1984

I'm reading 1984 in my AP Language and Composition class, and so far, I'm not impressed. Granted, I'm only on page 99 of the actual book, but everything is so dreadfully boring up to that point. I've heard that it gets more intense as you get farther into it, and I'm hoping desperately that it does, or finishing it for the deadline will be the ultimate struggle. So far, it contains a lot of background information on the society that Winston Smith lives in, which I understand is crucial to the plot, but it doesn't make it any more intriguing. I need a book that jumps right to the point from the start and keeps you hooked until the end, and this book is not doing that for me.

It was written in 1949 as a fictional prediction of the future, and how Orwell imagined the year 1984 would look like. When you think about it, so far the predictions he made are almost eerie. They aren't necessarily true or accurate, but bits and pieces come close, such as the idea that the government will one day control society. It seems of late that the government keeps trying to establish more and more control over the people, and if we aren't careful, it could turn into Orwell's book. Another interesting point is that he wrote that the government could watch your every move via a telescreen. That's not far off, actually. I mean, security cameras and speeding cameras and satellites are everywhere. Not to sound paranoid, but we really don't have any idea of what the government is using them for because we don't have to knowledge or access to that kind of information. Just a thought: they could monitor every phone call you make. Isn't that just a bit ominous to you?

Anyhow, I have to finish the book by the end of the week, and if nothing more exciting than Winston going to work--again--happens soon, I may end up throwing the book out of the window. And then cry and go pick it back up, because I really have to finish this book and do a project on it for my class. Wish me luck, I might severely need it by the end of the week.