The Bowie Book Club discussion

So, now that you have read (or reread), let’s discuss the impact of Orwell’s work on Bowie’s trajectory…

Hi, everyone!

My co-worker in our blog post this gemm. I hope u juys like it!

Enjoy it

http://flashpeople.blogspot.com.br/20...

Kind regards,

Joey

Joéverson wrote: "Hi, everyone!

My co-worker in our blog post this gemm. I hope u juys like it!

Enjoy it

http://flashpeople.blogspot.com.br/20..."

Very cool, Joey...

I think that censoring was as significant to Bowie as to Orwell, and both were making comment on the fact of limiting free speech as part of creative interpretation and creation can be carried too far.

Erma wrote: "I think that censoring was as significant to Bowie as to Orwell, and both were making comment on the fact of limiting free speech as part of creative interpretation and creation can be carried too ..."

What an interesting perspective, Erma. To be quite honest, the matter of censorship was something that I hadn't thought about because Bowie was so groundbreaking that I always felt that he didn't care about these things. But taking into consideration the correlation you made with 1984 and Bowie, I am starting to see Orwell and David from different perspectives. They were two great artists that questioned the problem of censoring, each one using the tools they had available and that they knew how to use better.

I also think the timing Bowie had to release Diamond Dogs says a lot to the battle he was ready to fight in the name of artistic (and personal) freedom.

Interesting, I had never thought of David Bowie having to deal with censorship. Orwell, being a journalist, had certainly to face some censorship issues.
Freedom of speech is a major issue here in Europe, certainly ever more since the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Bowie not only dealt with censorship, but spoke out about it...

More recent cases involve MTV refusing to air videos from many black artists in the infancy of the network. In 1983, during a live interview, David Bowie suddenly asked, “Why are there practically no black artists on the network?”
(http://www.lehigh.edu/~infirst/musicc...)

And even encountered censorship from his record company...
(#2 - https://censorshipinamerica.wordpress...)

And YouTube...
(http://wxrt.cbslocal.com/2013/05/17/d...)

And finally, I found this article very informing...
(http://now.howstuffworks.com/2016/01/...)

Some I knew, and some were only slightly surprising.

Erma, thank you so much for the amazing references you gathered. Some facts you shared had completely gone blank on me... I had completely forgotten that the cover of Diamond Dogs, for example, was censored.

And how "full circle" it is the fact that Bowie could not turn 1984 into a musical because the family did not allow, and many decades later Bowie did the same with his musical catalogue?

We haven't even started talking about the book in details, and I am already so inspired by all of you :)

In terms of the book's influence on Bowie, the thing that struck me the most -- beyond the obvious thematic influences on Diamond Dogs -- was Winston and Julia's relationship, specifically how their love was a political act against the repression of the state and the oppressive alienation of their daily lives. I believe this is actually a primary theme that runs throughout all of Bowie's work -- the striving for authentic connection, intimacy, and love in spite of the alienation and disconnection fostered by modern society (regardless of political system).

The key quote (for me) is at the end of Book 2, Chapter 7, where Winston says to Julia: "They can't get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them." The notion of lovers beating "them" through the defiance of their love... hmm, that rings a bell! http://bit.ly/1cj70xR

Sara wrote: "The key quote (for me) is at the end of Book 2, Chapter 7, where Winston says to Julia: "They can't get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them." The notion of lovers beating "them" through the defiance of their love... hmm, that rings a bell! http://bit.ly/1cj70xR "

Sara, you just brought me to tears...