Introducing My(!) George Orwell

This is a special post because here I introduce My George Orwell. Yeah, My George Orwell. Everybody knows George Orwell, the author of the famous book Nineteen Eighty-Four, but My George Orwell is not the same person. So My George Orwell or GO, for the sake of brevity, is a friend with whom I discuss books, blogs, music and many other things. He has introduced me to some wonderful things and I love my conversations with him. To begin with, it's refreshing to know a guy who can talk intellectually about books and music and technology in the same breath. Being from the Engineering background, most of my guy friends are either useless computer nerds or else too much into girls and movies, shallow I should say. Books are something most of them stay away from and even if they read, it is mostly autobiographies or self-help books. Fiction is a far-cry for them and if they do try a work of fiction then their reading efforts are limited to Chetan Bhagat and Sydney Sheldon.

Now, GO knows his books. He is the only guy in my friend circle who can make me feel ignorant when it comes to discussions about books. We give each other a lot of gyan and I just luuurve talking to him. Anyway, now why do I call him GO? I told him today that since most of our conversations are intellectually stimulating, I would like to post them at times and therefore I wanted to give him a pseudonym. He absolutely did not want to be called by his pet name so after much thought I asked him which was his favourite book. He replied that it's difficult to single out one book but still the best would be, To Kill A Mockingbird (I told you, GO knows his books!) but since the author of this book is a female, I couldn't have given him her name as a pseudonym. The next favourite book that came a close second for GO is Nineteen Eighty-Four. Moreover, GO tried to convince me for a good ten minutes yesterday that how important it is to read Nineteen Eight-Four, since I haven't read it yet. Hence I call him My George Orwell now and I think it suits him. I could have called him by his real name and there is no real need for a pseudonym but it struck my fancy that I want a pseudonym here. This makes it important that GO can't reveal his identity when he posts comments on my blog. You are reading that My George Orwell??

Our conversations mostly are something like this:

Me: you know something... yesterday's conversation triggered some thought process

GO: about books, music?

Me: yeah, i was thinking of what you said about those books..... Namesake, Gone With The Wind, The God of Small Things

GO: ok, go on

Me: I think you have a good point there. They ARE girlie kinda books.... a guy won't enjoy them as much as a girl

GO: not chicklit.... but feminine

Me: yeah not chicklit. They are wonderful books, anybody would enjoy them but yes feminine

GO: so I won't read Gone With The Wind then :-)

Me: haha... I still think Gone With The Wind is worth it. I mean I have read Great Expectations and Oliver Twist and liked them despite the fact that they were all about guys

GO: me too me too.... but I read the abridged versions

Me: oh don't do that!! abridged versions spoil the fun

GO: I was in 7th or 8th at that time

Me: have u read Pygmalion? By George Bernard Shaw

GO: No. He is known more for quotes than books I think. He has said so much

Me: yeah true

GO: father of one-liners

Me: btw i share my birthday with him

GO: oh wow

Me: couldn't help bringing it up. 26th july.... me and GB Shaw.... 2 great writers :-)

GO: sun signs, birthdays and girls

Me: yepp... anyway... Pygmalion is a play. something like Shakespeare's works but more modern

GO: hardcore literature? come to think of it I haven't read hardcore literature much

Me: me neither. But I love classics any day. That was such a romantic period, I feel drawn towards such books. So, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, GB Shaw all work well for me

GO: Fountainhead?

Me: yeah read that too. Ayn Rand is awesome. And the other book.... whatsitsname?

GO: Atlas Shrugged

Me: Atlas Shrugged yeah....

GO: they are difficult to comprehend

Me: you know there is a school of thought based on Ayn Rand philosophy

GO: yes, about individualism and all that

Me: yeah, the idea is wonderful. It does provoke thoughts

GO: oh yeah, talking of abstract books... u read ulysses?

Me: well, no. ashamed as I am of not reading Ulysses but I haven't

GO: don't be. I read 1 page and then left it. It took the author 7 years to write it.

Me: wow

GO: read Mitch Albom? Tuesdays With Morrie? Five People You Will Meet in Heaven?

Me: naah

GO: wonderful books... when you feel low and small in life, read these two books

Me: I love feel good books

GO: :-)

Me: hey I want a good pseudonym for you. what shall it be?

GO: call me KB... sounds like a Russian spy's name

Me: yeah, similar to KGB :-)

GO: yep

Me: hey have you read a book called The First Lady.... too much of sex, but good plot

GO: author?

Me: can't recall his name. Most of his books are like that .... sleazy :-)

GO: you read all of his books? :-)

Me: hey this Nothing Else Matters song that you were talking about is amazing

GO: yeah.... i have started singing.... so close no matter how far

Me: yeah beautiful song

GO: I am crazy for classic rock

Me: and the guitar is awesome

GO: okay, listen to this song at least twice then I will give you a link

Me: :-)

GO: a performance by another band that played it on Cello.... amazing instrumental and video

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ&feature=related

Me: hey it was beautiful.... i heard it thrice!!! So sad and beautiful

GO: sad and beautiful, yes

and it continues like that. I and GO can talk like that for hours and it's amazing. I mean you can never get tired talking of books. There are so many books out there, so many genres, so many authors that each conversation about them seems new and exciting.