Animal Farm

Animal Farm

By George Orwell

Folio Society

This is a lovely slip covered edition of Animal Farm, with lovely pen and wash illustrations inside and out.

It has been way too long since I have read Animal Farm. Probably not since I was a teen. It appealed to my young know-it-all teenaged sensibilities. Only then, we were poking fun at the commies – the Russkies and the Red Chinese. Which makes some sense, since this was an allegory on the Russian Revolution.

Oh, how times have changed. Today, I read it, and I feel more of a chill because it is a dire warning about our own government. We are led by a government that is changing the rules as it goes along. It dangles the boogeyman of Osama Bin Laden to try and frighten us into following whatever it says. It feels it is beholden only unto itself.

Is Animal Farm that relevant? You be the judge.

This is the story of Manor Farm, which is taken over by the animals, led by the pigs. The pigs teach a song, “Beasts of England” and develop the Seven Principles of Animalism – the seven commandments, or the animal bill of rights (so to speak).

So far, so good, eh?

When Napoleon Pig and Snowball disagree over building a windmill to benefit everyone with light and energy, they decide to have a civil debate. Snowball is eloquent and seems to convince the crowd. Napoleon makes a lame retort, and then has his soldiers – the dogs – chase Snowball. Napoleon then says he is in control, for the good of all the animals, and there will be no more meetings.

Later, whenever anything goes wrong, it is the fault of Snowball, who has snuck in and done the dastardly deed, no matter how improbable. Napoleon uses the fear of Snowball’s treachery to strengthen his stranglehold on the animals.

This seems destined to go on forever, but Napoleon’s hubris soon shows the other animals his true colors. It is all about him and the other pigs.

Reading this novel (very short) gave me the chills.

Orwell was warning us about dictatorships, but it seems like he is warning us about our own government.

Read this book, and then decide for yourself.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

This is a classic bio and a wonderful insight to one of our most popular founding fathers. Rather than viewing Ben Franklin as a stuffy guy in a powdered wig, we see Mr Franklin as a flesh and blood person - trying to build a career, falling in love (or just taking the company of women of ill-repute), making friends and eventually becoming family man.

Mr. Franklin was a true humanitarian and lover of the colonies. The number of public benefits that he created, developed or improved - hospitals, schools, libraries, post offices, street lamps, and of course the iconic Franklin stove - is staggering. The reasons why he did it are simple, he wanted to improve the life of all men as well as improve himself.

There are humorous vignettes of him at the dinner table discovering that his wife had bought pewter table settings without his consent to "keep up with the Joneses."He devotes quite a few pages to his personal beliefs and philosophy that are more insightful than almost any other Franklin bio you will read. Plus his attempt to keep his own 13 commandments had me trying to keep from waking my wife because of my laughing.

Although the end of the book drags a bit the last 30 pages or so, the whole thing is incredibly worthwhile to gain insight into the life of this favorite forefather (after Washington, typically polling #2 in popularity) and life in the early colonies.

A delightful read, and also a wonderful leather volume from the Easton Press.