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#21
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
Bill Bohanon wrote: wrote in message oups.com... People always make a mistake when they drag in a novelist's politics, or what they think is his politics. Anyone who is in the used book business can likely tell you that 1984 remains one of the most requested novels by a Twentieth Century author who has been gone a couple of generations -- and for 'the most part is read by people who could care less about Orwell's politics. In a sense, people make the same mistake with "1984" that they make with Heinlein's "Puppetmasters." In the case of the latter, people often take a simplistic approach holding that Heinlein was merely commenting on communism. The reality is that he was likely commenting -- if we want to take his terrifying story as anything beyond sheer entertainment -- on a pernicious tendency in human nature, a tendency which became overt not only in communism, but also in Nazism, and, I suspect, Heinlein would agree, in the terrorist groups of today. When people start making suicide attacks on innocent people, then something just as pernicious as Heinlein's Puppetmasters (a novel which should be required reading for anyonce seeking a better understanding of Al Quaida) .has gotten hold of their nervous systems... But getting back to 1984, technology being what it is today, any sort of totalitarian government could institute a surveillance system far more through than what Orwell depicted. That is very basic knowledge to likely all "1984" readers, which is one good reason why the novel remains scary stuff.. Hi Bill. Regarding this 1984 book you mention above, I recently bought a copy at a book sale for a dollar. The title is spelled out though, it says Nineteen Eighty Four. It would be interesting to see how Orwell felt about the matter. What I can tell you is that the Signet (New American Library) paperback, which was first published in July, 1950, not only has the title on the outside front of the paperback written in numbers, but the title page also has "1984" written the same way. On the other hand, the spine of the book has "Nineteen Eighty-Four" written as a word. Perhaps, then, we are to conclude that it is 6 of 1, and one-half dozen of the other, regarding important differences in the way you write the title. (I usually write the title in numbers because, hey, if you can save maybe 16 keystrokes and still get your idea accross, why not?) Inside it says "first american edition" inside and has a blue dust cover. I didn't know it was famous or anything, You have spent the past sixty years touring deep in the Coal Sack Nebula, I take it I bought it because I thought it was a typo of some sort, because the book was published in 1948 which is 1984 sort of backwards. Are you saying that this book might be worth more than the dollar I paid for it? No, but instead of asking me you should be checking in Addall.com. That would be ironical, because although I collect things that are mistakes (like books with typos) I bought this by mistake but it isn't a mistake. Hmm...sometimes I have a hard time telling if a post is a clueless attempt at humor or just written by someone who happens to be clueless... [Memo from the upstairs office.] [Memo from the upstairs office.] ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 |
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#23
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:34:39 GMT, Bud Webster
wrote: On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:06:11 GMT, Dave wrote: ... Warren Zevon's "All Night Long"... . Quite a talent lost. "Dolan, the Headless Thompson Gunner" and the rest. Minor quibble: "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner." Easy error to make. Bud, Yeah, it was done without looking at the disk(or thinking about it too carefully). Maybe I didn't EXPERIENCE the music..... |
#24
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
On 27 Jun 2006 15:43:02 -0700, wrote:
Dave wrote: On 26 Jun 2006 17:16:52 -0700, wrote: Tsk, I should have remembered 1984 at least from Lit class, but it was always scheduled in the morning .... That strikes me as a bit bizarre, because almost any person of normal reading ability EXPERIENCES "1984" and could not forget the story if he wanted to. We are not talking about multiple story lines and dozens of characters to keep track of, after all. You have never experienced the novel, or you would be thoroughly ashamed to post such a comment (though you are to be preferred to the literary poseurs -- too many of which hang out in misc.writing -- trying to impress others by pretending to have read and understood books that their posted comments reveal them to be little-acquainted with). [Memo from the upstairs office] Lawrence Person Lame Excuse Books Stock available online at www.tomfolio.com (searched by www.bookfinder.com), or at: http://home.austin.rr.com/lperson/lame.html Thanks again, Dave STFU Palmjob. Your prattling and bleating are only surpassed by your constant self promotion. How many regular posters to this group (besides the obvious ONE) have been run out of other Usenet groups? How many posters here have a Gold Star (with Oak Leaf Clusters) on the KOOK Walk of Fame? As the self-annointed " Usenet's Most Widely Read Author" a collection of your excrecia, if conglomerated as a fecal bolide, would be large enough to alter the Earth's axis and exterminate all life. I have heard them called "The Library", "Reading Room", "Meditation Chamber", but I have never heard a toilet called "Upstairs Office" before. Dave |
#25
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:06:54 -0500, Barbara Bailey
