George Orwell, Christopher Hitchens, A. M. A.M. Heath: Animal Farm And 1984 (2003, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company)
400 pages
English language
Published Sept. 9, 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Re-read during the pandemic. Had been meaning to do so as it became clear that its lessons were not heeded but put into practice. Fortunately, incompetence has hindered success. But the cruelty and indifference behind the actions is eerily reminiscent of big brother.
Must read, coz we got the story in reality already....
Just wow.
Still so relevant. I don't think I would have appreciated it the same had I read it when I was younger though.
Orwell's classic lays bare exactly what power is: the desire for more power.
Not a children's book despite it's title! A brilliant, darkly humorous look at politics and people's "rights".
Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.
This book was very deceiving. I knew nothing about "Animal Farm" before I read it and was surprised at how such a powerful book was hidden behind a layer of speaking animals. The ability to weave so much political commentary in to a simple and quick read is a thing of beauty. I imagine this book has a lot of re-reading potential and I look forward to experiencing "Animal Farm" again.
First off, let me point out that I know nothing of the Russian Revolution, of which this book is an allegory. I'm sure I wouldn've learnt about it in high school, but that was a long time ago and I've long since forgotten. Therefore, I started reading the Preface, but since it was pretty meaningless to me (and such things tend to bore me to tears), I skipped to Chapter 1.
This book blew... my... mind! I'm struggling to come up with things to say about it that wouldn't give too much away for the few people who haven't read it yet. It really doesn't take any understanding of the historical events to understand what this book is about.
It's extremely easy to read and quite short. It truly ropes you into the lives, hopes and dreams of the characters in a way that few other books have.
It conjured …
First off, let me point out that I know nothing of the Russian Revolution, of which this book is an allegory. I'm sure I wouldn've learnt about it in high school, but that was a long time ago and I've long since forgotten. Therefore, I started reading the Preface, but since it was pretty meaningless to me (and such things tend to bore me to tears), I skipped to Chapter 1.
This book blew... my... mind! I'm struggling to come up with things to say about it that wouldn't give too much away for the few people who haven't read it yet. It really doesn't take any understanding of the historical events to understand what this book is about.
It's extremely easy to read and quite short. It truly ropes you into the lives, hopes and dreams of the characters in a way that few other books have.
It conjured up thoughts in my mind of people like Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe, both freedom fighters and struggle heroes of their own time. It shows that a socialist state will never work because of the simple human flaw: Power corrupts. It shows that the vast majority don't actually want freedom, don't know how to be free, and quite possibly don't understand what freedom actually is. People need to be led, and that those leaders will always take advantage of that.
I'm glad that people (and really, there were around four or five people that simultaneous suggested I read this book... and then I started seeing it everywhere on Goodreads) finally convinced me to read this book. I'm only sorry it took me 32 years to finally do so, when so many had actually had it as a set-work in school.
I would've given it more stars, were it not for the boring and unnecessary preface - which according to Wikipedia was only added later anyway.
A very alarming glimpse of human society through the simplified lives of animals. Too many parallels can be made to history and current events with this book and it is haunting as hell.
