Animal Farm

[Oldcarpy2]

Nothing wrong with surfacy! Pretty much any book you enjoy is a good book, in my opinion.

I just think it's the type of book that reveals some insight, but in a way that blocks going beyond that. Sort of a perceptual stop-gap?

Plus, as I said, no dragons!

No awesome firepower either.

But that's just me.

Deep down inside, I'm really shallow.

[Oldcarpy2]

I did this book at school.

Quite heavy handed I thought.

Confession time:  I gave up on Lord of the Rings.

I prefer Bored of the Rings.  It has a roller skating Dragon and the Bilbo Baggins character is called Dildo Bugger.

[FlyersFan]

Confession time:  I gave up on Lord of the Rings.

I tried.   Read like 50 pages and thought ... WTF?
Gave up too.
Really thought it was dumb and confusing.

[UltraBudgie]

I prefer Bored of the Rings.  It has a roller skating Dragon and the Bilbo Baggins character is called Dildo Bugger.

"We Boggies are a hairy folk / Who love to eat until we choke..." ¹

Plus the Tom Bombadil character with his, quaaludes I believe?



Ah, the classics...


¹ It's amazing the things that stick in your head from childhood. Picked it up at a used bookstore, not knowing what I was getting myself in to. https://arkhavencomics.com/2022/09/27/th...-harfoots/

[Oldcarpy2]

I tried.   Read like 50 pages and thought ... WTF?
Gave up too.
Really thought it was dumb and confusing.

I did like the Hobbit though.  LOTR - all those footnotes...Gaaah!

[Oldcarpy2]

"We Boggies are a hairy folk / Who love to eat until we choke..."

Plus the Tom Bombadil character with his, quaaludes I believe?



Ah, the classics...

Yes!

And the fireworks from the magic fairy Amy Surplus, too.

[Oldcarpy2]

"Toke-a-lid! Smoke-a-lid! Pop the mescalino! Stash the hash! Gonna crash! Make mine methedrino! Hop a hill! Pop a pill! For Old Tim Benzedrino!"

Etc.....

[Maxmars]

In my opinion, Animal Farm is a product of a time different from ours, where people had been subject to a "world" war... when generations became peripherally aware that some drama was playing out in the world... outside their villages, and cities... something which was definitely 'separating' people and made into "I'll tell you what it means" fodder for the awakening to a larger world.

The imagery and narrative was to draw a familiar setting with a different 'lighting'...
In the story, no one simply lives... but they live to serve only... failure to serve is failure in life.

And the moral quandary is "Doing the right thing for everybody."... even unto death... because it is proclaimed to be the 'right thing.'

When death occurs it's value as a sacrifice is both lauded and lamented... ironically celebrated by those who only compel sacrifice - but make none themselves... because among the collectives virtues is the kernel of a fact... some of us are more equal than others....

It's not a read which will delight... and the message contained in there is for people who lived a century ago...

It's no wonder it seems 'off' and 'paradoxical' to younger readers who only know of war as it is today... and they only 'learned' about the war's effect in 'schools' literally designed to create programmable drones.

Animal Farm was a daring work of symbolism; a dystopian, and 'new' from the perspective of almost everyone who read it when it was published. 

It had the quality of speaking about people everyone knew, or 'knew of,' which could not be publicly 'named'... or pointed out directly in most any social setting, without suffering direct grief for it.

[DontTreadOnMe]

Animal Farm still matters because it shows how power can change people. It reminds us to stay alert, question our leaders, and protect what we believe in.

If we don't, even our best dreams can slowly disappear.

The animals didn't fail because they were stupid. They failed because they trusted the wrong leaders.

Their hope was taken advantage of.

We need honest, responsible leaders who truly care about others, or the same problems will keep happening.

No offense to the book, but from what I heard, they played fast and loose with the moral of the story.
In all my years on earth, I have not heard the book being called a COMEDY.

Animal Farm is a 2025 animated fantasy comedy-adventure film directed by Andy Serkis and written by Nicholas Stoller, based on the 1945 novella by George Orwell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm_(2025_film)

IOW, if you want to know what the author said, best to read the book.
Reminds me of an old Murder She Wrote, where one of Jessica's books was made into a movie, and the only thing about the movie that was also in the book was the TITLE.

[DontTreadOnMe]

In my opinion, Animal Farm is a product of a time different from ours, where people had been subject to a "world" war... when generations became peripherally aware that some drama was playing out in the world... outside their villages, and cities... something which was definitely 'separating' people and made into "I'll tell you what it means" fodder for the awakening to a larger world.

Since your post is about the book, and not the movie---this thread is in the movie section, I can add that I believe we have been subject to a recent "world war"....the Covid epidemic certainly qualifies.
It profoundly changed the world.