and Words
All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive
All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive
Ragged lines of ragged grey
Skeletons, they shuffle away
Shoutin′ guards and smoking guns
Will cut down the unlucky ones
Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.
I was in high school when I read George Orwell’s 1984; ironically, it was around 1984. The words expanded my mind and darkened my heart; I loved that book. Some allege that, in order to render a book boring to students, teachers need only label it required reading. This book was required reading, and I loved it nonetheless. I won’t spend my post detailing the events in the book. I will say that its dystopian nature and the degree to which the state controlled everything awakened parts of my mind that lay dormant.
While I enjoyed reading other required assignments in high school, George Orwell’s 1984 sits at the top of the list. I should be grateful that it was assigned reading, because I honestly doubt that I would’ve read it on my own. On my own, I’ve read other books that others allege as classic must-reads, like Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, but it didn’t have the same impact.