Chortling Over the Surge in Sales of "1984"

There's a paddock full of chortling cheerleaders who are giddy over the sales surge for "1984" but only one question comes to the Rockhouse.  Why is this news when the book was required in the early years of high school.  Yet they tell us surely fear of Trump is responsible.

The general aspect of the requirement to read such books has come up previously on Ithaka but it comes up now because a friend had not heard of books such as "1984," "Brave New World," or "Animal Farm" which were staples in early high school  The consideration is in part because of the inconsistency from one state to another and consequently states rights come back.


It's a horror to hear it because of the constriction of the student's world view due to failure to provide sufficient resources for the student to expand it in a significant way.  In the Rockhouse thinking, the limited presentation by the teacher is inculcation of mainstream thinking and take that with as much conspiracy theory to taste as you like.


The patent absurdity of concern regarding Orwell's vision is limitless when the same people sing so fervently of praises for CIA truth.  They see Trump as a great peril but there's only one question with this one as well.  Why did they not see this long before; Trump doesn't really have anything to do with it except to be one more stooge if he rolls over for the CIA.


The regulars are smart and have smart kids so it's not so illustrative when they're aware of these books except in case some are not.  My general thinking is kids have been spending too much time texting rather than reading but it goes back long before iPhones.  There were no such things during the time of reference with my friend.

There is no attempt to be dismissive of my friend's intelligence since lack of it is not the problem so lack of exposure galls me to hear.  The high school reading curriculum brings world view, vocabulary, spelling ... all of those fundamentals.  It's one of the three Rs and yet it has this gaping hole.  WTF?

The degree to which the hole is gaping is measurable in the surge in sales for "1984" and that aspect, far from being a reason to chortle, is shocking.


We have hit it before with get the kids all the education they can handle in whichever way is most appropriate for the kid's talents and abilities.  Give it all to them and take it to the stars, kids.  You know the song.

When the system fails to deliver that even at the most fundamental level in this segment of the curriculum, yeah, I'm frosted.


How about a wrap with a ten-point toss-up on a different aspect of high school reading.  What books would you keep out of it.

Mein Kampf?

I'm not interested in suppressing the Koran, Torah, etc since the topic is education and not the merits of this religion or that one.  How could there be real talk of such things without reading them in the first place anyway.

Anarchist's Cookbook?

Fail-Safe?

Johnny Got his Gun?

Mila 18?


Note:  the Rockhouse is well aware MSM is loaded with fake news but it doesn't get much attention that another huge source of it is YouTube where kids are highly likely to see it.  The Rockhouse demands an excellent foundation for the kids in known truths via reading in English classes or how can they possibly differentiate the content on YouTube which is false.

My friend also commented about a significant time dedicated to reading Shakespeare which is rarely more than punitive at that age.  There was also mention of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which did stimulate some thinking along that line.  The Rockhouse rating of that school is poor on the basis of their English curriculum.

Ed:  maybe they had a good football time?

Now you're just trying to piss me off, Gadfly George.