Tuckerfan: the “1985” you are talking about was written by György Dalos from Hungary. [http://www.ujjlenyomat.budapest.hu/bio/dalos.html ]
The relevant part:
And yes, it is a pretty bad book (although the author’s reference to Big Brother was most likely a spoof of Breznhev or Andropov or any of the Soviet gerontocrats). I tried to read it once but put it back on the shelf in disgust after a few minutes. Definitely uninspired.
Roadwalker: that must have been some time ago, I guess. 
or will we get a glimpse of life & hope from her?
Guess you’ll have to wait and see, Friar. (my way of saying I don’t have any idea yet 
)
Thus I ask again: why? If you don’t have any ideas for your story, what makes you want to write it in the first place?
Tuckerfan: Thank you for making me aware of Orwell’s Revenge: the 1984 palimpsest. I haven’t finished reading it, but my impression so far is that the author is a bit of a loon. I mean, what’s the point of debunking a novel?
Kola, I don’t have a set idea for the ending. I have a couple ideas, but nothing set in stone.
Koalabear
Thus I ask again: why? If you don’t have any ideas for your story, what makes you want to write it in the first place?
My concern, as I said at the beginning, is more that it’s a creativity-damping (and, I’m beginning to think, lazy) strategy for an author to solicit ideas before writing. I’m discussing it because I can’t resist an interesting literary topic, but ultimately the best advice to clayton_e is to read the source material and get on with it if/when ideas spring to mind.
Sure go ahead, I don’t know what help I’ll be, but have some specific questions.
I was reading over this, and seeing as how i have studied the book a little, i can give you some helpful insight perhaps. I doubt Julia was necessarily afraid of an object or a living thing as much as separation from Winston.
Now i have another view on this spurred by the responses of others. What if Julia had played Winston for the fool? I mean, if she’s sexed many party members before her, what’s to say that she hasn’t sent them to their room 101’s?
Could it have been maybe that she was just another really good liar? Who knows. Personally, i’d like to go on the side that she had been just carefree about the system and wanted to get caught. Given that, i think she would be one of the ones forced to continue her life and to see her loves get sent to their 101’s, all because she fears nothing and believes nothing the party says.
Just some of my thoughts on it… And if you like the ideas anyone presents, i would hope you credit them to those ideas somewhere in the book, like in the acknowledgements. Ah well…see you around the boards. And I want a copy of this too when it is done…
Clayton, bear in mind that 1984 is not simply a futuristic novel about a dictatorship - in fact, that isn’t even what it’s MAINLY about.
1984, more than anything else, is about LANGUAGE, language and how it can be used to suppress thought. “Oceania” is merely the mashed potatoes for the real gravy, which is Orwell’s dissertation on the effects of political language. If you’re going to write the same story from another perspective, you are going to have to say something about Orwell’s theme of political language, or else it’s gonna be like “1985.”
It’s funny, but you seem more certain than Clayton_E that he’d try to publish it, thus have to worry about poor comparisions from critics. It seems to me that he realizes that this sort of work (which would basically be a novel length fan fiction) doesn’t have much of a chance of being published. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth writing, though, as many novel-length fics are very compelling and worth reading even though the writer isn’t doing it for profit.
I realized there was some basing them on Stalin & Trotsky- what I meant was, that in the fictional world of “1984”, I always thought there were real people in the Revolutionary leadership who were the bases of BB & EG. That the “real” BB was probably dead & just used by the Inner Party as its figurehead & that the “real” EG was either an Inner Party leader or maybe just an actor who did the tapes for the TwoMinute Hate.
Orwell fan fiction: what an interesting concept. I don’t read the genre but I’ve seen examples from time to time, usually romantic or erotic in nature, and almost by definition involving beloved characters from television science fiction series (The Data Sutra: Multiple Techniques for a Broad Variety of Pleasuring, et al). Inasmuch as there was absolutely nothing warm or cozy about 1984, it strikes me as odd that people would even have those kinds of fantasies about its characters let alone yearn to give such fantasies a voice. Different strokes, I guess. But it’s inconceivable to me that someone would just wake up one morning and boldly announce he’s going to rewrite possibly the finest book in the history of English literature, yet not know why the story should be told from the perspective of another character. It smells like a troll to me.
Oh, yes. You’re the guy who thinks the entire novel was a set-up for the brief essay about Newspeak in the back of the book. Sheer fluff written to make it read more like a novel than a pamphlet. yawn.
While a lot of it is based on sci-fi shows, tv shows of all genre, movies, books, and even games attract FF writers. http://www.fanfiction.net/
Ruralrage, I do like some of your ideas, I’ll see how they fit with how it evolves.
Of course, I would never think of not giving credit where it is due.
