this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2026
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[–] AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The obvious choice would be something like Orwell's 1984, but I also think Animal Farm would also be a good enough choice.

One about the dangers of full-on government control and allowing them to censor everything while also turning you aggressively nationalist against everyone else. The other about how one person in a revolution will try to elevate their group to being in full control and taking advantage of the people after said revolution, thus making everyone else's lives worse than before. At least that's what I got out of those books.

Also, side note, I really enjoy the original animated Animal Farm movie and the trailer for the new version looks like if you tried to turn WWII into a cringey kids film. That level of stupidity and unawareness of everything the source material stands for. It looks absolutely atrocious. Disgusting. I refuse to acknowledge it as anything other than something that would cause Orwell to come back to life just to weep at how they're massacring his book with their horrific adaptation. Apparently it was so bad that Netflix dropped the rights to it.

Oh boy! Can't wait for an Animal Farm adaptation where the pigs are super nice to everyone and instead of fighting for freedom, they have a nice afternoon tea session with the farmer and he agrees to give them the farm. Also for the parts where Boxer gets injured and eventually sent to the glue factory to be replaced with nothing because death surely won't be in an adaptation of a book where death and sacrifice isn't a close to being a central point in the very beginning of the book.

[–] SaneMartigan@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I was required to read both of those books for school. I'd say they're already required reading, or at least were.

[–] AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 weeks ago

They weren't in any English class I took. We had books like Thing Fall Apart by Chinuo Achebe alongside things like To Kill A Mockingbird, but not the ones I mentioned as required.

I ended up picking up Animal Farm as part of a thing where we had to pick a library book and do various things with the reading. And 1984 was a book I happened to pick up in my spare time.

Definitely books I should read again some time soon.

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

I'm on board with the basic idea but this is kind of like recommending Hippocrates as an introduction to medicine - he got a lot right, but his work is also hopelessly outdated. I think readers would be better served by something like Economics in One Lesson, Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy, or Free to Choose.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur (of The Good Place). I'm kinda sad how little ethics we teach these days and this book is a very good approachable overview of contemporary ethics that would make a huge difference for our society as a whole.

[–] Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Harrison Bergeron short story by Kurt Vonnegut is an interesting one. Especially interesting given the context of the time its written.

[–] parzival@lemmy.org 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

they can't do that because then my old school would need to stop copying it...

[–] Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

You mean you read it in school or they chained strong people down and buzzed smart people periodically?

[–] ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Ishmael - Daniel Quinn

[–] fubarx@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago
[–] Zier@fedia.io 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not For Packrats Only Don Aslett Reading this will save you money.

[–] nitrolife@rekabu.ru 2 points 3 weeks ago

I think that is "Noon: 22nd Century"

[–] from_D4rkness@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

"Me and White Supremacy" by Layla F. Saad.

I think this is especially relevant if you are white in north america.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. One of the English translations. It's short, it's good, and it's kinda fucked up. Should fit right in. And maybe we should read books from other parts of the world.

Now dive into what all that book inspired.

(CW: Suicide, SA, Drug use, Depression/Mental Health, I forget what else. It's not a pleasant book. It is considered literature in Japan though.)

[–] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

War and Peace.

When they successfully finish they can graduate.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Marmaduke: The Riverside Collection.

[–] GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

The Jakarta Method

[–] presoak@lazysoci.al 2 points 3 weeks ago

Promethea by Alan Moore

[–] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 2 weeks ago

"Martin Fierro" by Jose Hernandez. Me and all my classmates thought it would be the most boring book. We were surprised. And it was full of teachings for soon-to-be adults.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

"The name of the wind"

It will teach them to deal with frustration and disappointment.

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 1 points 3 weeks ago

Well, it's several books, but probably the main religious texts of the 5 religions with the most members. Would hopefully promote understanding and tolerance if done properly. Hopefully get people to examine their own beliefs.

[–] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago

The Corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power by Joel Bakan.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108583.The_Corporation

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