Oh it is fantastic. And I've seen the movie. Of course. Doesn't spoil it in the least, except I can see Marlon Robert and Al in their roles. But superb stuff.

Interesting, I found it engrossing. I had a little difficulty trudging through some of the denser sections of 1984 (the orthodoxy/unorthodoxy compare and contrast section that goes on for like fifteen pages was rough).

:) It's always funny when someone makes a remark like that, given my near-poverty lifestyle.

I get my groceries at Aldi, (Wegmans for poor people), live on a diet of PBJ and cereal for every meal, don't own a vehicle or a tv, design and produce most of my wardrobe myself, and my household income rides just above food stamp eligibility.

Still, through frugal lifestyle choices, (such as never having used a credit card in my life - if I don't have the cash, I don't spend it), I've managed to live in a cozy 1920s palace filled with rare treasures and antiques.

I'm a classy bastard.

i relate

Can't spell classist without class(i).

I am totally a classist :) But not of fiscal class, (I detest capitalism in the first place). I suppose I'm a cultural and intellectual classist.

If a person doesn't embrace rationalism, skepticism, and actively support the arts and literature, then I really have little interest in them as a human being.

Total classist.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/...20111008022433

Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

A former roommate of mine gave me this book ages ago but I only just now got around to reading it. It's a pretty interesting take on the tired steampunk setting, and the protagonist, Johannes Cabal is definitely one of the better written tired antiheroes who somehow do good despite their intentions. I was doing a bit a research on the author and he actually was the writer for the early Broken Sword PC adventure games by Revolution Software. If you're looking for a light read with some dark comedy, you can do a lot worse than this.

Odd indeed. I found every word of 1984 spellbinding. BNW left me a little cold and I kind of skipped to the end. The deep science in it was doing my head in. I agree it's a classic, but if I had to choose between them it would be Orwell every time. I wonder what the movie of BNW is like?
Yeah, well, you make comments like "a few multi-hundred-dollar purchases" to a guy who is himming and hawing over whether it's worth paying two dollars for a double album on Megaboon, you only have yourself to blame! :)

BTW I shop in Aldi too, but also in Tesco, just cos it's nearer really. I buy all my reading material through Amazon now for Kindle, so much easier and more immediate.

I read Brave New World in two days this summer. The dystopian world was chilling (in part because it was fairly accurate), but the characters and plot were weak. The symbolism in the final sentence is awesome though.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, on the other hand, is flawless... except for the section Frownland mentioned.

If we're talking about classic dystopian novels, Fahrenheit 451 and A Clockwork Orange are just as good as either one, if not better.

A Clockwork Orange is fantastic but Fahrenheit 451 and Bradbury in general are overrated as all hell.