Worst liberal/left wing book that you forced to read in High School or College?

My Squash ^ | 10/31/02 | Burkeman1

[Burkeman1]

Everyone has their horror story about some PC or Left Wing book they were forced to read in High School or College. My worst book was in High School. It was "The Fixer" by Bernard Malamud. It was the tale of a Russian Jew being falsley accused of the rape and murder of a Christian Russian girl just before the Communist coup of Russia. He was innocent of the crime and the book details his time in prison and the torments he was subjucted too. OF Course during his time in prison he becomes a Marxist and hopes for revolution! The entire book was one giant communist propaganda piece. Since I had already read Solzenitsyn by that time and questioned the book in class I was told to shut up by the teacher. I did- to my shame- and got my "A".

What is the worst piece of Left wing crap that you were forced to read in school?

[Born on the Storm King]

Nobody has mentioned Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. When I saw the title of this thread, this book immediately popped into my mind.

[Burkeman1]

Forget the reviews. Was "Brave new world" a left or right novel in your opinion?

[musicman]

"Alas Babylon"was the first book in psych class that we
were required to read...(takes place in Florida after a
nuclear war).Mr.Friedburg(our teacher and very recent graduate of MSU at
the time)decided that we should also see a few movies.
We assembled in the Audio-Visual room(a 300 seat theater
with a stage),and watched "Fail-Safe".Then 6 weeks later,
"Billy Budd",and the last was "All About Eve".....

(I still kinda like "Fail-Safe",even though it was a shock
for a small town freshman kid in 1966)....

[stands2reason]

On FR, you're going to continually run into people who actually ARE " expert ", on topics discussed. Your bad fortune, is that I ( who am an " expert " in this area ) found this thread. LOL

I agree. Most of the "experts" on this forum tend to be gracious.

[nopardons]

If that was intended to be a " subtle " insult, to me , dear, all it did was make me giggle. You're out of line, obviously didn't read all of the comments, and aren't " gracious " , yourself. LOL

[nopardons]

" BRAVE NEW WORLD " was and IS a lefty book. It isn't just my opinion , BTW , it's historically THE opinion of Conservatives. It is also the sotto voce opinion of lefties.

In 1958, Aldous Huxley 's " BRAVE NEW WORLD REVISITED " came out ( I got a copy as a Christmas present ), wherein he presents what he saw as the world's rushing forward , rapidly, into his nightmare vision of the future. He rants and raves about overpopulation, talks about the shame it is, that modern marvels have made possible for the disabled, mentally retarded, etc. to live into adulthood and beyond ( Fabian eugenic theory subtlly interjected rather covertly here ), and his discussions of all forms of propaganda , makes him sound as though he is against it; but you have to reread his comments, in order to see where he's actually going with this little tirade.

Though Huxley quotes Jefferson ( he sounds quite like a FR Libertarian ! LOL ) , one must always remember his background and look closely at the points that he is actually making in this slim volume.

[MadIvan]

Lenin's "The State and Revolution", which I read for a Russian history course. Possibly some of the worst, most convoluted thinking I've ever seen.

Regards, Ivan

[A. Pole]

What is the worst piece of Left wing crap that you were forced to read in school?

When I was going to the school in Poland, the worst crap was the mandatory vituperations of Communist government propagandists. The same guys are still the government propagandists today but now they are all for free-market and globalisations in the name of supposed democracy. Now, they have views identical to the American neo-cons and are equally unpleasant to read.

The translated Russian Soviet Commie novels I had to read, were actually not so bad since they were well written.

[Dante3]

I'm trying to think of the title of an outdated book about South Africa that my daughter was required to read in a gifted program. It was written on first grade level.

[ventana]

I've looked at the points he was making and disagree with you completely. He certainly didn't have an Ayn Rand worldview, for instance, but he DID have a distrust of tyranny. He discussed Hitler and his tactics and was repelled by them. In the chapter entitled "Education For Freedom," Huxley writes:

"Big Government and Big Business already possess, or very soon will possess, all the techniques for mind-manipulation described in 'Brave New World', along with others of which I was too unimaginative to dream . . . . [T]hey will (unless prevented) make use of all the mind-manipulating techniques at their disposal and will not hesitate to reinforce these methods of non-rational persuasion by economic coercion and threats of physical violence. If this kind of tyranny is to be avoided, we must begin without delay to educate our children for freedom and self-government."

He ends the book with these words:

"Perhaps the forces that menace freedom are too strong to be resisted for very long. It is still our duty to do whatever we can to resist them."

I think you misconstrue his own words. V's wife.

[mommybain]

short story on androgeny

Are you sure that wasn't SNL, "It's PAT"????

[mommybain]

Last summer I read Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. It's a huge read, but the main character is an excellent embodiment of duty, courage and character. I found this on Amazon:

America's fighting men have turned to Once an Eagle as a sourcebook for the military's core values since its publication at the height of the Vietnam War. The novel, following the careers of virtuous Sam Damon and opportunistic Courtney Massengale, is required reading for all members of the United States Marine Corps and frequently taught in leadership courses at West Point.

[A. Pole]

Is Thurow still alive?

I assume so, I have met him in person not so long time ago.

[Alouette]

I thought The Fixer was pretty good. It is based on the true story of Mendel Beilis, who was accused and put on trial for "ritual murder" early in the 20th century. I do not recall the book being so pro-communist. As an Orthodox Jew, I have always believed the communists were much worse than the Czarist regime.

The book I hated most in high school was Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy. It's about a guy in Victorian England who goes into a coma and wakes up 100 years later, Rip Van Winkle style, to find himself in a wonderful, utopian Communist society. Gag, barf, vomit. The assignment was, we had to write what we liked about this awful book. I wrote what I DID NOT LIKE. I don't remember what grade I got, but I do remember the teacher telling me that I had no business NOT LIKING this book because it's a LITERARY CLASSIC.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I dunno - your brother Faulkner is mighty tedious, even in small doses.

Of course, the Empress Palpatine claims I have all the reading depth of a 10 year old, based on my usual selection of what she describes as "romance novels for men" - you know, Clancy, Cussler, Ludlum, etc.

[daler]

You beat me to it.

EVERYONE (save fanatics/idiots) is "anti-war."

LIBERALS are anti-war regardless of the cost or consequences.

[nina0113]

Beyond Freedom and Dignity, B.F. Skinner. Runners-up were Walden Two, (author mercifully forgotten), and Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. All in the same class, mid-seventies.

[noname]

THE END OF THE DREAM by Philip Wylie. He also wrote the non fiction A GENERATION OF VIPERS and AN ESSAY ON MORALS which both are out of print. A GENERATION OF VIPERS has had at least 10 printings, and was required reading in some college courses before 1966, when the NEA and the Communists finally were able to take over our educational systems. END OF THE DREAM was Wylie's last book he wrote before he died. He was depressed that we were really screwing things up. But, he was not really a "green."
A good read though. Regards

[A. Pole]

It's not necessarily liberal, but I will always remember it as THE book that I was forced to read so many times throughout school. It was assigned four or five times between 6th grade and the end of high school! Talk about overkill.

Such things make me think that this book is fake. P.C. crowd has an allergy to the truth, they could not promote authentic stuff repeatedly.

[A. Pole]

LIBERALS are anti-war regardless of the cost or consequences.

Really? What about Yugoslavia?