Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

1984: Orwell’s Strikingly Prophetic Take on War and Propaganda

Back in 1949, long before the days of CCTV and home security ADT, there was Big Brother.

In Orwell’s shocking vision of the future, he saw a world of perpetual violence and strife where people were subjugated and all thoughts of individuality considered criminal. People were forced to act the same, look the same and live the same, and any feelings of self-expression that deviated from this were punishable with torture and death. In this world, propaganda was what kept the machine going and the only thing that kept the people from directing their hatred at their deified leaders was hatred toward alleged “terrorists” and “criminals.” It didn’t matter if these so-called criminals were innocent or not; it was enough that their leaders had labeled them as objects of ridicule and hate.

You might be asking, how is this prophetic in any way?

Look at the world around you.

Look at the trends and look at how we ostracize and ridicule those who choose to deviate from our established views on what’s socially and fashionably acceptable. Look at how television tells us to do this! And, seriously, really take a look at how our public blindly follows the news in printed word and on the television. No one asks any questions and no one is encouraged to learn for themselves. Instead, the news is simply fed to us and we have no choice but to hope it’s the absolute truth.

The US is far from the totalitarian regime envisioned by Orwell, but for how long?

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Futuristic Books That Got It Right (And What They Mean About Us Now)

When one considers books dealing with futuristic themes, two classics come to mind: the ominous ’1984′ by George Orwell and ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley. Perhaps the more intriguing of the two is ’1984′. Although it was written in 1948 and imagined a dystopian future 36 years later which never came to pass, there is still many things to learn from this novel. Part of the reason it is still such a popular book today is due to Orwell’s incredible foresight.
In ’1984′ he predicts situations reminiscent of the oppression enforced in

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Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Where To Find Great Books For Less

Avid, dedicated readers should constantly be filling their libraries with new and great books. There may be times, however, when people will need to watch how much they can spend on books. In order to get the most books out of your budget, you should explore and compare the prices of books that you want. Some great deals for books can be found in online stores. A web search should reveal websites that sell books you would like to purchase. Book stores may have deals such as buy one book and get one free. This is

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Monday, August 1st, 2011

More Than Just Stories: Literature That Changed Humanity

One of the undeniable facts about modern human history is that literature shapes human thinking and action. Every book, at least on a certain level, changes the way we think. Every human experience is unique and whenever shared shapes the human condition. So, choosing one or even ten books that have transformed humanity is impossible.

Two books written by American authors that have changed humanity are “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, and “The Grapes of Wrath”. They touched on two

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Saturday, July 30th, 2011

Newest Classics: The Greatest Books Of The Last Decade

Literature is ever changing world. We’re familiar with classics that have been passed down through the ages, but there are a new set of classics emerging in this century. Here are the top five greatest books of the last decade.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
This children’s novel eloquently explores life in Nazi Germany through the eyes of a foster child and a Jewish fist fighter.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Pi Patel is traveling to America with his parents and their zoo on a

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