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/lit/ - Literature

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1031263 No.1031263 [Reply] [Original]

ITT: Misconceptions of books

My father thought Lord of the Flies was only about some kids on an island.

>> No.1031279

One that always fucks me off: 1984 and Animal Farm being about the dangers of socialism.

>> No.1031295

>>1031279
BUT SOCIALISMS R BAD

>Huck Finn is racist

>> No.1031297

>>1031279
>implying they're not

The only secure basis for oligarchy is collectivism. The so-called 'abolition of private property' which took place in the middle years of the century meant, in effect, the concentration of property in far fewer hands than before... [That] which grew out of the earlier Socialist movement and inherited its phraseology, has in fact carried out the main item in the Socialist programme; with the result, foreseen and intended beforehand, that economic inequality has been made permanent.
- George Orwell, 1984

>> No.1031301

>>1031263
>My father thought Lord of the Flies was only about some kids on an island.

And... it's not?

>> No.1031302

Loilita is definitive proof that Nabokov was nothing but a pedophile, and if you like him you are too.

>> No.1031305

>>1031279

I'm pretty retarded when it comes to literature, but wasn't it about the dangers of the government getting...I dunno, too much power? The dangers of censorship and government surveillance?

If I sound retarded, that's because I'm a fucking idiot.

>> No.1031315

>>1031301

He didn't comprehend the metaphor that the children represent mankind on the earth. He also did not see the role of human nature and the relationship between religion, military, and government.

>> No.1031317
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1031317

>>1031297

>implying Orwell wasn't attacking totalitarian communist collectivism and not the ethos of socialism

>> No.1031319

>>1031297
>>1031305

Animal Farm was about Soviet Russia and 1984 was about totalitarianism. Oceania was the opposite of socialism. Plus Orwell was a socialist. Or I've just been troll'd. Damn it.

>> No.1031324

To Kill a Mockingbird is good.

>> No.1031330
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1031330

Crash is about amputee sex at the scene and wanking into open wounds.

>> No.1031341

Alice In Wonderland has great logical and/or mathematical depths encoded into it.

>> No.1031347
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1031347

That the Da Vinchi Code is factual.

>> No.1031349
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1031349

>>1031317
>implying that "socialism" is not a meaningless word that Orwell at times both self-identified w. and harshly condemned
>implying there is one "socialist ethos"
>implying that Animal Farm is not a demonstration of trust in state however nominally distinguished
>implying that 1984 is not about individualism vs. state propaganda however nominally distinguished

This is getting too subtle for you, I know.

Read these:

http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/opinion/essays/storgaard1.html

http://www.educationnews.org/mobile/political/society/93414.html

>> No.1031354

Stephen King's "IT" is about a giant spider.

>> No.1031357

Slaughterhouse-5

>ugh, that must be about killing people

>> No.1031360

>>1031319
>Oceania
>opposite of socialism

Define socialism. Also, uh no.

>> No.1031364

The Illuminatus Trilogy is a worthwhile basis for a sub-subculture.

>> No.1031362

>>1031349

Seeings as "ethos" is a pluralized word, I doubt anon meant there was only one.

>> No.1031359

>>1031319

I was always told that Orwell was upper middle class, and had no experience or dealings with the working classes. As far as I've been led to believe he regarded th working class as something of a novelty, like an animal at a zoo.

But that might not be reflected in his political leanings, just felt that this might be relevant.

>>but it's not

>> No.1031366

>>1031354

I honestly love that book. There's a lot more going on thatn people give it credit for. Maybe they're judging it from the terrible movie.

>> No.1031367
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1031367

>>1031347
>Vinchi
>h

>> No.1031369

>>1031360

Well actually yeah, socialism was the wrong word to use. But to say Oceana embodied the ideals of Marxism is a bit derp.

>> No.1031371

Jurassic Park was just about dinosaurs.

>> No.1031373

>>1031362
>"ethos" is a pluralized word

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ethos

>> No.1031374

>>1031367

God-awful. My bad.

>> No.1031380

kafka's metamorphosis is about a dancing purple dinosaur who runs away to join the circus

>> No.1031381

>>1031373

>set of beliefs
>set

>> No.1031384

>>1031380
sounds like a better story then a guy who turns into a bug

>> No.1031385

Mind you, Orwell wasn't exactly a friend of 'anarcho-capitalism':

http://thomasgwyndunbar.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/george-orwell-review/

>> No.1031390

>>1031369
>Oceania embodies the ideals of Marxism

Where the hell did that come from? Uh no.. but it is related to a demonstration of the praxis of Marxist socialism and thus the inherent flaws in its theoretical base (methodological collectivism, objective theory of value, statism, etc.)

>> No.1031395
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1031395

>>1031297
niggas-dont-know-bout-my-time-fightin-for-the-anarcho-communists-in-spain

>> No.1031400

>>1031349

>This is getting too subtle for you, I know.

