1984

December 31, 2005

Author: George Orwell

Year Published: 1949

Pages: 314

From the Library of: BYU

Dates Read: 12/24-12/31/05

Description: A world where everyone and everything is controlled by the government. Anti-communist novel. The first two parts were about Winston thinking the party was bad then finding other people who agree with him and acting against the party. The last part was while Winston was being tortured.

What I thought: The first two parts had some creative ideas, but it didn’t get amazing until the third part. It was a philosophical discussion on solipsism and how the mind works and doesn’t work and what it can and cannot do. It proposes you can be forced to do anything with the correct motivation. It really is a classic.


Ella Minnow Pea

December 30, 2005

Author: Mark Dunn

Year Published: 2001

Pages: 207

From the Library of: My Grandma

Date Read: 12/29/05

Description: A novel in letters: they slowly remove letters from the alphabet.

What I thought: I did not like it at all. My aunt thought it was hilarious. I thought it was stupid. It was an interesting concept and towards the end when they could only use a couple of letters from the alphabet it was somewhat interesting, but in general I thought Dunn’s writing style was ridiculous.


The Majesty of Calmness

December 21, 2005

Author: William George Jordan

Year Published: 1898

Pages: 54

From the library of: My Grandma (it was given to her father by her mother for Christmas, 1920)

Dates Read: 12/19-12/21/05

Description: A guide to being calm, not hurrying, the power of personal influence, the dignity of self-reliance, failure as success, doing our best at all times, and the royal road to happiness.

My thoughts: A bright little book, definitely worth the hour if you can get your hands on a copy of it.


Slaughterhouse-Five

December 20, 2005

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Publication Date: 1969

Pages: 224

Where I got it: BYU Library

When I read it: 12/15-12/19/05

What it is: World War II novel about insane survivors of the Dresden bombing

What I thought: It was a very good novel with great insight into the mind of EPW survivors. It reenforced in my mind how stupid war is.