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Since I left my religion I've had quite few people recommend that I read 1984 by George Orwell. They said that I would be amazed at the similarities between the totalitarian political system described in the book and my former religion. So I started reading it yesterday.The similarities are incredible. By the end of chapter 2 I was crying uncontrollably. I can't even describe how difficult it is to come to the realization that so many of my former thought patterns were nothing more than the result of common control tactics used by leaders. The book describes thinking as being the greatest crime and the Thought Police closely monitor everyone to make sure they're not thinking independently. They can't think... ever. If they do they will be caught, maybe not at that moment or that day, but eventually it will come out somehow. It always does. And the Thought Police will be there waiting.Holy smokes! I believed that my entire life. I believed that I had to control my thinking as perfectly as possible because even allowing myself to think something "bad" would eventually lead to other actions, and no matter how hard I would try to hide something it would eventually come out. I was to always confess any of my own sins or the sins of others to the elders. God was always watching so if I didn't do as I was supposed to do he would somehow make sure it was revealed. I actually went to the elders and confessed very personal details in order to avoid any semblance of "independent thinking," which is strongly discouraged by the religion.There were many other similarities in the book, including the way those who left or opposed the system were viewed as the enemy and there were rituals to keep people indoctrinated in the belief that those outside were evil. And those who left were "vaporized." I was disfellowshipped. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue reading this book right now. I want to. I'm totally into it and interested in it, but I seriously don't think I can cope with it emotionally right now. Has anyone else read this book?Cheryl

Funny, just yesterday I decided that 1984 would be the next book I am going to read--as soon as I finish Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie. If you don't mind waiting a week or two, Cheryl, we could read it together. Maybe we could get others involved and start some discussions.

Count me in. I happen to own the book, but haven't ever read it. We can use this thread to discuss it too.Chris

Cool. Let me know when you're ready to read it. I started reading it a little more yesterday, but I'm only in chapter 3. I'll wait for you guys to start it before I read anymore. I would love to be able to discuss it with people because it really has me freaked out.Cheryl

If you guys are still up for it, I'm ready to get started. Let me know if you think this might conflict with Unweaving the Rainbow. I would expect that we have enough time to do both simultaneously, but there needn't be a deadline on this book if our schedules get busy.

Tim,I definitely want to finish this book but I've got 3 other books underway at the moment so this one is on hold. I'll probably be able to pick it up again in June if you don't mind holding off until then. This book is fascinating!Cheryl

Hehe. That's probably for the best. I can't afford to buy another book until I get a job anyway.

This book might be worth reading, but right now I'm more interested in The Satanic Bible. Don't laugh, but Cheryl and I have had a few conversations recently about this book. She says she created a thread in The Academy so I'll continue my post over there.Chris

Somehow I managed to overlook this thread before. Hamiete reminded me of "1984" in her introduction post and I have just finished re-reading the book last night. I don't want to go into details of this book in case if Cheryl did not finish reading it yet or in case if we decide to discuss the book at a later date. I just want to make a few general comments.As I was reading the book I kept thinking of how close to the description of communistic era in Russia this book is. Of course, there were no two-way televisions in Russia but aside from that things got very close to what was going on in Oceania. People were spying and denouncing each other to the government. Children were taught to report and denounce their parents if they were doing anything "unorthodoxy". We were told about "Children Heroes" in school. One of them was Pavel Morosoff who was a hero because he reported his own father to authorities for hiding and not giving away some of his property (it was food I think) to the community. His father was executed and Pavel became Soviet icon for children to look up to... I don't know anything about how this book was written, but I almost sure that Orwell had to either talk to someone from Russia or he had done some very extensive research on what was going on there. I think I was able to relate to this book because I have my limited experience with real Euroasia. At the same time, I've read Cheryl's post and realized that the same type of thing can happen to people who live in the middle of this country. It gave things a different twist. It does not necessarily take the huge machinery of totalitarian government to indoctrinate people into being afraid of thinking. It is possible now, today and it is possible here and everywhere. Brainwashing of some children is happening as we speak. It is so very scary. Cheryl, I am so glad that you were able to break away from their indoctrination. I just wanted to tell you that...Kostya. Edited by: Kostya at: 6/28/03 8:47 pm

I just noticed this thread. My son read this book for his sophomore HS English class, so I decided to re-read it when he was done. Has anyone else finished it? I found it more depressing than I remembered...One aspect of the book my son didn't like was he thought it was totally unrealistic for Big Brother to change history so quickly, such as when allies we had the day before immediately became the enemy we had been fighting forever. I reminded him how the U.S. supported Iraq in the 1980's against Iran (well actually we sold weapons to both sides like all good arms producers) with the Rumsfeld shaking Hussein's hand. But in 1990 Iraq became our enemy after invading Kuwait. I don't think my son was convinced of the parallel...