Why so much 1984?

[Charles Darnay]

I'm not sure if I'm the only one curious about this, but why does 984 receives more traffic in these forums than any other author/book?

Also to make this thread a bit more legitimate (or something) - has anyone else here read "We" and since lost appreciation for 1984?

[stlukesguild]

Well... I think 1984... and to a lesser extent, Animal Farm, are both great books... yet quite accessible. They are often taught in late grade-school and college and combined with the socio-political issues they touch upon they are well-suited to the tastes of adolescents and young adults... who account for a majority of the traffic on a site such as this. The Beats, Dostoevsky, and a number of other authors are similar favorites with this audience... which is why, for example, Dostoevsky surpasses Shakespeare as the top author on the LitNet favorite authors thread.

I don't know if I lost appreciation for 1984 after reading We. I think that over time my appreciation for Orwell was tempered by my experience with and appreciation for many other writers. Reading We certainly leads one to recognize that Orwell's dystopia may not have been as original I first thought. But of course, by the time I had read We, I had also read Gulliver's Travels, Utopia, Candide, The Republic, and any number of other books that dissected the political spectrum as well or better than Orwell.

[cafolini]

I'm not sure if I'm the only one curious about this, but why does 984 receives more traffic in these forums than any other author/book?

Also to make this thread a bit more legitimate (or something) - has anyone else here read "We" and since lost appreciation for 1984?

Good point, Charles. But what if they get the same illness with We and then we have to come back and ask them: "Why so much We? Have you considered 1984?"

[Charles Darnay]

Good point, Charles. But what if they get the same illness with We and then we have to come back and ask them: "Why so much We? Have you considered 1984?"

Ha, fair point. The two comments were not directly related, just something I experienced recently. I read "We" a couple of months ago and shortly after had to re-read 1984 for teaching purposes, and it was almost painful how similar they are. Stlukesguild's is valid - that if you read too much utopia/dystopia they are start to blend together - but the relation between "We" and 1984 seem stronger than most.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I think high school classes find out about this site and use it to discuss a book, which is often 1984. Just look at the syntax of these new users commenting on 1984--it screams high school student. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, even if it can be a little annoying. It's happened before, also with 1984.