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".... nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality......"

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This book was required reading when I was in high school. I'm sure that the lefties have banished it, since it describes too closely their goals.

Oddly enough, Eric Arthur Blair ("George Orwell" was his pen name) was himself an ardent socialist all of his life; but he hated communism specifically, and was an equally ardent critic of the USSR and China (and other communist nations). He alternatively described himself as "a traditionalist with a love of old English values" and as a "Tory-anarchist." When defining socialism, he said, "a real Socialist is one who wishes – not merely conceives it as desirable, but actively wishes – to see tyranny overthrown."

I'm not sure exactly what he meant by socialism, really, because his two books Animal Farm and 1984 have become anti-socialist anthems describing the horrors of socialist-statist government, as we understand it today. I suspect that his views would be more accurately described today as "Classical Liberalism".

I also read it in high school my senior year which just happened to be 1984.

jmra wrote:I also read it in high school my senior year which just happened to be 1984.

I read the book and saw the original movie before you were born - so there.

Oldgringo wrote:

jmra wrote:I also read it in high school my senior year which just happened to be 1984.

I read the book and saw the original movie before you were born - so there.

Well that does make you an "Old Gringo"!

Sometimes I lie awake at night, worried that Orwell was actually an optimist.

When I read both of those Orwell books in High School, I personally found Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon to give a far more chilling view of communism.

The kinds of books I read in High School had a large impact in forming my belief system: I have loathed communism and socialism and celebrated liberty and free markets ever since. The reading list for my high school -- sadly -- is probably no longer taught, as it had a strong conservative theme.

jmra wrote:I also read it in high school my senior year which just happened to be 1984.

and now you are living it...

Ed4032 wrote:

jmra wrote:I also read it in high school my senior year which just happened to be 1984.

and now you are living it...

True dat

At the end of my 9th grade year, I entered into the AP English program which required completing a summer reading list. IIRC I read 1984, Animal Farm, and Lord of the Flies that first summer. At the time (late 80s), Orwell's works were presented as anti-communist warnings. Lord of the Flies was a warning against mob mentality and the dangers of quasi-messianic figures.

The Annoyed Man wrote:This book was required reading when I was in high school. I'm sure that the lefties have banished it, since it describes too closely their goals.

Oddly enough, Eric Arthur Blair ("George Orwell" was his pen name) was himself an ardent socialist all of his life; but he hated communism specifically, and was an equally ardent critic of the USSR and China (and other communist nations). He alternatively described himself as "a traditionalist with a love of old English values" and as a "Tory-anarchist." When defining socialism, he said, "a real Socialist is one who wishes – not merely conceives it as desirable, but actively wishes – to see tyranny overthrown."

I'm not sure exactly what he meant by socialism, really, because his two books Animal Farm and 1984 have become anti-socialist anthems describing the horrors of socialist-statist government, as we understand it today. I suspect that his views would be more accurately described today as "Classical Liberalism".

TAM, they didn't ban it. Its their playbook

TexasCajun wrote:At the end of my 9th grade year, I entered into the AP English program which required completing a summer reading list. IIRC I read 1984, Animal Farm, and Lord of the Flies that first summer. At the time (late 80s), Orwell's works were presented as anti-communist warnings. Lord of the Flies was a warning against mob mentality and the dangers of quasi-messianic figures.

Many will assume such a conservative reading list is no longer required in schools today. However, these were on my son's required reading list just three or four years ago. They are still required here.

RPBrown wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:This book was required reading when I was in high school. I'm sure that the lefties have banished it, since it describes too closely their goals.

Oddly enough, Eric Arthur Blair ("George Orwell" was his pen name) was himself an ardent socialist all of his life; but he hated communism specifically, and was an equally ardent critic of the USSR and China (and other communist nations). He alternatively described himself as "a traditionalist with a love of old English values" and as a "Tory-anarchist." When defining socialism, he said, "a real Socialist is one who wishes – not merely conceives it as desirable, but actively wishes – to see tyranny overthrown."

I'm not sure exactly what he meant by socialism, really, because his two books Animal Farm and 1984 have become anti-socialist anthems describing the horrors of socialist-statist government, as we understand it today. I suspect that his views would be more accurately described today as "Classical Liberalism".

TAM, they didn't ban it. Its their playbook

I meant "banished from polite leftist conversation"...... As in, "we don't talk out loud about that because we don't want to give anything away......"

mojo84 wrote:

TexasCajun wrote:At the end of my 9th grade year, I entered into the AP English program which required completing a summer reading list. IIRC I read 1984, Animal Farm, and Lord of the Flies that first summer. At the time (late 80s), Orwell's works were presented as anti-communist warnings. Lord of the Flies was a warning against mob mentality and the dangers of quasi-messianic figures.

Many will assume such a conservative reading list is no longer required in schools today. However, these were on my son's required reading list just three or four years ago. They are still required here.

And still required reading, today, in our high school English classes!

n5wd wrote:

mojo84 wrote:

TexasCajun wrote:At the end of my 9th grade year, I entered into the AP English program which required completing a summer reading list. IIRC I read 1984, Animal Farm, and Lord of the Flies that first summer. At the time (late 80s), Orwell's works were presented as anti-communist warnings. Lord of the Flies was a warning against mob mentality and the dangers of quasi-messianic figures.

Many will assume such a conservative reading list is no longer required in schools today. However, these were on my son's required reading list just three or four years ago. They are still required here.

And still required reading, today, in our high school English classes!

That's good to hear.