Time's Up

Winston just got caught by the Thought Police, so I find it a good time to make a couple of comments.  Over two-thirds of the way through this book, and I am struck by how thought-provoking it really is.  His  vehement condemnation of Communism makes one wonder whether it is just the concept that so thoroughly offended him (which we know he wrote about in at least one other book as well), or whether he was intimately versed in the subject.  I will look that up and get back to you.

Favorite quote:  "Has it ever occurred to you that the whole history of English poetry has been determined by the fact that the English language lacks rhymes?" Winston Smith may not have found that important or interesting, but I find it hilarious.


ETA:  After reading a couple of things, it seems that the world in which 1984 takes place is a little more on the Fascist side than the Communist side - a website entitled something like Ayn Rand's Lexicon terms the difference as Fascism is dictatorship by the rich with Communism being dictatorship by the poor.   In other words, pick your poison, but you're going to die either way.

Apparently, Orwell did spent a great deal of his life writing about and fighting for the poor and downtrodden, a cause he obviously felt very passionate about.  It seems much of his work was intended to bring their plight into the public eye, which I hope it did.