Monday, October 05, 2009

Nineteen Eighty-Four in 60 Words

I was just searching my email inbox and stumbled across an email I had sent to myself on Feb. 4., 2008. I don't know exactly why I sent it to myself, but it contained this interesting tidbit.

You may or may not be familiar with Microsoft Word's AutoSummarize feature, which tries to intelligently summarize long blocks of text. Well, since George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has entered the public domain in certain countries, it's pretty freely available online, even though it's still under copyright in the U.S. I pasted the full text into Word and asked it to generate a 60-word summary. This is the result.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR IN 60 WORDS
by George Orwell and Microsoft Word

Winston turned round abruptly. Winston belched again. Winston sighed inaudibly. Winston paused involuntarily. Winston stopped short. Winston followed. It’s Winston—Winston Smith.’

Winston woke first. Winston thought. Winston began reading:

Winston met his eyes. Winston’s entrails contracted. Winston uncovered his face. Winston’s heart sank. Sometimes, Winston. Winston thought. Winston lay silent. Winston thought. Winston worked it out. Winston’s heart stirred.