I first read "1984" in around 1966, when I was in the 8th grade, and it has stuck with me ever since. No other novel has added as many basic linguistic and political ideas to the language as this novel--by yet another member of the Eric Conspiracy Secret Laboratories!
Big Brother, Thought Police, thoughtcrime, doublespeak, doublethink, Big Brother is Watching You!, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, sexcrime, unperson, and probably several other terms I've left out. All are part of our language.
Too bad people on both the left and the right are missing the lesson.
Any Cypherpunk who hasn't read this novel should run out tonight to the All-Nite Barnes and Borders Megastore and buy a copy.
And while you're at it, you might want to take a look at Orwell's classic essay, "Politics and the English Language." -- Mark Chen chen@intuit.com 415/329-6913 finger for PGP public key D4 99 54 2A 98 B1 48 0C CF 95 A5 B0 6E E0 1E 1D