I think I read it for the first time at age 7 or 8. Apart from being anticommunist, I’m glad I read it as a child because it wasn’t teenslop. It steered me toward being interested in political books instead of Harry Potter. 1984 at age 10-12 was a similarly good book for getting me into superstructural studies since it’s a neat world and at least makes you critically think about things like language and police states, and I think I benefited more from reading that than I would have from reading something more teenslop like Hunger Games.
The problem is when an adult reads it uncritically. It is a book for babies. It has talking animals that I imagined as cartoons so that my baby brain could keep track of the words. Being a Cartoon Adult is the most dangerous way someone can build their worldview regardless of what the cartoon is. When a liberal brings it up unironically it’s like they’re making me debate them out of thinking Spongebob is real because the Bikini Atoll is a historical basis for the show.
I think I read it for the first time at age 7 or 8. Apart from being anticommunist, I’m glad I read it as a child because it wasn’t teenslop. It steered me toward being interested in political books instead of Harry Potter. 1984 at age 10-12 was a similarly good book for getting me into superstructural studies since it’s a neat world and at least makes you critically think about things like language and police states, and I think I benefited more from reading that than I would have from reading something more teenslop like Hunger Games.
The problem is when an adult reads it uncritically. It is a book for babies. It has talking animals that I imagined as cartoons so that my baby brain could keep track of the words. Being a Cartoon Adult is the most dangerous way someone can build their worldview regardless of what the cartoon is. When a liberal brings it up unironically it’s like they’re making me debate them out of thinking Spongebob is real because the Bikini Atoll is a historical basis for the show.
You hit the nail on the head. Reading Orwell’s writings as a late teenager had stunted my political growth for a while.