[books 2010] 1984

45. 1984 by George Orwell

This month's Bibliogoths selection.

I haven't read this since I was an undergraduate (in the same week as We and Brave New World. I can be forgiven for not remembering which is which).

It's much better than I remembered. I was particularly impressed that Orwell explains why nobody can remember life before Ingsoc - one thing that pisses me off about many near-future novels is that they can be set as little as 10 years in the future but nobody remembers what life was like before whatever event changed society.

He does interesting things with and about language, which is always cool.

However, knowing now that England in the 1950s was a drab place with rationing and shortages, which I wasn't fully cognisant of the first time round, I can't help reading the book as a compendium of Orwell's neuroses and hangups.

So - um - yeah - important book and a very good read.

retail accident

I went to order next month's bibliogoths book. While I was there I threw in the other two Millennium books. Then it got silly - I also ordered the new Barbara Kingsolver, on the basis that The Poisonwood Bible is an awesome books, and the next True Blood next Dresden Files books, on the spurious basis that the library has very few of either so the wait can be quite a while.

Whoops.

Mind you, the total was a whopping £25 so I think even in my current straitened circumstances, I'll live.