Alas, Mr. Orwell...the telly has destroyed the Aspidistra!
A long time friend and fellow blogger recently offered a post related to the HBO program “Big Love,” about polygamy in Utah. She regularly watches this show, and her conclusions as relative to Utah’s primary religious group were particularly valid, especially since her childhood and background gave her intimate, if disagreeable, experience with said group, the church of Latter Day Saints (LDS to use her abbreviated term which put me in mind of Timothy Leary and the 1960’s experiments with LSD). Personally, I’ve only caught bits and pieces of HBO’s offering while indulging my habit of surfing TV channels when bored and deciding that the entire scenario and premise struck me a drivel and dreck, which ironically, is pretty much the same opinion I have about all formalized religions.
I’m not a television fan, although there are occasional offerings on various stations that surpass the normal garbage which is typical programming. Generally speaking, I think television is intrusive, abusive and damaging to the normal function of the human brain, and I’d rather read a good book. When I’m exhibiting symptoms of insomnia, however, television is a guaranteed sleep inducer, providing a soma holiday from the troublesome and mundane.
During the late 60’s and early 70’s my penchant for reading introduced me to numerous writers that continue to intrigue. For some reason, most of those given to good political satire were British and I delved hungrily through their repertoire, which is possibly the reason I still spell catalog as catalogue and refer to idiots as Epsilons. For those not immediately familiar with that last reference, I’m speaking of Aldous Huxley, the writer of Brave New World.
One cannot refer to this period of British writing without mentioning the name George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, best known for his books, Animal Farm and 1984. Born in India of working class parents, he was one of the more interesting of the British writers because of his liberal, socialist views in his early years, which changed with maturity and experience to strong anti-totalitarian views. One of his earlier works, Down and Out in Paris and London, would be an eye-opener for anyone enamored by eating in ‘high class’ restaurants anywhere on the planet. (Anyone really interested in the reality of what goes on in those particular kitchens should definitely read that book.)
Because of the futuristic works of both these men, I wonder what they would make of our present world, which is not particularly Brave but most certainly artificially divided by geographic classes of the elites (Alphas) and the stupid or downtrodden (Epsilons). Since our reptilian brains seem more likely to make the decisions which rule our existence, one could say we have become far more Animal like, but that does a real disservice to animals. And, as in 1984, Big Brother is certainly watching and listening, our privacy and individual identities lost to governments and large corporations.
Also, the Aspidistra no long flies, either in Britain or anywhere else. One of Orwell’s funniest shorter novels, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, was based on the premise that as long as British housewives keep growing Aspidistra plants on their window sills or atop their TVs, the sun would never truly set on Great Britain, the aspidistra being far more symbolic of the realities of the country than either St. George or the English lion.
Unfortunately for us and for Great Britain, the craze for electronic media and entertainment over substance has undermined more than just the iron-like aspidistra plant. And that reminds me of two of my favorite American science fiction writers. Robert Heinlein wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, which matches what many of us feel like when considering the actions of our present government, and Ray Bradbury, who wrote Fahrenheit 451, which is the temperature at which paper (and the knowledge within books) burns, turning people into the type of zombies who spend their time gazing at the moving pictures on a TV screen.
Alas.
I’m not a television fan, although there are occasional offerings on various stations that surpass the normal garbage which is typical programming. Generally speaking, I think television is intrusive, abusive and damaging to the normal function of the human brain, and I’d rather read a good book. When I’m exhibiting symptoms of insomnia, however, television is a guaranteed sleep inducer, providing a soma holiday from the troublesome and mundane.
During the late 60’s and early 70’s my penchant for reading introduced me to numerous writers that continue to intrigue. For some reason, most of those given to good political satire were British and I delved hungrily through their repertoire, which is possibly the reason I still spell catalog as catalogue and refer to idiots as Epsilons. For those not immediately familiar with that last reference, I’m speaking of Aldous Huxley, the writer of Brave New World.
One cannot refer to this period of British writing without mentioning the name George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, best known for his books, Animal Farm and 1984. Born in India of working class parents, he was one of the more interesting of the British writers because of his liberal, socialist views in his early years, which changed with maturity and experience to strong anti-totalitarian views. One of his earlier works, Down and Out in Paris and London, would be an eye-opener for anyone enamored by eating in ‘high class’ restaurants anywhere on the planet. (Anyone really interested in the reality of what goes on in those particular kitchens should definitely read that book.)
Because of the futuristic works of both these men, I wonder what they would make of our present world, which is not particularly Brave but most certainly artificially divided by geographic classes of the elites (Alphas) and the stupid or downtrodden (Epsilons). Since our reptilian brains seem more likely to make the decisions which rule our existence, one could say we have become far more Animal like, but that does a real disservice to animals. And, as in 1984, Big Brother is certainly watching and listening, our privacy and individual identities lost to governments and large corporations.
Also, the Aspidistra no long flies, either in Britain or anywhere else. One of Orwell’s funniest shorter novels, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, was based on the premise that as long as British housewives keep growing Aspidistra plants on their window sills or atop their TVs, the sun would never truly set on Great Britain, the aspidistra being far more symbolic of the realities of the country than either St. George or the English lion.
Unfortunately for us and for Great Britain, the craze for electronic media and entertainment over substance has undermined more than just the iron-like aspidistra plant. And that reminds me of two of my favorite American science fiction writers. Robert Heinlein wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, which matches what many of us feel like when considering the actions of our present government, and Ray Bradbury, who wrote Fahrenheit 451, which is the temperature at which paper (and the knowledge within books) burns, turning people into the type of zombies who spend their time gazing at the moving pictures on a TV screen.
Alas.
posted by kaz at 11:24 AM
1 Comments:
Stoic - It's been a long while, but I have read 'Homage.' Actually, I think I'll dig it out and re-read it. One of the reasons I like Orwell is that his political maturity/changes are mapped out by his writing...and I suspect one reason people confuse him with Huxley (who was upper class to Orwell's working class) is that though they started from different roots and took different routes, they both arrived at the same place in the end.
Regarding Heinlein's 'Harsh Mistress, I'll have to re-read that too. Of course, in talking revolution betrayed, there is always Frank Herbert's 'Dune' stories.
Margold - the word is Grok. It's a great word and fits today, too! I envy your copy of 'Lazarus Long.' I've always wondered if Tommy Lee Jones (who also writes)was fond of Heinlein...regarding editing his own work, he said you have to be 'able to kill a few puppies.'
Post a Comment
<< Home