Rickjay, Yes, I have thought about this.By having Julia work in the novel making section as well as her volunteer work (I have her handing out pamphlets of propaganda), I think I’ll be able to explore the language issue from another angle. I won’t ignore that, as it is a HUGE part of 1984.
And thanks for explaining that, Elfkin. You’re right, I don’t care if it is published or not. I’m writing it just because I want to. And if a few people that I know here would like to read it as well, I do hope they get entertainment out of it. I have no plans of ever getting it published.
I assure you I am not going to mutilate (I doubt there’s a better word for it) these characters. I will do my best to represent them in a way that honestly reflects the way Orwell wrote them.
And I have stated that:
[quote]
a key reason I decided to write this [is that] They both have the same goal (freedom from the state) but each has their own way of thinking about it.
[quote]
That is rough, I do realize, but let me expand upon it. Her character is well described, well enough where I feel that I can picture how she would react mentally to the situations presented by Orwell in 1984. I want to show how I think she would react.
Also I want to talk about the things Winston was not privy to, the real way other departments of his building worked (such as Julia’s area), the many things that Julia did against the state before she met Winston and the small little things she does day to day to match in. THAT is why I want to write this.
And to those who are interested, below is the link to a ROUGH excerpt of some of my notes: I hope you enjoy it.
(Do not click on it if you don’t want to read it. Please put any quotes from the in spoilers tags if you wish to refer to any part of it.)
The link you provided didn’t work for me, clayton_e, but I did take the opportunity to visit your web page where I read your essay Communism vs. Democracy. I didn’t bother to read Anti-Capitalist Text, but I think I understand where you’re coming from now.
You’re a youngish guy, right? Early 20s? Kinda bummed that Communism self-destructed before you had the chance to enjoy any of it?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you think 1984 should be rewritten to soften its attack on collectivism a bit, maybe show people the softer side of revolution, privation, purges, police espionage, torture and obedience to a semi-divine figurehead?
KoalaBear
of revolution, privation, purges, police espionage, torture and obedience to a semi-divine figurehead
With 1984, I’ve never seen it as especially important that the IngSoc regime was nominally socialist, in that these are par for the course for right-wing totalitarian regimes too.
I apologize for the broken link, I’ll work on getting that up.
Ok, I’ll just type the excerpt here after a bunch of lines due to my problems with large php highlighting (So don’t scroll down if ya don’t wanna read it). The first paragraph is parodied of the first of 1984, I thought it would be an interesting touch, it was done intentionally.
And please try to be constructive, I don’t mind criticism, but I do like criticism that makes the piece change for the better.
Here is the ROUGH first page or so from part of my notes:
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Julia Truff, her left hand in a worn out glove to help her escape the vile wind, stood on a corner handing out pamphlets to passing men in blue uniforms. When one hand became numb, she switched the glove , all the time passing out the booklets without skipping a beat. None of the passers by would ever think of not accepting one from her outstreached hand.
The grey afternoon seemed to reflect in the eyes of the men who passed, but each enthusiastically said, "Thank you, Comrade!" as they recieved a a pamphlet. On each cover was written in large bold print, "**IN PREPERATION oF HATE WEEK**." Below the title was a drawing of a man's face, the corners of his mouth hidden by a dark mustache. His sharp cheekbones gave way to a seemingly chisled nose which led to tightly drawn lips. His eyebrows were slightly raised and the small lines in his forhead made him look as if his concentration was precise and focused. The man's eyes seemed almost intimidating but at the same time comforting, if the paradox of those impressions could exist.
Almost all the men in blue uniforms immedietly opened to the first page and began reading intently as they hurried on their way. Most were going either to or from a gigantic building about a kilometer away. Its massive concrete façade bore in ten meter high letters the inscription of the three slogans of the state:
**WAR IS PEACE**
**FREEDOM IS SLAVERY**
**IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH**
The tiny blue ants scurried in and out of the building at all hours of the day. The corridor on which Julia stood was a main line between the concrete monster and an outlet for the tubes a couple of blocks away.
Being Wednesday, Julia had already finished her state work for the day. In theevening she would be giving her time to the Junior Anti-Sex League, putting up posters around the quarter in which she lived. Her present task was voluntary as well, but if she did not donate her time ther was little doubt that the Thought Police would keep an eye on her.Oh, and Koalabear, I do apologize, I have not updated my website in quite some time. That quote of mine was written about a year ago. I have changed many of my views on politics and now focus mainly on propaganda techniques used by both sides of the Cold War. My belief that Communism was “better” has been revoked, I only study the theories behind each and try to keep neutral on the overall best idea. I do rather enjoy pointing out propaganda ideas used by both sides. That quote of mine could be rewritten to state the ideas of Communists thinking all of us fall into a specific and untrue steriotype.