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My parents say that I was an avid reader, always engrossed in books, with a long attention span. Then, technology and computers and ipads and phones came along and ruined everything. But I don't think that's quite the case. When I consume any media, one of three things happens:
1. I make myself focus just long enough to finish going through the material then forget about it.
2. I space out without finishing, and toss it aside, looking for other things to fill the time.
3. I become obsessed, looking for anything with a connection to the piece of media and sometimes rereading/rewatching it over and over.
This was the case with the books I'd read - some made my eyes gloss over, others ensnared me for weeks on end, and I'd be unable to look at anything but them for a while. When I discovered technology - movies, video games, Youtube, etc - I had the same three reactions to those. Because I had more options, I would read less often. However I don't think that technology has made me hate reading. Fundamentally, my identity as a reader has not changed much. If I see something interesting, whether it be a book, a movie, or a game, I will want to experience it.

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What I found rather disturbing about this book was the way truth could bend to the will of the Party. The feeling that reality might not be real and could be rewritten by other people felt familiar to me, which made me both desensitized to the book and filled with dread.

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This book served as an inspiration for Orwell's 1984, though I have heard that it takes a more "utopian" approach to the dystopian genre. I wonder if I'll identify with this book even more than 1984.

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After this "classic dystopian novel" binge, I'll turn my attention to a book series that was recommended to me. I'm always interested in fantasies, especially ones with unique settings.

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9/18/20
40 minutes
Pages 1-73
"Pilkington, at Mombasa, had produced individuals who
were sexually mature at four and full-grown at six and a half.
A scientific triumph. But socially useless. Six-year-old men
and women were too stupid to do even Epsilon work. And
the process was an all-or-nothing one; either you failed to
modify at all, or else you modified the whole way" (15).
In this world, basic human values are shunted in favor of large entities such as the World State and its caste system. Humans are lab-grown and treated as machines, with competition merely feeding the egos of the ones at the top as they meet quotas. I can't help but see a connection with companies willing to lay off and underpay their employees in order to award themselves bonuses and show off the "growth" of the company.

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9/25/20
30 minutes
Pages 74-132
"There’s so much one doesn’t know; it wasn’t my business to know. I mean, when a child asks you how a helicopter works or who made the world–well, what are you to answer if  you’re a Beta and have always worked in the Fertilizing Room? What are you to answer?” (131-132).
Outside of the "civilized" World State, which has eradicated 'unnecessary' pain, as well as truth, love, and individuality, there are Savage Reservations, where people are born naturally, catch diseases, mend their clothes, and experience a full range of emotions. It seems to be an analogue to how European colonists thought of the natives, and anyone who wasn't part of their culture.

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10/2/20
30 minutes
Pages 133-188
“'The Savage,'” wrote Bernard, 'refuses to take soma, and seems much distressed because of the woman Linda, his m–– –, remains permanently on holiday. It is worthy of note that, in spite of his m–––’s senility and the extreme repulsiveness of her appearance, the Savage frequently goes to see her and appears to be much attached to her–an interesting example of the way in which early conditioning can be made to modify and even run counter to natural impulses (in this case, the impulse to recoil from an unpleasant object).'”
John the Savage, born to parents and raised outside of "civilized" society, is treated as a circus attraction and a scientific lab rat. It is somewhat ironic that the man who is more "human" by our definition - who experiences emotions naturally and reads Shakespeare and knows both pain and joy - is the circus animal for people who are bred for work and given drugs to dull their senses. If everyone but you is insane, perhaps you are the mad one.

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10/10/20
30 minutes