1984

Chapter I Even having read this book over 20 times, I still love the opening chapter. Orwell’s predicted future creeps me out, not just because of how dreary it seems but because he was so prescient with his predictions for ways the government would be reaching into the lives of its citizens.

The two things I enjoy the most are the imagery, especially when he juxtaposes the four ministry buildings in all their glittering whiteness with the dilapidated, dusty, gray landscape of the rest of the population, and the paradoxes of the Party Slogans. I like the imagery because it is so effective in creating the beaten-down, oppressed mood; I still feel out of breath when walking up the stairs with Winston.

The Party Slogans, on the other hand, always remind me of two things: the movie //Back to the Future// and the book //Lightning// by Dean Koontz, both of which deal with time travel. In the book //Lightning//, there is a scene where a famous novelist is running from time-travelers from Nazi Germany (Koontz makes a scary suggestion about what could have been if, indeed, Hitler had had such technology at his disposal) and has just figured out why. In trying to work her way through the how of it, she has a conversation with her son, who is a sci-fi fanatic, about the term paradox and how it applies to time travel. The more her son works through the logistics and limitations of time travel, the more excited he gets and continues to yell, “Paradox!!” I am pretty sure this was the book that best explained that term to me.