wrote: ........Much snippage of a waste of electrons.... I didn't say it was a stretch. I said that I didn't EXPERIENCE! it, the way that you assume I must have. All I remember of 1984 is the concepts of doublespeak and Big Brother; none of the plot has stuck with me. Fahrenheit 451 was much the same, I remember a couple of the overarching concepts (as you say, that firemen burned books, and something about a colony of memorizers.) Plot? Nope. Don't remember it from the book. The books that -did- make an impression on me from that time were the ones I wanted to read, (Don Quixote) the ones I enjoyed, (The Count of Monte Christo) and the ones that drew me into the story (Dante's Inferno) or fascinated me with the information, (Ploesti, The Great Escape) if they were non-fiction (and I read a lot of non-fiction for a 13-year old.) They were both books that I hated having to read, therefore, anything I had to remember for the test was stored in short-term memory, and most of it faded away almost as fast as the geometry theorems I learned the next yea r. Just Killfile the goof and save yourself some time. Oh, and please don't quote him, it only encourages him and causes those who have already dumped him to read his posts. Dave |
#26
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:38:26 GMT, Dave wrote:
Yeah, it was done without looking at the disk(or thinking about it too carefully). Maybe I didn't EXPERIENCE the music..... Just make sure you don't clean the disk with bleach. |
#27
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
Dave wrote: On 27 Jun 2006 15:43:02 -0700, wrote: Dave wrote: Funny. I haven't gotten one of these for quite a while: "Paltry Usenet nobody crawls out of the cyber- woodwork and tries to get his 15 seconds of net-fame assailing famous writer he envies. News at eleven." Call me back when you get your first 100,000 Google GEMS, wimp Dave -- or, when you cite a few notable stand- alone postings you can proudly mention... ashamed to post such a comment Lawrence Person Lame Excuse Books Stock available online at www.tomfolio.com (searched by www.bookfinder.com), or at: http://home.austin.rr.com/lperson/lame.html Thanks again, Dave [...] STFU Palmjob. Your prattling and bleating are only surpassed by your constant self promotion. How many regular posters to this group (besides the obvious ONE) have been run out of other Usenet groups? How many posters here have a Gold Star (with Oak Leaf Clusters) on the KOOK Walk of Fame? As the self-annointed " Usenet's Most Widely Read Author" a collection of your excrecia, if conglomerated as a fecal bolide, would be large enough to alter the Earth's axis and exterminate all life. I have heard them called "The Library", "Reading Room", "Meditation Chamber", but I have never heard a toilet called "Upstairs Office" before. You need to get a handle on that bitter envy of yours, "Dave." Its plainly eating your brain, much like a starving rat gnawing a hunk of swiss cheese. Were that not the case with you, you would be well aware that that I have written the lion's share of the best-known and most- widely read stand-alone (original, and all by one poster) articles in the history of net-newsgroups. You, by contrast, are a nobody who has written nothing, and now you are pestering your betters for a few crumbs of attention. Sad. I would be amazed if you could claim more than a measly dozen or two Google GEMS. [For the newbies, A GEM is a "Google mention"] [Memo from the upstairs office.] Dave |
#28
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Dueling authors.... well, ideas anyway.
Barbara Bailey wrote: On 27 Jun 2006 21:14:11 -0700, wrote: Barbara Bailey wrote: On 27 Jun 2006 15:43:02 -0700, wrote: Dave wrote: On 26 Jun 2006 17:16:52 -0700, wrote: Tsk, I should have remembered 1984 at least from Lit class, but it was always scheduled in the morning ... [...] .. I didn't say it was a stretch. I said that I didn't EXPERIENCE! it, the way that you assume I must have. All I remember of 1984 is the concepts of doublespeak and Big Brother; none of the plot has stuck with me. "Doublespeak"? "Big Brother"? Oh, aren't those some words and phrases that originated in "Dave"'s Usenet opus? Fahrenheit 451 was much the same, I remember a couple of the overarching concepts (as you say, that firemen burned books, and something about a colony of memorizers.) Plot? Nope. Don't remember it from the book. The books that -did- make an impression on me from that time were the ones I wanted to read, (Don Quixote) the ones I enjoyed, (The Count of Monte Christo) and the ones that drew me into the story Did you read the original (that is, a full translation of the original)? A number of "Count of Monte Christo" editions used in the schools are, shamefully, dumbed down versions with half Dumas' story chopped out. I refuse to read any edition but the great old two-volume Rittenhouse Classic. Gem of an accurate translation, wonderful set of books...Of course, there are many other accurate translations around, such as the Oxford paperback. (Dante's Inferno) or fascinated me with the information, (Ploesti, The Great Escape) if they were non-fiction (and I read a lot of non-fiction for a 13-year old.) They were both books that I hated having to read, therefore, anything I had to remember for the test was stored in short-term memory, and most of it faded away almost as fast as the geometry theorems I learned the next year. Well, it is true that being forced to read a book can ruin the experience. Anyway, thanks for sharing. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
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