[107941] in Cypherpunks
Re: _1984_ vs _This_Perfect_Day_
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Trei, Peter)
Fri Jan 29 10:57:02 1999
From: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei@securitydynamics.com>
To: "'Jean-Francois Avon'" <jf_avon@citenet.net>
Cc: "'cypherpunks@toad.com'" <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 10:39:59 -0500
Reply-To: "Trei, Peter" <ptrei@securitydynamics.com>
J-F wrote:
>It's been a long time I wanted to write a comparative commentary about the
>differences between George Orwell's _1984_ and Ira Levin's
_This_Perfect_Day_.
>I've read the french version of Levin's book in 1978 and Orwell's book in
>1980. Although my readings are not that recent, theses books leave a very
>deep impression on you... Levin's one probably doesn't have the litterary
>quality as Orwell's has, but it's message is probably of more importance.
If you want to make your comparison more complete, there are two more
books you should read: Ayn Rand's "Anthem" (1945), and Yevgeny Zamyatin's
"We" (1921). Both are still in print (at least in English)
Also, Huxley's "Brave New World." (1946).
The curious thing is that Rand and Orwell (1949) are both clearly ripping
off
Zamayatin for their basic plot (Huxley also seems influenced).
"We" seems to be a now-forgotten book, which was very influential in
it's time. I don't know how popular Rand is in France, but she continues
to be a huge influence on the world-view of many Americans.
Peter Trei
