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1proximity1
(Has this been discussed yet?)
I was wondering:
how many people have actually _read_ Orwell's 1984 ? There are, of course, nothing short of millions who own this book. It's there on the bookshelf. (Just as it has been for years on mine! But I never actually took it up to read until recently.) But how many of them have read it even once?
At Library Thing alone there are thirty-one thousand one-hundred and seventy-five declared owners of this novel in some form. The title figures as the topic of no fewer than 380 reviews and it's mentioned in some 542 conversations here---at this writing--- and, if I have understood the "popularity" field correctly, Orwell's 1984 ranks tenth in the most-owned---or, rather, catalogued --- titles among the LT membership, preceeded only by J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series books, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit---none of which have ever figured in my library.
My hunch is that many people own this title in part because it's one which they consider that they "ought to own". And, at the same time, I suspect, its scenario is so familiar (whether they've read it or not)
to so many millions that, indeed, many haven't ever bothered to read it.
So, dear readers, my questions: How about you? If you are among the owners (and I'm particularly curious about the U.S. American membership) of this work, have you ever actually read it?
I was wondering:
how many people have actually _read_ Orwell's 1984 ? There are, of course, nothing short of millions who own this book. It's there on the bookshelf. (Just as it has been for years on mine! But I never actually took it up to read until recently.) But how many of them have read it even once?
At Library Thing alone there are thirty-one thousand one-hundred and seventy-five declared owners of this novel in some form. The title figures as the topic of no fewer than 380 reviews and it's mentioned in some 542 conversations here---at this writing--- and, if I have understood the "popularity" field correctly, Orwell's 1984 ranks tenth in the most-owned---or, rather, catalogued --- titles among the LT membership, preceeded only by J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series books, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit---none of which have ever figured in my library.
My hunch is that many people own this title in part because it's one which they consider that they "ought to own". And, at the same time, I suspect, its scenario is so familiar (whether they've read it or not)
to so many millions that, indeed, many haven't ever bothered to read it.
So, dear readers, my questions: How about you? If you are among the owners (and I'm particularly curious about the U.S. American membership) of this work, have you ever actually read it?
2quilted_kat
I read it as a teenager, and then again as an adult for a fresh perspective. But I'm with you: most of the people I try to talk to about it admit to not having actually read the book.
3BethyB
I own it, I've read it more than once, and I've recommended that my daughter read it. It's about time to read it again, I think.
4sqdancer
I own a copy but haven't read it yet (along with several hundred other books in my house).
As an aside, just because someone has catalogued a book doesn't necessarily mean that they own it.
As an aside, just because someone has catalogued a book doesn't necessarily mean that they own it.
5Barry
Don't own it but have read it. It was a set text for O level English literature so I read it in detail and wrote lots of essays about it. I must go out and buy a copy now.
I'm English but I'm just wondering why you are particularly curious about US American membership? Do you consider them more likely to buy books for show? Or is this a reflection on the political nature of his writing?
I'm English but I'm just wondering why you are particularly curious about US American membership? Do you consider them more likely to buy books for show? Or is this a reflection on the political nature of his writing?
6proximity1
---> Msg 4 "I own a copy but haven't read it yet (along with several hundred other books in my house). "
Understood. That was (long) true of myself, too. However, my copy spent some 20+ years on the shelf before I decided--concluding that it was no longer enough to merely be familiar with the gist of it--- to read it through from cover to cover. So, I wonder: have many other titles of yours been as long (or longer) a part of your library without your having read them as is the case for Orwell's 1984?
"As an aside, just because someone has catalogued a book doesn't necessarily mean that they own it."
Also true. However, the tenth most-"popular" title in this site's inventory should reasonably be thought to indicate, whether in absolute numbers or in just some proportional sense, which are the most "owned" titles. In other words, given that not everyone listing the title actually owns it, it's still in the "top ten"---and what ever else that indicates, it indicates a (relatively) high interest in comparison with other titles, doesn't it?
-----------------------
---> Msg 5 by Barry
"I'm English but I'm just wondering why you are particularly curious about US American membership? Do you consider them more likely to buy books for show? Or is this a reflection on the political nature of his writing?"
Not so much for "show" per se, no. I ask more out of an impression or a hunch that there are more (U.S.) American "readers" who'd have this book in their libraries without having read it than British readers--not because they bought the book "for show" but rather, again, out of some sense that they "ought to own it", rather like having a talisman. I don't know how to reckon the way in which the political nature of Orwell's writing would influence in one way or another U.S. "(non)-reader" owners of this work. There could very well be an element of it at work---or, indeed, it could be that it is just this "political nature" of the work which is such a factor in people's regarding the work as one they "ought to own." You see?
Understood. That was (long) true of myself, too. However, my copy spent some 20+ years on the shelf before I decided--concluding that it was no longer enough to merely be familiar with the gist of it--- to read it through from cover to cover. So, I wonder: have many other titles of yours been as long (or longer) a part of your library without your having read them as is the case for Orwell's 1984?
"As an aside, just because someone has catalogued a book doesn't necessarily mean that they own it."
Also true. However, the tenth most-"popular" title in this site's inventory should reasonably be thought to indicate, whether in absolute numbers or in just some proportional sense, which are the most "owned" titles. In other words, given that not everyone listing the title actually owns it, it's still in the "top ten"---and what ever else that indicates, it indicates a (relatively) high interest in comparison with other titles, doesn't it?
-----------------------
---> Msg 5 by Barry
"I'm English but I'm just wondering why you are particularly curious about US American membership? Do you consider them more likely to buy books for show? Or is this a reflection on the political nature of his writing?"
Not so much for "show" per se, no. I ask more out of an impression or a hunch that there are more (U.S.) American "readers" who'd have this book in their libraries without having read it than British readers--not because they bought the book "for show" but rather, again, out of some sense that they "ought to own it", rather like having a talisman. I don't know how to reckon the way in which the political nature of Orwell's writing would influence in one way or another U.S. "(non)-reader" owners of this work. There could very well be an element of it at work---or, indeed, it could be that it is just this "political nature" of the work which is such a factor in people's regarding the work as one they "ought to own." You see?
