Do the Required Reading…

It’s time to do the required reading.

If you haven’t done the required reading to understand the dystopia we’re facing right now, it’s time that you do it. These books are available on audiobook even if reading isn’t your thing, you can listen to them.

You can use AI to help you understand the parts that are confusing, but you need to know what is happening. You need to read these books.

Start Here: The Core Orwell

∙ “Animal Farm” by George Orwell (1945): A satirical novella exploring how revolutionary ideals can be corrupted by power. This is the blueprint for understanding how “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

∙ “1984” by George Orwell (1949): A dystopian novel illustrating the total surveillance and psychological control of a totalitarian state. This is where you learn about doublethink, newspeak, and the boot stamping on a human face forever.

Understanding What Orwell Saw:

Historical Context

To understand why Orwell wrote what he wrote, you need to know what he witnessed:

∙ “Homage to Catalonia” by George Orwell: Orwell’s firsthand account of fighting in the Spanish Civil War. This is where he watched idealism die and saw how political movements betray their own people.

∙ “The Russian Revolution” (General History): A foundational understanding of 1917-1939 Soviet history, focusing on Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. This is critical for understanding the allegory in Animal Farm. You need to know what actually happened to understand what Orwell was warning us about.

The Themes You Need to Understand

To fully grasp these works, study these topics:

∙ The rise of totalitarianism: How governments control information and use propaganda

∙ The psychology of power: The ways in which leaders manipulate hope and memory

∙ The misuse of language: Political rhetoric designed to obscure, not clarify

∙ The Spanish Civil War: A defining moment in Orwell’s political development

Essential Dystopian & Political Literature

Once you understand Orwell, read these to see the full picture:

∙ “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley: Another foundational dystopia focusing on technological control and consumerism. While 1984 shows control through pain, Huxley shows control through pleasure and distraction.

∙ “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury: Explores censorship and the destruction of literature. When books burn, so does the ability to think independently.

∙ “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood: A modern look at a theocratic, totalitarian society. This shows how authoritarianism can wear different masks.

∙ “The Trial” by Franz Kafka: Explores the absurdity and horror of an impersonal, crushing bureaucracy. You’re guilty, but you’ll never know of what.

∙ “Darkness at Noon” by Arthur Koestler: A novel that closely mirrors the themes of 1984 regarding the Stalinist purges. This is what happens when the revolution eats its own children.

Parallel & Satirical Works

influenced Orwell or share his satirical approach:

∙ “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift: A direct influence on Orwell’s satirical style

∙ “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess: Examines free will and state control

∙ “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck: Explores themes of greed and corruption

∙ “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding: Examines the breakdown of society and human nature

∙ “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis: A warning about the rise of fascism in a democratic society. Spoiler: it can happen here.

Contextualizing the Sequel

∙ “1985” by Anthony Burgess: A direct, critical, narrative sequel/analysis written in response to Orwell’s 1984

Deep Background: How This Actually Happens

If you want to understand the mechanics of how free societies become unfree:

∙ “The Origins of Totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt: How normal societies transform into totalitarian nightmares. This is the scholarly roadmap of how it happens.

∙ “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder: Written for right now. Twenty concrete lessons about recognizing and resisting authoritarianism.

∙ “The Power of the Powerless” by Václav Havel: How ordinary people resist when resistance seems impossible. Written by someone who actually lived it.

∙ “Gulag: A History” by Anne Applebaum: What actually happened in the Soviet labor camps. The reality behind the allegory.

∙ “The Great Terror” by Robert Conquest: The definitive account of Stalin’s purges. This is what Orwell was writing about.

Understanding Propaganda and Control

∙ “Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes” by Jacques Ellul: The comprehensive study of how propaganda actually works

∙ “Propaganda” by Edward Bernays: Written by the man who invented modern public relations. He’ll tell you exactly how to manipulate public opinion because he did it.

∙ Orwell’s Essays - especially “Politics and the English Language”: Orwell’s own writing on how language is weaponized to conceal truth

Why This Matters Right Now

Every authoritarian playbook uses the same moves:

∙ Control the narrative

∙ Rewrite history

∙ Make people doubt their own perception of reality

∙ Turn neighbor against neighbor

∙ Consolidate power while claiming to protect you

The warning signs don’t announce themselves. They don’t arrive wearing the costumes from your history textbook. They show up in language that sounds reasonable, in emergency measures that never expire, in the slow redefinition of what’s acceptable to say or think.

The Point

You don’t need a degree to understand what’s happening. You need to recognize the patterns. These books teach you to see the machinery behind the curtain how power concentrates, how truth gets weaponized, how ordinary people get swept up in extraordinary evil while believing they’re doing good.

Get started:

All of these are available on audiobook through Audible, Libro.fm, your local library app (Libby/Overdrive), or other audiobook platforms. Many are in the public domain and available free on LibriVox.

Can’t afford audiobooks? Your library card gives you free access. Don’t have a library card? Get one online in five minutes.

Confused by complex passages? Use AI (like ChatGPT or Claude) to break down difficult sections, explain historical context, or discuss themes.

The literacy that matters isn’t about vocabulary it’s about recognizing when you’re being played.

Read them. Listen to them. Think about them. Then watch what’s happening around you with new eyes.