Saturday, February 27, 2010

March 26 -- 1984 by George Orwell

The next Great Books KC meeting:
What: 1984 by George Orwell
When: March 26, 2010, 7:00 PM
Where: Plaza Branch Library
4801 Main Street, KC, MO 65112

Following-up on last year's discussion of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, this year we explore the darker dystopia of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

From the Amazon.com editorial review:

"Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written."

1 comment:

Clif Hostetler said...

The following is a link to the top 12 dystopian novels according to List Universe:
LINK--top 12 dystopian novels

Per this list, "1984" by George Orwell is No. 3. No. 1 is "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and No. 2 is "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

In case you didn't know, dystopian is the opposite of utopian.