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[twunny]

I never took a class where I had to read this book, and I never had any acquaintances that were obsessed with it. So I really came to it of my own accord. I distinctly remember not liking Animal Farm when we read it in high school, but I had a weird tickle in the back of my brain, telling me that I needed to read this. And I knew that being a fan of "Brazil," "V for Vendetta" and "Dark City" made this required reading.

So there I was, mildly versed in pop-culture references to this classic novel, but still uninitiated. I was unprepared. I figured on something dry, but well written, intellectual but unemotional. But I read it and was pleased by something alive, visceral and doubleplusgood.

In this book, the character reads a book that reaches him in a special way. He remarks that it's as if he's reading something he already knew, but that he couldn't find the words for. And that's how I felt reading 1984. There were ideas that had sprouted in my brain, independently of influence, that were on the page, written the year my parents were born. And I felt like my ideas that had honestly seemed a little crazy were suddenly righteous.

George Orwell was brilliant. He wrote both sides of a conflict in such a way that it seemed as if opposing magnetic forces were at work. He crafted a world that was very real and pretty scary. And the hero, who showed strength I hope lies in all people but I would never expect to see from anyone, cannot escape his horrors. Orwell showed the deep corners of a character's soul, and that by itself is a work worth applauding.

It's not the best book I've ever read, but it is one of those books that make me distrust the metaphysics of paper. There are some ideas that don't seem like they can be contained within binding, but they are. I have to put some massive doublethink into action to be at peace with that. I think that nearly everyone should read this book.
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I am a dirty liar. And I'm lying when I say that.