Animal Farm. A Fairy Story.

George Orwell

ISBN 10: 0582530083 / ISBN 13: 9780582530089

Published by Longman, 1979

About this Item

Taschenbuch. Zustandsangabe altersgemäß. Sofortversand aus Deutschland. Artikel wiegt maximal 500g. 120 Seiten. Schulexemplar in englischer Sprache. Einband mit Gebrauchsspuren. Vorsatz mit Stempel. Seiten nachgedunkelt. Seller Inventory # 5546354 sr

Bibliographic Details

Title: Animal Farm. A Fairy Story.

Publisher: Longman

Publication Date: 1979

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: very good

About this title

Synopsis:

'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Animal Farm - the history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion, under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges... This thought-provoking drama was first broadcast as part of BBC Radio's The Real George Orwell season - a Radio 4 journey that explored the disjuncture between the man who was Eric Blair and the writer who was George Orwell.

2 CDs. 1 hr 30 mins.

Review:

Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong has been recognized as a classic of modern political satire. Fuelled by Orwell's intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing--both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol, wear clothes, sleep in a bed or kill a fellow four-footed creature. Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends and the two-legged are, by definition, the enemy. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. "We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of the farm depend on us. Day and night, we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." While this swinish brotherhood sells out the revolution, cynically editing the Seven Commandments to excuse their violence and greed, the common animals are once again left hungry and exhausted, no better off than in the days when humans ran the farm. Satire Animal Farm may be, but it's a stony reader who remains unmoved when the stalwart workhorse, Boxer, having given his all to his comrades, is sold to the glue factory to buy booze for the pigs. Orwell's view of Communism is bleak indeed, but given the history of the Russian people since 1917, his pessimism has an air of prophecy. --Joyce Thompson