Wednesday, January 09, 2013

My Year of Books: Animal Farm

Since dating Tom, it has appeared that I am extremely unread. I knew that I hadn't read most of the classic works but I didn't realise how truly hopeless I had been.

In the last three years, I've read most of Jane Austen's books, 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte and 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte, but that is about it; and most of those were read over the last year and a half, since moving to London; it's amazing what dead time spent on the underground can cause.

I decided that 2013 is the year of books, I'm going to read the classics, or at least start reading the classics. In the last week, I've read 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell and have started to read 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck.

Animal Farm was brilliant, I know I'm teaching old people to suck eggs, I know that everyone who has read it knows all about it but still. I really enjoyed it. I knew the premise of the storyline and obviously saw the cartoon version when I was a child but I couldn't remember a thing about it. For a book of 110 pages it's concise and entertaining. I really felt for Boxer, who so wanted to trust in the "greater good".

Tom has informed me it is about Stalin and Lenin, so my next stop shall be a quick scan of the wikipedia page and probably miss the point entirely. I mentioned to Tom that the way that Napolean raised a mass fear by blaming Snowball for everything was very similar to how Hitler raised the general public to dislike the Jewish Community, etc., I guess it's the same in most Communist parties, the mutual enemy, and you've no choice but to carry on hoping and believing in the future, and your leader.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly for all ages, it's only 110 pages or so, where is the harm?!

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