1984

It’s been a long time since I had a time to really sit down and finish reading an entire book. Lately, all I’ve ever managed doing is start a self-help book and then abandon it. There’s just too much to do and too little time to do it with. Oh, on second thought, I still do have the time for reading. And sometimes I would even finish as much as three books a night. And they’re mostly by Dr. Seuss. =D

Reading for my own pleasure doesn’t come that often these days though. More often than not, my free time are usually spent on the internet. As it is, I sometimes feel I do not have enough time for blogging. So definitely, reading takes second priority these days.

Every time we would be staying at our Empress home I would look longingly at my bookshelf there. It houses my complete collection. Well, whatever is left of it. Some really good ones like some of Ayn Rand’s and Coelho’s and some Anne Rice’s must have remained stuck in somebody else’s book shelf. I even miss my copy of the Celestine Prophecy and it’s sequel. That and some of those that would have completed my Tolkien and Harry Potter series.

It never really was my intention but over the years I’ve managed to get hold of books that have sequels and prequels or that which could comprise a complete series. Until now I have an old copy of Love Story and it’s sequel – “Oliver Story.” I think I love the idea of “continuity” that these books imply. And one of my prized possessions really is the Bourne Series I have. I even have them in hardbound. I started reading them in high school but only managed to get copies of them when I was in college. Well, I had a bigger allowance at that time. :) That collection nearly cost me an arm and a leg. I think I missed a few meals just to be able to afford to buy them at that time.

Ah, all these talks about books are reminding me about all the other books I’ve lost over the years… My favorite classic – “Crime and Punishment.” Then there’s my bibliography of Hitler’s latter part of his life… But I don’t hold any grudges really. While I value my books more than I value anything else I own, I don’t have that much attachment where they are concerned however. They’re just things after all.

Anyway, I’ve had had in my possession a copy of Orwell’s 1984 since college. I’ve read its reviews. Every now and then I’d read a feature story or an article making a reference to it so I kind of have an idea what the book was all about. But as for really picking it up and devouring its pages, I never really had the time to do that in the past. Not until today. And finally, after more than ten years, I was finally able to read it from cover to cover in just one day.

I find it ironic since in my current state I was strictly advised about taking on any reading. And 1984 is not just “any reading.” It’s highly intellectual reading. I think it is safe to say it is not “for-just- anyone” type of reading. From page 1 I know it’s going to be “heavy” reading from then on. For a moment, the word “relapse” came to my head but try as I might, I know I could not just turn away from the book. I had to finish it. It was that interesting to me. It was that appealing.

It was indeed interesting. It reminded me so much of “Crime and Punishment” but its plot is much, much more complex and thought-provoking. 1984 is pretty much like Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” but only much more voluminous and therefore much more detailed and complicated in plot. Nonetheless, I loved it.

I loved its concept of “double speak.” I loved how the book touched on the complexity of the human brain. Of how it could be influenced to think contrary to what it really feels. I loved its concept of “obliterating the past” in order to control the future.

The book was written in the 60’s and is about a perceived society 20 years down the line. It was written with everything that has been going on at that time as its background – the Super Power Countries phenomenon, the rise of Communism, etc. And I’m thinking, amidst what background are we writing our books of today? What is the stream of consciousness that propels every writer’s mind nowadays?

1984 was a popular book in its time, so was Ayn Rand’s and many others. What are today’s popular books? What kind of books makes it to today’s “Best Seller’s List?” And what is the stream of consciousness that drove it to be on that list? What are today’s readers’ needs? To me, books are what feed the mind and the soul and so I make my choices accordingly. I just wonder what books are to today’s generation of internet-driven and internet-obsessed blokes?