“1984” – George Orwell – este o carte destul de celebra care are si doua ecranizari pe care vi le recomand cu drag dupa citirea cartii. Este despre un viitor indepartat pentru autor, dar un trecut destul de similar pentru noi. Si imi amintesc din ecranizarea BBC scena cu lama de ras ruginita si imi dau seama ca in 1984, in perioada comunista, parintii nostri nu aveau parte de luxul obiectelor de unica folosinta pe care le avem noi acum. Erau aparate de ras cu lame de schimbat. Dar lama era refolosita pana cand nu mai simteai ca esti proaspat ras. Va imaginati asta in contextul actual? Ei bine de cand cu statul acasa si limitarea resurselor, aceasta perspectiva a refolosirii unor obiecte de unica folosinta este foarte posibila. Si din ecranizarea lui Terry Gilliam “Brasil” imi amintesc situatia cu tevile si legile stricte. Va dati seama ca in zilele noastre ai nevoie de persoane specializate care sa faca multe din lucrurile pe care pe vremuri le reparau parintii sau bunicii nostri? Si da, avem televizoare si tevi peste tot in casa. Lumi destul de asemanatoare, cea fictiva si realitatea.

Nu am citit, dar as vrea sa citesc “Povestea slujitoarei”. Am aflat de roman dupa aparitia serialului si o prietena a ras de mine ca ea o citise de mult. Acum este momentul sa fac asta. Si m-a convins serialul dupa ce am vazut un episod in care o persoana isi aminteste cum masurile autoritare au fost impuse treptat pana cand societatea a ajuns ce era acum. De fapt s-a inventat pericolul iminent si cetateanul a imbratisat masurile dure pana cand libertatile lui dispareau. Intrebarea la care nu am gasit raspuns caci si serialul a fost greu de digerat: oare undeva in lumea aceea mai exista libertate?

Read All You Can

Reading is an annoying habit when you have no time for it and you can’t take time to transport yourself into the world of the book. But during these days I believe it is time to stop a little and start reading. I have a long list of unread books on my Goodreads list. I wish somehow to have made this when my son was newly born and he was sleeping a lot. Now he has a lot of personality and I am trying to sort out my time spent at home for him and for me.

So here are a few books I recommend during these strange times. “Brand New World” by Aldous Huxley tells the story of a distopic world pretty close to the one we are living today except the visible totalitarian authority. In this “brand new world” people were created in tubes. Sex would only take place after consuming this SOMA substance. Strangely similar to our today’s world, wouldn’t you say? Without realising this society has started losing its personal time for the professional use and the planet has extra stocks of everything. So what is it that we are actually chasing to accomplish?

Next one on my list is “The Absolute at Large” by Karel Capek. He is a Czech author who imagines a world in which a machinary is making cheap energy by dividing matter. I haven’t found this book yet into a movie, but it impressed me as being a metaphor for the society which suddenly discovers industry and the work of the man is eased, actually the man himself is freed from work. Probably I am the only one thinking of the novel in the historical context, but it helps me to better understand the “madness” of the writer.

“1984” by George Orwell is a pretty famous book which has also two movies made after which I kindly recommend after reading the book. It is about a far away future from the author, but for us it’s a past not so far away. And I remember from the BBC version the scene with the rusty razor blade and I realize in 1984, during communist times, our parents didn’t have the luxury of single use objects we have so commonly these days. There were shaving blades with replaceable blades. But the blade would be reused until it didn’t feel like a fresh cut. Can you imagine this nowadays? Well, since staying home and limitation of the resources, this perspective of reusing certain single use objects becomes possible once again. And from Terry Gilliam’s “Brasil” I remember the pipe situation and laws in action. Do you realize these days we need a specialized person for a lot of the household repairs our parents or grandparents used to do? And yes, we have tvs and pipes all over the house. Pretty similar worlds, fiction and reality.

Last on my list, which I haven’t read, but would love to read is “Handmaiden’s Tale”. I found out about the novel after watching the first part of the HBO series and a friend of mine also laughed at me as she read it a long time ago. It’s a good time to do so. And the tv series convinced me to do something about it after watching an episode where a character was remembering how the authoritarian measures were taken step by step until the society has reached to the final distopy. Actually a danger was invented and the citizens embraced the hard measures until its own liberty disappeared. The question I haven’t found answer to as the series is also heavy to digest: is there any place left in that world where there is freedom?

So all these books are mentioned here as I really wish to understand the potential of the current measures in the context of the distopic societies mentioned from these novels. I am a mother and I cannot stop thinking that I wish my son lived in a free world, and now I have to explain to him that his spoilt attitude needs to change and he needs to learn to use the handy resources. It is extremely frustrating to explain these days to any kid. And as a mother who waited clear and mature times to have a child it’s quite a shock what is happening these days.

And I cannot but remember that explanation: … they took the measures with our approval. That is the most dangerous thing that can happen after this pandemic. My parents were born and raised during communist times and they noticed very well the changes after the totalitarian system towards the democracy. Do you realize how much our kids will feel these restraints? Pandemics or not, we must seriously think what we tell them about these liberty constraints and the time they are wasting nowadays staying in.