Introducing 1984 Slow Read
Trying something new with something old in 2025
I firmly believe in the power of literature.
I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. After all, I am a high school English teacher. I initially wanted to be an English teacher because I had this lofty goal of instilling a love of reading and appreciation for the classics in the hearts and minds of teenagers.
Twenty-three years later, I’m still trying to figure out how to do that.
But I still believe in the importance of a well-read society. I believe a good book can change people, or at least put them on the path toward change. I believe books open us up to worlds and ideas we could never encounter in our daily lives. I believe reading helps us to think critically about the world around us.
And I fear that we are losing something as a culture.
Teachers have been lamenting about the lack of bookworm students for years. As a young teacher, I lamented it because I wanted engaged students who would love the written word as much as I did.
Now I lament the lack of reading because I see what it is doing to our culture. Our attention spans are non-existent. We don’t know how to critically analyze the tsumani of information coming at us from our phones. The humanities are seen as a waste of time and the hobby of the elite, not as essential for understanding who we are as human beings and learning how to relate to each other.
I also understand the pressures that keep people from sitting down and reading a book. For years I’ve admitted to my students that I’ve also struggled to find the time to read for pleasure. My students are busy with work, academics, and extracurriculars. I struggle to get my own teenagers to read for the same reasons my students don’t read. It isn’t just about the phones.1
About five or six years ago I started implementing Silent Sustained Reading in my English classes as a way to give my students time to read. I don’t care how intellectual it is, I just want them to take 15-20 minutes a week to read something they don’t have to read. Unlike in my early years of teaching when I used it as time to “catch up,” I now read with them, and when I have four of my six classes do this regularly, it gives me an hour a week of time to read for pleasure. It has made a huge difference in my reading life.
And now I want to pass this encouragement to my Substack readers. I want to invite you to read slowly, to think about what you are reading, to ask questions of others, and to see how what you are reading connects to our world and current reality.
So I am starting a slow-read book club. I am picking four books this year that I want to reread and digest and discuss with others. I want to see what other adults have to say about the work and do so without worrying about a lesson plan to go with it.
I am starting with George Orwell’s 1984. Why? Because I’m tired of seeing Orwell’s words twisted for political points on social media. I’m tired of people misunderstanding his fears and purpose. While I loved teaching it, I want to read and discuss it with people who are doing it because they also want to see what Orwell has to say to us today, not because I assigned pages to them for my class.
I’m new to the “slow read” concept so this will be an experiment over the first quarter of the year. The book is neatly divided into three parts, so we will do one part per month. I will set up a discussion forum for readers on the first day of the next month so people can start discussing their thoughts and ideas as they finish reading the section. Because this first book of the year is an experiment, we will see what discussion avenues work best for the group.
Here’s the catch: This whole experience will only be available to paid subscribers. For the next six days, there is a special deal with 20% off of a paid subscription for the next year. You can access that offer here: https://sarahstyf.substack.com/ddd4208b
From here on out, you will only hear about 1984 if you are a paid subscriber. I will announce the next three-month book club once we’ve wrapped up our time with George Orwell.
So if you want to dive into the world of Oceania and contemplate what Big Brother has to tell us today, please join us.
Otherwise, I will see you on the other side as you continue to enjoy the other parts of my life journey.
❤️ Sarah
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But it is not not about the phones. Yes, they do play a role, but it’s not entirely their fault.