The Enid Blyton Society

joanne_chan wrote: We did both for our course and I read separately most of his other works like Burmese days, Homage to catalonia and The Road To Wigan Pier.

Later at university I read most of George Orwell's books, and enjoyed doing so.

Animal Farm was one of my two favourites books (the other being Lord of the Flies) that I studied at school. On the one hand, you've got a captivating modern fairy tale, and on the other you've got a 1940s satire that apparently upset a lot of people at the time. Very educational too. Up until the time my teacher was discussing it with us and who the characters were supposed to represent, I had never even heard of Trotsky! And I didn't realise Lenin was as historically significant as he was.

I've never got round to reading 1984 - although I think the John Hurt film is one of the most depressing things I've ever seen!

Incidentally, I wonder how many people who are familiar with "Big Brother" know where the term actually comes from?

I also did those books at school and re-read them some years ago. I found Lord of the Flies to be gruesome when reading it again. Animal Farm is brilliant and is still relevant today.
I can think of a country that 1984 might apply to nowadays.

I've yet to read 1984, but I've read Animal Farm and really enjoyed it.

I studied Animal Farm in fifth-form English and Nineteen Eighty-Four in sixth-form English. There are a number of books I read at school only because I had to study them and wouldn't go back to again in a hurry. But there are three I genuinely enjoyed studying and have subsequently bought to read for pleasure: one was The Diary of Anne Frank and the other two were the above Orwell novels.

Animal Farm is a brilliant little analogy and you can recognise many tactics and tricks of politicians in the things the pigs get up to. Nineteen Eighty-Four is pretty dark, it is true, but is eerily accurate in some respects. This book gave us such great words as Newspeak and Big Brother (as in "Big Brother is watching you"). The ending is probably the most depressing bit. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but it's a bit of a kick in the guts, in a way. As with Animal Farm though, it offers excellent insights into how tyrannical governments work, and especially how they control and manipulate people. Indeed, sometimes one can recognise Orwellian tactics even in more democratic governments. And I think it is these kinds of insights that make both books such first-rate reads overall.

I've gotten around to writing a story set in the nineteen eighty-four world some 20 years after Winston's execution. I explore the sordid reality of Airstrip One through the eyes of one of the children. I've always pondered the macroscale of the world of nineteen eighty-four. It's governments, its policies, and its social catastrophes. in film and lit unit we've had several long discussions on Newspeak, on how nineteen eighty-four would play out after Winston's execution--and not one of my classmates thought about the children in the nineteen eighty-four world.

All I remember about children in Nineteen Eighty-Four is that they belong to youth groups and are encouraged to spy on adults and report them to Party officials if they fail to toe the line. Some children even report their own parents. Quite chilling.

I have read Animal Farm. I think it is a very good book, and I like especially the end. What I couldn't believe is that George Orwell based the character of Napoleon on Stalin. Very interesting.

Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four were intended to be the first two parts in a trilogy. The third book was never written.

At a talk held by the Orwell Society it was pointed out that the Party of 1984's editing of history happens in the real world. The example given by the speaker was that many Bangladeshi's are surprised to find out that their country was once part of Pakistan.

I watched the John Hurt film last night, and now I seriously intend to give Nineteen Eighty-Four the novel a go. I have started it a few times, but always get distracted.

Incidentally, a few weeks ago I was trying to explain to a twentysomething friend and Big Brother enthusiast where the term actually comes from - and she didn't even appear to believe me at first! Kids these days, and the standard of education and basic general knowledge since I left school...

The storyline and concepts are fascinating, though I find the structure of Ninteen Eighty-Four a little frustrating because there's a whole chunk of text which takes the reader out of the story and into the politics and philosophy that have shaped the society. Much of what is stated in that section has already been implied by the events of the narrative.