists they’ve got real problems."<BR/><BR/>I take offence at that statement! Why comprehending 1984 in my teenage years has taught me valuable life skills. 1)Do not buy national lottery tickets, too close to the 'numbers' game for confort. 2) Avoid manufactured pop music. 3) Always keep a packet of razor blades in reserve.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122667973565664892005-07-29T21:12:00.000+01:002005-07-29T21:12:00.000+01:00@coop: not bashing at all - you've raised some rea...@coop: not bashing at all - you've raised some reasonable points and valid concerns<BR/><BR/>the tricky thing about writing about 1984 is that to those who know the book well some of the parallels with 2005 are obvious and cliched but to those who don't know the book well some of the parallels might come as news<BR/><BR/>as to whether my follow up posts hit the mark or not, we'll see. I write to arrange my thoughts - sometimes the result is coherent sometimes not<BR/><BR/>regards<BR/><BR/>S.Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122666662084959242005-07-29T20:51:00.000+01:002005-07-29T20:51:00.000+01:00I apologize if it seemed as though I was bashing y...I apologize if it seemed as though I was bashing you... That was not my intention, I have just encountered a lot of Orwell misuse, especially in the face of the current US presidency. <BR/>I look forward to your future postings on the subject.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122666423793750052005-07-29T20:47:00.000+01:002005-07-29T20:47:00.000+01:00A good book, and it touches on life in parts of Lo...A good book, and it touches on life in parts of London we've both walked around and photographed<BR/><BR/>Do you know the story that the book was originally called 'Down and out in Paris?' but Orwell's publisher reckoned it was too short so Orwell had to go off and do more down and outing? He must have loved thatStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122665666739365702005-07-29T20:34:00.000+01:002005-07-29T20:34:00.000+01:00I prefer 'Down and out in Paris and London'andyI prefer 'Down and out in Paris and London'<BR/><BR/>andyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122660230428673582005-07-29T19:03:00.000+01:002005-07-29T19:03:00.000+01:00I've still to put up a couple more posts to put th...I've still to put up a couple more posts to put this one in context.<BR/><BR/>but, yes, I'd broadly agree with what you're saying ...<BR/><BR/>- I'm not about to use Orwell to start any specific Bush bashing.<BR/>- I'm the last person on Earth you'd describe as a liberal or socialist so I'm not going there either<BR/>- and Orwell certainly wasn't a god<BR/><BR/>He did however produce a pretty good distillation of how totalitarian regimes work - Communist, Socialist, Fascist or otherwise. They're essentially indistinguishable.<BR/><BR/>Historical context? Sure. Orwell was writing in a grim post war Britain, he was a disillusioned Socialist and former correspondent for the, very real, Ministry of Information. I know all that. But good observations are timeless and not restricted to their historical context. And Orwell was a pretty good observerStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122659056003810932005-07-29T18:44:00.000+01:002005-07-29T18:44:00.000+01:00I hate seeing 1984 misused by people (liberals esp...I hate seeing 1984 misused by people (liberals especially, sorry I had to say it...) as fuel against the Bush (republican) administration. The people using Orwellian quotes to slam the current government, will also in the same breath propose Socialist ideologies (as sound ideas), THE EXACT KIND OF GOVERMENT ORWELL WAS WARNING US ABOUT!! People need to remember more than anything that Orwell was a strong opponent of English socialism and Russian Communism. He believed that the pure Socialism cannot exist and will always be corrupted and made Communist. SO PLEASE do not propose Socialist ideas, and quote Orwell as some kind of god. It is doublethink at its finest. Also please start reading these sort of books in the right historical context, Its not all about hating Bush. (Though I do hate him.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122637833504728002005-07-29T12:50:00.000+01:002005-07-29T12:50:00.000+01:00@sparkling: 1984 is almost always described as 'Or...@sparkling: 1984 is almost always described as 'Orwell's terrifying vision of the future'. Commentators, the media and academics, occasionally will use lines like 'this brings us one step nearer to an Orwellian style state' when talking about new surveillance techniques or similiar. The fact that the book was set in the future and inlcudes reference to a few pieces of new technology can also throw people off.<BR/><BR/>Whenever someone films productins of 1984 or similiar visions of society, they're almost invariably either set them in the future or in a 1940s style environment.<BR/><BR/>The point I'm working towards is that they should be set firmly in the present. Very much so<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I admit this post covers what is, to many, old ground. I'll try and work up something a little more original in the next couple of postsStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-1122631080774117922005-07-29T10:58:00.000+01:002005-07-29T10:58:00.000+01:00Mu teacher must have been a 1984 buff, I totally m...Mu teacher must have been a 1984 buff, I totally missed the confusing sci-fi plot. I'll go re-read this weekend.. 'ish.Sparklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04334915032148361564noreply@blogger.com