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Daniel Laskowski
https://www.goodreads.com/daniellaskowski
reasons are human inventions. I mean, reasons as opposed to explanations. You can invent a reason that will satisfy you, but you should be aware that it’s an invention.”
“Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means...”
― The Name of the Rose
― The Name of the Rose
“A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves.”
― Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
― Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
“Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Civilization, man feels once more happy.”
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“In his book The Captive Mind, written in 1951-2 and published in the West in 1953, the Polish poet and essayist Czeslaw Milosz paid Orwell one of the greatest compliments that one writer has ever bestowed upon another. Milosz had seen the Stalinisation of Eastern Europe from the inside, as a cultural official. He wrote, of his fellow-sufferers:
Only one or two years after Orwell’s death, in other words, his book about a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party was itself a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party.”
―
A few have become acquainted with Orwell’s 1984; because it is both difficult to obtain and dangerous to possess, it is known only to certain members of the Inner Party. Orwell fascinates them through his insight into details they know well, and through his use of Swiftian satire. Such a form of writing is forbidden by the New Faith because allegory, by nature manifold in meaning, would trespass beyond the prescriptions of socialist realism and the demands of the censor. Even those who know Orwell only by hearsay are amazed that a writer who never lived in Russia should have so keen a perception into its life.
Only one or two years after Orwell’s death, in other words, his book about a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party was itself a secret book circulated only within the Inner Party.”
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“All my moral and intellectual being is penetrated by an invincible conviction that whatever falls under the dominion of our senses must be in nature and, however exceptional, cannot differ in its essence from all the other effects of the visible and tangible world of which we are a self-conscious part. The world of the living contains enough marvels and mysteries as it is—marvels and mysteries acting upon our emotions and intelligence in ways so inexplicable that it would almost justify the conception of life as an enchanted state. No, I am too firm in my consciousness of the marvelous to be ever fascinated by the mere supernatural which (take it any way you like) is but a manufactured article, the fabrication of minds insensitive to the intimate delicacies of our relation to the dead and to the living, in their countless multitudes; a desecration of our tenderest memories; an outrage on our dignity.”
― The Shadow-Line
― The Shadow-Line
What's the Name of That Book???
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— last activity 12 minutes ago
Can't remember the title of a book you read? Come search our bookshelves and discussion posts. If you don’t find it there, post a description on our U ...more
Dystopian Society
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— last activity Nov 04, 2025 06:04AM
A book club for those of us who enjoy the Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian genre. Each month there will be a poll so we can find out what our next book wi ...more
Daniel’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Daniel’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
2,135 books
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5,001 friends
2,560 books
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1,426 friends
601 books
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1,379 friends
6 books
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30 friends
2,492 books
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241 friends
608 books
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331 friends
941 books
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1,019 friends
91 books
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681 friends
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