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"I didn't write this"

Old George Orwell got it backward.

Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake. He's making sure you're always distracted. He's making sure you're fully absorbed.

He's making sure your imagination withers. Until it's as useful as your appendix. He's making sure your attention is always filled.

And this being fed, it's worse than being watched. With the world always filling you, no one has to worry about what's in your mind. With everyone's imagination atrophied, no one will ever be a threat to the world.

There are worse things than finding your wife and child dead.

You can watch the world do it. You can watch your wife get old and bored. You can watch your kids discover everything in the world you've tried to save them from. Drugs, divorce, conformity, disease. All the nice clean books, music, television. Distraction.

These people with a dead child, you want to tell them, go ahead. Blame yourself.

There are worse things you can do to the people you love than kill them. The regular way is to just watch the world do it. Just read the newspaper.

The music and laughter eat away at your thoughts. The noise blots them out. All the sound distracts. Your head aches from the glue.

Anymore, no one's mind is their own. You can't concentrate. You can't think. There's always some noise worming in. Singers shouting. Dead people laughing. Actors crying. All these little doses of emotion.

Someone's always spraying the air with their mood.

Their car stereo, broadcasting their grief or joy or anger all over the neighbourhood.

This isn't anything new.

Experts in ancient Greek culture say that people back then didn't see their thoughts as belonging to them. When ancient Greeks had a thought, it occured to them as a god or goddess giving an order. Apollo was telling them to be brave. Athena was telling them to fall in love.

Now people hear a commercial for sour cream potato chips and rush out to buy, but now they call this free will.

At least the ancient Greeks were being honest.

You tell yourself that noise is what defines silence. Without noise, silence would not be golden. Noise is the exception. Think of deep outer space, the incredible cold and quiet where your wife and kid wait. Silence, not heaven, would be reward enough.

The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.

The shortcut to closing a door is to bury yourself in the details.

This is how we must look to God.

As if everything's just fine.


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I didn't write that, I just edited it a bit. It's from Lullaby, written by Chuck Palahniuk.

I just found that probably the most truthful and honest thing I've ever read in my life.

He's a fantastic author. If you liked that, buy his books.

I've read Choke, and nearly bought Lullaby and Survivor the other week.

But didn't because I had no money.

unknown kernel wrote:
> think there are better ways of smashing society than paying Brad Pitt
> millions to pretend he's a revolutionary.

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And kernel summed up my personal problem with the author. (I cant remember how to spell his surname).
I'm not saying he sucks, I'm saying I don't enjoy reading him but I read Choke and Survivor to give it a chance.

Grix wrote:

>I didn't write this.

That's okay, I didn't read it.

Actually I did.

I would add something relevant, but I'm about to make tea.

I must admit, I haven't really heard much about this guy, but I'll have to have a look at his stuff.

Cheers, you may have introduced me to a great author here, judging by the extract you posted.

Oh, and Invisible Monsters is the best of the lot, IMO. I also read it in one sitting, thinking about it.

Chuck has a new one out?

Damn, didn't know about that. I'll have to pick it up at the weekend.

Yup, there are better ways, but it's a start. :0) And anything that can inspire deserves success.

Survivor is the name of the book.

SHEEPY wrote:
> 2. Also he started 1984 in Hairymyres Hospital... what? I hear you
> say. Well it is the very hospital that I pass everyday on the way to
> school and is about 200 metres from my house which I think rules
> especially after I read all his stuff. They don't even have a thing
> up on a wall, I'm going to make them when I work there in the Summer.
> IF not I'll make one out of a bit of paper.

That is pretty cool. George Orwell is one of my heroes. I was in a bookshop the other day and saw these huge books of everything he'd written - journalism, letters, WWII propaganda, the lot. They were pretty expensive but I might save up and get them.

As for Chuck - I'm on first name terms with anyone whose surname is hard to spell - I really like his book about a man on a plane (can't remember the name) but didn't think much of Invisible Monsters. And I think there are better ways of smashing society than paying Brad Pitt millions to pretend he's a revolutionary.

And really stupid.

In today's society, money is useful, that's all there is to it. Sell your posessions, sure. But don't burn them, you nickweed.

I have no idea what a nickweed is.

But a few people has it as their nicknames.

Mr Snuggly wrote:
After all, if it wasn't released worldwide by a huge Hollywood company (New Line?)

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20th Century Fox I believe. And you're right, the ends justifies the means. Releasing it through a large Hollywood film company meant more people saw it, meaning it would have an effect on more people.

However, I doubt he burnt the profits from it... now THAT would've been anti-capitalism!