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..by GeorgeOrwell.

A doubleplusgood book that all must read fullwise. - MoonShadow (rant to follow)

[DoubleThink and NewSpeak]

Interesting, I forgotten quite a bit of that.  A question for some one who has read the book more recently than me (i.e. within the last 6 or 7 years ^^;):

I remember thinking that even the other 'superstates' might be a fiction but this link seems to infer that they were quite definitely fact.  Is this stated in the book?

- Kazuhiko

Uh... surely whether or not it is stated as fact in the book has very little bearing upon whether or not it is fact in the book?  It is, obviously, new-fact.  I'm not sure whether postulating that the other super states are double-think-fact actually gets you anywhere - it certainly doesn't change the main thrust of the story.

MoonShadow: It is always assumed to be a fact in the book, but all knowledge we have of them is, directly or indirectly, Party-produced. Goldstein's book (also, allegedly, Party-produced) mentions in passing that it would not much matter to Oceania whether the other superstates were fiction or not, and the main character goes through a brief period of doubting their existence at one point, but he's pretty much lost his mind by then anyway. Ultimately, there is no way to tell whether their existence was falsified or not, which is part of the point of the story.

Fair enough.  I was just a litle confused by the website linked stating these things as fact (and going into detail I don't remember being stated in the book) rather than things that were presented as fact. - Kazuhiko
The system described in the book is disturbing yet not implausible, though I find it a bit impractical to shut down all individual thoughts (at least to start off with), especially when an intellectual outlet is not provided since most arts and sciences are abolished. The system will only work if a) the whole world is using it, b) the number of individual countries reduced to a very small number of equal power, and c) requires a quick upheaval of the majority of culture of life style. -ColinLeung




See also: [Philips] ("You can turn it off? / Yes. We have that privilege.")




What worries me is that thanks to a certain trash TV programme, most of the UK considers Big Brother to be a  good idea.... --Tsunami






"The responsible citizen: never thinks, never doubts, just believes; hears nothing, sees nothing, says nothing; works, studies, rears children, respects the government; knows his place, doesn't want change, always content."



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