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The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984, Dorian Lynskey

An authoritative, wide-ranging, and incredibly timely history of 1984--its literary sources, its composition by Orwell, its deep and lasting effect on the Cold War, and its vast influence throughout world culture at every level, from high to pop.

1984 isn't just a novel; it's a key to understanding the modern world. George Orwell's final work is a treasure chest of ideas and memes--Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, 2+2=5--that gain potency with every year.

Ted Chiang’s Exhalation

(NYT selected this as one of top 10 fiction and non-fiction books of 2019)

Axiomatic, Greg Egan

Impossible Things or Fire Watch, Connie Willis

(Apropos of an ongoing discussion elsewhere in the board, a story from the first, “Even the Queen,” has this description from Wikipedia:

“Three generations of women discuss the decision of one of their daughters to join the "Cyclists", a group of traditionalist women who have chosen to menstruate even though scientific breakthroughs (in particular, a substance called "ammenerol") have made this unnecessary. The title refers to the fact that "even the Queen" (of the United Kingdom) menstruated.”

Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
I haven't read the book, but I've read a couple others by the same author. One was The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and the other was 1Q84.I think the genre is described as magical realism. I find it more accessible than Garcia Marquez, but that might just be personal taste. I enjoy the author just for the wonderful storytelling.

Hi all,

Bumping this as the official thread for selecting the book for the first reading discussion. If interested please participate and vote for the book most interesting to you.

Thanks!

Another bump. Currently we have six votes with The Ministry of Truth holding half of those.

I set the poll up so a person can change their vote if wanted. This allows someone who may initially vote for one book that gathers few votes to move their vote to a more popular pick near the end of voting if one of the apparent finalists is more to their liking. It's a form of preference voting to help ensure the final book selected has the greatest number of people interested in reading.

Also keep in mind that a book that doesn't get selected can be nominated next time and become the discussion book in the future. Quite honestly if Marcus had been available to nominate their own recommendations and moderate them I'd have likely picked one of their suggestions.

My experience is that books often get selected later that are 2nd or 3rd place finishers in former months if renominated.

Thank you for bumping up and explaining. This is going to be a fun project!

A good interview with Lynsky on his Orwellian book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3pEJsRK_United Airlines

Philo Sofee wrote: ↑

Sun May 22, 2022 3:13 am

A good interview with Lynsky on his Orwellian book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3pEJsRK_United Airlines

Interesting discussion, thanks for sharing.

I don't want to get ahead of the voting though. Nonfiction books have the advantage of not having many spoilers to protect when scheduling a reading discussion...but if a fiction book were selected it can affect some people's willingness to participate if the discussion doesn't allow for different reading paces. Hopefully the discussion schedule will encourage steady progress while being frequent enough to not drive the eager voracious readers crazy from waiting to discuss what's been read. The challenge of online reading groups...pacing.

One last bump before the poll closes tonight.

Only a few hours to go before the poll closes. The Ministry of Truth has a solid but not insurmountable lead.

Anyone who wishes to participate but wants to borrow a copy from a library should check availability and put in a hold request at your earliest convenience.

Our first book is -

The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984, Dorian Lynskey

An authoritative, wide-ranging, and incredibly timely history of 1984--its literary sources, its composition by Orwell, its deep and lasting effect on the Cold War, and its vast influence throughout world culture at every level, from high to pop.

1984 isn't just a novel; it's a key to understanding the modern world. George Orwell's final work is a treasure chest of ideas and memes--Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink, Newspeak, 2+2=5--that gain potency with every year.

Thanks to everyone who voted! I'm excited to get into the book and start the discussion. I also hope everyone who voted for another selection will participate as well as join in the next selection when we are finished.

If anyone is planning on participating and needs a reasonable amount of time to get a copy feel free to PM me or post it here. I'm happy to set up the schedule to accommodate library loans that are within a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks!