George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world in which privacy does not exist, news is manufactured according the authorities’ will, and those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death. Offering only two crushing choices: to betray or be betrayed. “1984,” published in 1949, remains one of the most powerful and influential masterworks of the twentieth-century literature.

This classic example of literary social science fiction that introduced a whole new vernacular including such phrases as ‘Big Brother,’ ‘newspeak’ and ‘Orwellian,’ is this month’s selected reading for Pageturners. In addition to the traditional book discussion sessions hosted by Pageturners, Dr. Mark Huston, professor of philosophy, will lead a special Panel Discussion on Tuesday, February 23 from 1:30 -2:30 p.m. in the Waterman Wing of the VisTaTech Center. Regular discussions of “1984” will be held Monday, February 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bradner Library on the college’s main campus in Livonia and at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 25 at the Radcliff Center in Garden City.

Pageturners is Schoolcraft College's Book Discussion Group. Discussions and events are free and open to students, faculty, staff and the community. Copies of “1984” are available at a 40% discount in the Student Activities Office and at the Radcliff Center. For more information about this discussion series or other Pageturners events and activities visit http://sites.google.com/site/scpageturners/.  In March, Pageturners will be discussing “Motown Burning,” by John Jeffire, who will visit the Livonia campus on March 25.

Schoolcraft College is a public two-year college offering classes on the Livonia Campus, Haggerty Road between Six and Seven Mile Roads; the Radcliff Center on Radcliff Street in Garden City; and online at www.schooclraft.edu.