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This is a personal project by @dellsystem. I built this to help me retain information from the books I'm reading.

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95

Killing Time

on George Orwell's 1984

2
terms
1
notes

this was a pretty good one. apparently the title "1984" was chosen because, a few months before publication, it was 1948, and Orwell decided to reverse the last two digits. the original title was The Last Man in Europe, and acc to Steiner that would have been a more apt title, to characterise the book's message of resistance to totalitarianism in all forms (both the Soviet Union's Stalinism and the United States' technocracy/mass-media hypnosis). the book was also inspired by the Russian novel We by Y. I. Zamyatin, whose author had been incarcerated by the Soviet regime.

Steiner, G. (2009). Killing Time. In Steiner, G. At the New Yorker. New Directions, pp. 95-116

(verb) to discuss from a legal standpoint; argue / (verb) to bring up for discussion; broach / (verb) debate

95

Both possible titles are mooted in a letter

—p.95 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 6 months ago

Both possible titles are mooted in a letter

—p.95 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 6 months ago
104

[...] Its implicit picture of the globe as irremediably divided between American capitalism and Soviet Marxism is an oversimplification. There is, according to Orwell, a third way--that of "democratic Socialism." And it is the historical duty of Europe, after two homicidal and, basically, internal wars, to show that "democratic Socialism" can be made to work. A "Socialist United States of Europe" may be very difficult to bring about, argues Orwell, but it certainly not inconceivable. It may, in fact, hold the fragile, elusive key to human survival. [...]

Essay on George Orwell

—p.104 by George Steiner 7 years, 6 months ago

[...] Its implicit picture of the globe as irremediably divided between American capitalism and Soviet Marxism is an oversimplification. There is, according to Orwell, a third way--that of "democratic Socialism." And it is the historical duty of Europe, after two homicidal and, basically, internal wars, to show that "democratic Socialism" can be made to work. A "Socialist United States of Europe" may be very difficult to bring about, argues Orwell, but it certainly not inconceivable. It may, in fact, hold the fragile, elusive key to human survival. [...]

Essay on George Orwell

—p.104 by George Steiner 7 years, 6 months ago

disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way

112

One can read about it in those louche tomes

—p.112 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 6 months ago

One can read about it in those louche tomes

—p.112 by George Steiner
notable
7 years, 6 months ago