Tomorrow I am heading out on Vacation for a little over a week.

Surviving the rainy Vancouver winter typically means getting a week or two of sunshine in each year.

I am not a fan of laying on the beach for hours, just soaking up the sun.  But I sure can snorkel and crash waves for hours on end.  Then I like to come back to the shade, put on the sunglass, and get out the Kindle to read a book.  I find that I can go through a couple Kindle books, some audioBooks, podcasts, and movies this way.

One of the books I’ve been meaning to read lately is George Orwell’s 1984.  Like many, I read this back in highschool.  Also like many, you don’t learn all of the lessons in this book as a teenager – though some of the topics do stay with you.

What I remember from back then

I don’t want to do this book disservice by reading a Coles notes or Wikipedia summary of it.  I think that reading it in its entirety and discovering the lessons on my own is the best way to go about it.

But some of the things that I remember are:

• The state is watching you – CSEC (Canadian NSA) anyone?  They’re watching you at home, in public, at work….There’s nowhere to hide.
• Not only must you act in accordance with the governments desires, you must also think and believe what they say.  Independent thinking is a crime.
• You will be brainwashed if you are caught to be an independent thinker.
• The future is bleak if we allow for a totalitarian government.

Have you read it to?

Once I return I will write a review and note the major lessons of the story.  I’m sure there will be many more than what I was able to remember above.

Have you read it too?  Do you have your own set of lessons to share?

Are you interested in reading it?  Here’s the best deal I found: George Orwell’s 1984