KokkieH Reviews Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell

1984 by George Orwell
Cover design by Shepard Fairey
Publisher: http://www.penguin.co.uk

Just in case you’ve never heard of this book before (you barbarian), a few quick facts: Eric Arthur Blair, under the name of George Orwell, wrote it in the late 1940s.  He died shortly after publishing it.  He wrote a few other novels during his life, but none so famous as Animal Farm, which preceded Nineteen Eighty-Four and is about a bunch of farm animals who rebel against their master and start running the farm for themselves but is actually a satirical allegory of the rise of communism in post-revolutionary Russia.

Both Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four carry the same message: they want to warn us of the danger of not thinking for ourselves and giving too much power to those who govern over us.  According to Wikipedia these two books together have sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author.

Most people in the English-speaking world are forced at one time or another to read Animal Farm during high school (I can recite significant portions of Animal Farm from memory – occupational hazard of being an English teacher), which is a shame, really, as they end up hating what is really a delightful little novella.  On the other hand, for some reason people think there’s something wrong with them if they have not yet read Nineteen Eighty-four, or at least, that’s the only conclusion I can draw from the fact that it’s the book most people have lied about having read.

If you haven’t read either of these, but are planning to still do so and don’t want me to spoil it, you might want to stop reading about here.  If you’re not planning to read them, read on – at least next time you lie about having read it you’ll sound a bit more informed 😉

Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell” →

I write like…

My Facebook feed delivered the most marvellous link yesterday to a site called I write like.  What this site does (or at least claims to do) is analyse your writing according to word choice and overall writing style.

I ran a few of my pieces through it and got some very interesting results, from Anne Rice and Margaret Mitchell, to Lewis Carrol and JRR Tolkien (and that in pieces that don’t closely resemble anything they’ve written, that I know of, in terms of content – in fact, I haven’t even read anything by either Rice or Mitchell).  One of my pieces are even in the style of Dan Brown (but seeing as literary types don’t like him very much we’ll not say that too loudly).

The first chapter of my novel is apparently in the style of Arthur Conan Doyle (not complaining) and my two short stories about Elephant and Perry the field mouse are in the style of Rudyard Kipling (but that could also just be because of all the animals).

I’m of course taking this with a pinch of salt, and just because one writes like Tolkien (that is, in the same style), it does not naturally mean that one’s writing is as good as his.  Still,  I’ve bookmarked the site – it’s one hell of an ego boost to be told your work is in the style of one of your favourite authors.

On the other hand, I’m very self-critical (I blame my piano teacher), and another conclusion I’m drawing from this exercise is that I have not yet developed my own consistent style.  And style, along with voice (I’ve been told), is ultimately what makes one writer unique from the next.  I guess I still have some way to go as a writer, but that’s true of any new endeavour we attempt.

In the meantime, here’s one more author I write like.  I got this one on the second chapter of my novel and am singling her out as, not only was she a great author, but we also share a birthday.

Ladies and gentlemen:

I write like
Agatha Christie

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

Random Stuff

You know those days where you have nothing to write, but you really, really feel like writing something?  Yeah, here’s the result.

It’s getting colder over here.  I hate it.  I’ve never been fond of winter, but I suppose it’s necessary – can’t really have spring without it.  Thing is, where I live winter is just cold.  There’s no pretty snow or anything, just constant, freezing cold.  It’s also very dry.  Think dusty fields, hard grass, runaway fires, bare trees…I know Roy Campbell got a kick out of that, but I prefer summer with it’s thunderstorms, green trees and picnics in the sun.  On the other hand, now I have an excuse to whip up a batch of soup.  Mmmmmmmm.

I’ve started on the third chapter of my novel.  I’m seriously lacking in the discipline-department when it comes to writing.  At this rate I don’t know when I’ll be finished.  Any suggestions?

Wifey and I are currently on a Doctor Who marathon.  Just finished watching Blink, probably the scariest Doctor Who episode there is (at least in the post-2005 series – haven’t seen any of the old ones yet).  Very apprehensive about this weekend’s season finale.  The Doctor’s Name.  Oh, the possibilities.

If you haven’t heard yet, the Pianoguys have released a new video, this time a cover of Home by Philip Philips.  It’s terrific.  I especially like the cows.  Apparently they respond positively to the cello.  Who knew.

And, naturally, my post on spamming of Saturday received a spam comment today.  This one worked, though.  Luckily Akismet did as well.  Speaking of which, if you haven’t voted in the poll on spammers yet, there’s no time like the present. Look.  I even pasted it below so you won’t have to go back to the previous post.

Happy blogging, all.

A day off

I’ve been blogging consistently every day now for an entire week.  I think I’ll take today off as a reward.

(And yes, the several levels of irony have not been lost on me: writing a blog post to say I’m not writing one today; rewarding myself for consistent posting by skipping a day…what can I say?  I do stuff like that.)

I wonder what happens if I post it as an aside…