GREAT LINES:
We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact.
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Fight Club is at once an analysis of modern consumer culture and support groups. The plot of the movie revolves around the birth of underground boxing as a new support group that is not about people coming to grips with dying from disease, but supports each other in their quest to separate themselves from that culture, find new meaning and purpose, and ultimately, evolve society from the bottom up. The chemistry of Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham-Carter works really well, and watching this movie several times has inspired me to check out the novel from the library!
Check the BPL catalog for this title: Fight Club
OPENING LINE:
The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium.
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Revolutionary Road is the story hidden behind the 1950′s American dream. Frank and April Wheeler struggle with reality which clashes in the face of their imagined-perfect, suburban life. In a way, this story echos what all relationships must go through, and the characters show us how dangerous their (and our own) crises can be. This is good tragedy that gives the reader or viewer a warning about decisions they make about their personal lives and has a great message about American culture in general! The book was adapted into a screenplay by Justin Haythe and the resulting movie was directed by Sam Mendes and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It was thoroughly enjoyable and very faithful to the spirit of the book. Though, the book gives the reader more detail into Frank’s mind and develops the secondary characters more fully. Because of that I found it particularly enjoyable to read the book after watching the movie first.
Check the BPL catalog for this title: Revolutionary Road
GREAT LINE:
“If there is hope… it lies in the proles.”
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This is the story of the life of Winston Smith, a middle class intellectual worker living in Oceania, one of the world’s three superpowers at war. As it turns out, there has always been war everlasting between these superpowers. Winston’s job is to do the work of revising history, as ordered by his superiors in the “Inner Party.” People and events are fabricated and can vanish from history, and even the names of the enemy changes. Discovering the true purpose of everlasting war and manipulation of history leads Winston and the reader to the climax of this gripping and profoundly disturbing touchstone of a novel.
It is very tempting to draw comparisons to the social conditions of the current world. Themes of nationalism, class warfare, ubiquitous surveillance, and an overworked, distracted lower class ring true today. Orwell’s sensational writing is juicy and compelling reading and, like other works of great fiction, contains a seed of truth and a warning for all peoples of civilization.
Check the BPL catalog for this title: 1984
GREAT LINES:
Was this the answer? After all, an illusion, no matter how convincing, remained nothing more than an illusion. At least objectively. But subjectively, – Quite the opposite entirely.
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Philip K. Dick’s collection of short stories muses on alternative realities centered on one bizarre concept each. All of the stories in this collection are a bit of mind-bending fun! The collection’s namesake is first. It takes the idea that a certain kind of person can accurately predict crimes that happen in the future. But what happens when the chief of the department is implicated? The next two stories pretend that technology creates the ability to modify human memories and are about what impact it would have on an individual or a company. They are fun explorations of the concept of memory and impact of our choices on our future, whether we remember them or not. The first, “”We can remember it for you Wholesale”" is the basis for the Arnold Shwarzenegger sci-fi action movie “”Total Recall”". (The story is nothing like the movie, though, so is not spoiled at all by it.) And the last is “Paycheck.” In it, Dick shows how a bag of junk can be more valuable than a pile of money to a man who has lost his memory. I really enjoyed this story because of its message about perspective.
Check the BPL catalog for this title: Minority Report