Arrogant douchebag detected.

When Orwell matured from his anarchistic views, he remained antitotalitarian throughout his life and was a fierce opponent of Stanilism.

However, in his later life he was a member of the Labour Party and identified himself as a democratic socialist.

>> No.1031399

>>1031395
>anon doesn't know about Orwell

http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/opinion/essays/storgaard1.html

http://www.educationnews.org/mobile/political/society/93414.html

>> No.1031401

>Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

Weirdo Hippy Hell's Angel book about drugs and beatniks, lol.

>> No.1031404

>>1031399

Stop pedalling your twisted conservative bullshit.

>> No.1031402

>>1031385
Orwell wasn't a consistent "friend" to ANY political advocacy. He was and is remembered for being primarily a critic.

>> No.1031407

>>1031390

Isn't one of the defining features of a Marxist society the lack of a class system? Because Oceana was far from that. Economics is barely mentioned in the plot, it's about the monolithic government.

>> No.1031413

>>1031404
>conservative

w.t.f.

>> No.1031414

The Female Eunuch is about white slavery and clit-snipping.

>> No.1031419
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1031419

>>1031371
>>Jurassic Park was just about dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park was about Alan Motherfucking Grant. If I were on an island full of dinosaurs, I'd want to be with Alan Grant.

>> No.1031421

>>1031407
The ideal of a Marxist society is a classless one.

Ideals =/= praxis

Intentions =/= results

>> No.1031426
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1031426

>Misconceptions
That there is a monster at the end of this book.

>> No.1031428

>>1031400
We cannot really put a political label on Orwell. We can call him an undogmatic socialist but that is a rather vague description. He had so many facets and aspects that he escapes any unequivocal definition. And since he himself tried to maintain his individuality and avoid the dogmas with their unresolved contradictions, this seems only fair. At one point, Winston in Nineteen Eighty-Four writes in his diary:

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted all else follows." [NEF p. 68]

Let these words in their seductive simplicity be the conclusion of Orwell’s political development.

>> No.1031430

>On the Origins of Species by Means of Natural Selection

is about ducks evolving into crocodiles. Here this one a lot.

>> No.1031436

This thread is interesting and on-topic

>> No.1031438
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1031438

>The Bible,
>The basis of Western philosophy.

>> No.1031439

That the Bible is about truth and wisdom.

>> No.1031441 [DELETED] 

>>1031439
Yet contains little of either.

>> No.1031445

There are a number of Sherlock Holmes novels, beginning with Hound Of The Baskervilles. In them we closely follow Sherlock as takes cocaine and solves crimes whilst Watson bumbles along behind.

>> No.1031449 [DELETED] 

>>1031441

Yeah, that was the meaning behind the post...

>> No.1031454

>>1031428

>"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted all else follows." [NEF p. 68]

So, freedom means the right to speak the truth, and through this all other things follow?

>> No.1031457

The Qur'an is a book of peace.

>> No.1031459

>>1031454
Not the "right to speak," no, the "freedom to speak." There is an important difference there (positive vs. negative).

But yeah something like that. Orwell left the question of what to actually do prettymuch open.

>> No.1031464

Kerouac used the word "hipsters" a lot so clearly he is for modern day hipsters.

>> No.1031469

>>1031439
>>1031457

Don't forget to say something witty about Dianetics.

>> No.1031476

The Silmarillion is a novel with a narrative through-line, rather than a patchwork of fantastical pseudo-histories. That one's bitten more than a few down the years.

>> No.1031477

>>1031454

Freedom is the freedom to think rationally about reality, the progression and freedom of our understanding of reality mimics the expansion and freedom of our consciousness.

>> No.1031484

My uncle though Atlas Shrugged was about the worst book ever written.

Well alright he nailed that one, but still.

>> No.1031486

>>1031459

So it pretty much means that to speak is not intrinsic to the rights of man, but simply an indulgence in which our governments may or may not decide to tolerate of the public.

I'm not sure I like that opinion.

>> No.1031491

>>1031486
Well, that's the fact of the matter. There are no such things as objective rights. Rights are intersubjective and only important insofar as they affect the might makes right equations.

>> No.1031506

That the main character of The Great Gatsby is Gatsby. It's about Nick and why he thinks Gatsby is great! or not...

>> No.1031507

>>1031491

But might does not make right. It just makes victorious.

Plenty of winners have been wrong.

>> No.1031512

>>1031477

What's the difference between a freedom and a right? i confused

>> No.1031524

>Books written by or about women are for women.
Believed by large segments of both sexes, but most fervently by publishers who perpetuate the idea by packaging and exclusively marketing to their target gender.

>> No.1031527

>>1031512

Rights are the freedoms which are perceived as vital for a functional, just society.

>> No.1033203

jesus christ you are all such wankers, just enjoy the goddamned fucking books