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Post by Dominique on May 3, 2008 20:32:37 GMT -5
Schedule: May 12: start discussion on Part One chapter I to V May 19: start discussion on Part One chapter VI to Part Two IV June 2: start discussion on Part Two chapter V to the end of Part Two June 9: start discussion on Part Three chapter I to chapter V June 16: start discussion on Part Three chapter VI to the end of the novel.
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Post by Dominique on May 5, 2008 6:12:40 GMT -5
Should I divide this into just the three parts of the book (which are roughly 100 pages each) or should I do smaller sections?
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Isa
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Post by Isa on May 5, 2008 7:50:57 GMT -5
Since we're doing Mansfield Park at the same time, would it be easier to have smaller sections? (Or would that make it more confusing?!)
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Post by Dominique on May 5, 2008 7:58:22 GMT -5
Yeah I think smaller sections will probably be better, also since I divided Mansfield into only four parts as well.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on May 5, 2008 8:31:50 GMT -5
I think smaller sections would be better as well
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Post by Lucky on May 5, 2008 9:16:03 GMT -5
Yes I agree with smaller sections as well. It'll be better a lot because a lot of us are reading Mansfield Park at the same time.
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Post by Dominique on May 6, 2008 4:54:23 GMT -5
Ok guys I've modified the first post to put a schedule in. Feel free to make any suggestions/objections or let me know if your edition is split up differently. I'm going off my Penguin Modern Classics edition (which I can't look at without getting angry because my friend borrowed it brand new, stained the cover, dog eared all the pages and made it all tatty! I think I've mentioned it more than once but it really irritates me!).
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Isa
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Post by Isa on May 6, 2008 7:31:51 GMT -5
Ugh, I feel for you my friend, it's happened to me once before and I've sworn never again to let anyone read a brand new book of mine!
But the schedule sounds great, Dom!
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Post by Carma on May 6, 2008 9:57:29 GMT -5
I guess it sounds good :0 I don't have the book by hand now.. so I can't check, but I'm sure it works.. and I never borrow books to anyone, because I like my books to look clean and new.. haha
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Post by Pilleriin on May 6, 2008 11:51:28 GMT -5
The schedule seems really good for me and I have the same parts.
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Lu
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Post by Lu on May 7, 2008 4:30:10 GMT -5
The schedule sounds good to me
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anne
First poem written for Mother’s Day
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Post by anne on May 8, 2008 7:23:18 GMT -5
I have to read a book for school too, but I also think it is quite fine
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bookworm
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"Everything you can imagine is real" - Pablo Picasso
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Post by bookworm on May 8, 2008 8:09:08 GMT -5
I'm ok with the schedule too, even though I don't know how much I will be able to participate...
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Post by Dominique on May 12, 2008 5:56:37 GMT -5
Ok well it's May 12th here so I will start off I haven't quite finished rereading the section but I thought it was really interesting how in Chapter one Winston had repressed his own thoughts and opinions and been denied self expression for so long that he had so much difficulty at first knowing what to write about in his diary. It was like he didn't know what to write or what to express but just felt that he HAD TO. I think that says a lot about the human condition and our need to express ourselves and have freedom of thought. I guess it also shows the kinds of techniques the totalitarian Party use to preserve their power: intimidation and psychological manipulation. I also thought it was interesting that the ministry looking after law and order, the one everyone fears was called The Ministry of Love. What struck me, as I remember it also doing the first time I read the book, is the very simplistic writing Orwell uses. It's very basic. My introduction says this is part of the for the book's popularity at the time and then continuing on to today: it's so accessible because it's written so simply. When I first read the novel I found this simplicity a little irritating at times. But I guess it's really more of a novel about ideas than technical writing and its ideas are so strong that this one sidedness doesn't let it down. What do you guys think? It's also very interesting how the children are so feared: I guess because they're so young they are easily indoctrinated with the Party's policies and are therefore at times the most fundamental followers? It's also a bit like what I read about Nazi Germany in The Book Thief (I think) about children being encouraged in school to dob family members, neighbours etc in for things against their policies? Maybe this part of history is where Orwell drew from?
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anne
First poem written for Mother’s Day
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Post by anne on May 12, 2008 12:55:39 GMT -5
It's also a bit like what I read about Nazi Germany in The Book Thief (I think) about children being encouraged in school to dob family members, neighbours etc in for things against their policies? Maybe this part of history is where Orwell drew from? Yes, to be honest the whole system reminded me of it, too. Parsons reminded me a bit of Robert Billings in The Wave by Morton Rhue. I always had the picture of the actor who played him in the German movie in my head when I read the name Parsons..... The "Screen System" reminded my a lot of the Panopticon... It's a kind of prison created by Jeremy Bentham (Utilitarism). I don't know, maybe Orwell knew this concept?
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