There are some classic books everyone reads in high school:

“To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Animal Farm,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Odyssey,” “Lord of the Flies.”

Plus, everyone one of the Utopian warning books: “The Giver,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “1984,” “Brave New World,” etc…

In my high school, we read the first two, which means the latter have always been on my classics-to-read list. Until now. I can check Geroge Orwell’s “1984” off with a flourish and thank heavens I’m done with that.

Straight out, “1984” is a downer. It’s gloom and doom and you know from the very start that this isn’t going to end well. I don’t intend to give any of the book away, but you can pretty well imagine that in a society which reads your every thought, finding a way to be happy isn’t exactly a possibility.

I can see what makes “1984” a good high school book. It’s one of those that’s better with discussion and thought-provoking essay questions. By probing Orwell’s theme and symbolism, I’m sure you’d finish “1984” with a sense of admiration for his message and probably a whole new understanding of the world.

Reading it on one’s own, however, doesn’t really serve all that much purpose. I had no one to explore the deeper philosophies of Orwell’s writing, so invariably I scanned over it much more than I ever would have a school book. I was trying to read Orwell for pure amusement and entertainment; it didn’t work.

There are some books, I realize, that are better when they can be discussed and threaded through. Their value increases by the discussions they provoke. Reading these books for sheer enjoyment isn’t really plausible.

“The Catcher in the Rye” (which I read in December) probably fits in this category. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it or at least appreciated it more had I been reading it in a group setting, with a purpose. Reading it on my own was, well, a downer.

I’d like to avoid this trouble in the future, but with that classics-to-read list still hanging over my head, I have a feeling there are still other books that will fall into the should-have-read-it-in-high school/college category.