Hullo again! It's a beautiful day here in sunny, exotic New Jersey. Yesterday was spent exploring Central Park with Wonderful Wife, but it's back to work now, with less chances to see things like this:
and this
Spring is a great time to explore.
Well, in less photo-y news, I've launched my Facebook page, which you can find
HERE. All comments and thought appreciated - not sure quite what to make of it yet.
Today is Wednesday, and that means one thing here on PLOTTYPUS. Books! Specifically, inspiring books from my past. And so...
Today's inspiring book is none other than 1984 by George Orwell.
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Big Brother IS watching you...
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It's one of those books you hear about before you read it. Through some sort of cultural assimilation I knew a lot of the catch phrases before I read it, but the plot, and the philosophies Orwell warned against, were new to me. It's a powerful book, but I might have been a bit young. I know I stopped half way through (perhaps from boredom) and gave up. Then a funny thing happened. I found I couldn't stop thinking about it, wondering what might happen, imaging the world he'd created. Even when I wasn't reading it. Eventually I was drawn back in and had to know how it ended. Orwell's style is phenomenal and his intellectual honesty is impressive. His collection of essays,
On Shooting an Elephant, are worth a read to find out more about him just as much as to enjoy his prose.
The book inspired me because I think it was one of the first to show me that fiction can say very, very real things about life, and writers should remember that words have more power than we sometimes realise.
My favourite book! If you liked it, you might also like The Stand by Stephen King - my other favourite book and with similar themes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! I've actually never read ANY Stephen King, which is probably a Bad Thing...
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love 1984. I read it when I was a senior in high school, and I've never quite stopped thinking about it. This is one that I always recommend, and I'm not generally that into the "classics."
ReplyDeleteSince you asked on Twitter, I figured I might as well tell you about what inspired me to be a writer. :) I actually decided I wanted to be a writer in 2nd grade, after I read my very first novel. I'm sure it was a very short chapter book, but before that, I'd never read anything that could be considered a real novel. Honestly, I don't remember much about it, except that it involved magic and some kind of sea serpent-type creature. I really wish I could remember anything more about it so I could find/read it again. Not long after that, I read A Wrinkle in Time, and discovered that fantasy was a genre, and not just an isolated occurrence in the sea serpent book. Been hooked on fantasy and trying to write ever since.
So, after adding your blog, twitter, tumblr, instagram, and now, facebook... I'm starting to feel a bit like a creeper.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm going to offer this single assurance that I'm not one (I know, that is EXACTLY what an ACTUAL creeper would say!!), and congratulate you on a great online presence!