Written by George Orwell and published in 1945, Animal Farm is a satirical, dystopian novel that parodies the events of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Stalin era.
In Animal Farm, animals play the parts of the Bolshevik revolutionaries. Pigs are used to portray Stalin, Trotsky, Lenin, and Molotov. Dogs are Stalin's secret police, the NKVD. There are equines and sheep for the proletariat, rats for the nomadic northerners, and even hens to represent the Kulaks.
The novel is intriguing and makes history interesting in a new and horrible way. It was not written to comfort or to soothe, not to entertain or to give the reader that fuzzy, satisfied emotion that comes with a happy ending. It was written to tell.
I suggest this book for those readers who seek a deeper understanding of the Russian Revolution or for readers who just like to think about the ironies of fate: what better irony that this one, a revolution that turns into a worse dictatorship that the one before it?
Friday, April 17, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Waiting on the Lilacs
One week is not enough.
Spring break rolled around this year right when I was needing it most. I was so relieved to just sleep on Monday that I kept sleeping until one in the morning. My break consisted mostly of relaxing, chatting with friends, and working withmy dad around the house.
I got caught up on a lot of reading I had wanted to do. I reread (for the eighth or ninth time) East by Edith Pattou, started Brisingr by Christopher Paolini for the second time, and even read a short story written by a friend of mine.
I spent a lot of time sleeping and just lazing around. If I'm being honest, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a couch potato. Okay, so I'm a huge couch potato. But hey, that's what breaks are for, right- being super lazy. :)
Unfortunately, I also had to work some. One day I helped dad pick up branches that had fallen during and after the big ice storm and we took down three fences in my horse fields. After that, though, I stayed inside and cleaned the house while mom and dad made flower beds.
Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. I love flowers and get very excited for the Spring-time blossom. Without Spring break, I would miss a lot of the first flowers of Spring. Unfortunately, my favorite flowers, lilacs, didn't start to bloom until after break was over.
Spring break rolled around this year right when I was needing it most. I was so relieved to just sleep on Monday that I kept sleeping until one in the morning. My break consisted mostly of relaxing, chatting with friends, and working withmy dad around the house.
I got caught up on a lot of reading I had wanted to do. I reread (for the eighth or ninth time) East by Edith Pattou, started Brisingr by Christopher Paolini for the second time, and even read a short story written by a friend of mine.
I spent a lot of time sleeping and just lazing around. If I'm being honest, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a couch potato. Okay, so I'm a huge couch potato. But hey, that's what breaks are for, right- being super lazy. :)
Unfortunately, I also had to work some. One day I helped dad pick up branches that had fallen during and after the big ice storm and we took down three fences in my horse fields. After that, though, I stayed inside and cleaned the house while mom and dad made flower beds.
Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. I love flowers and get very excited for the Spring-time blossom. Without Spring break, I would miss a lot of the first flowers of Spring. Unfortunately, my favorite flowers, lilacs, didn't start to bloom until after break was over.
Excert from my 'Anthem' essay...
"Anthem tells an amazing story. The following quotes show the very moments where the message of Anthem is most thoroughly defined:
“The glass box in our arms is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good of our brothers.”
“I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning.”
“I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them.”
These are the moments in which Equality 7-2521 takes the steps towards Prometheus. These are the moments that define his journey from slave to master. These are the moments that characterize the victory of the strong, individual Man over the cruel, controlling Men. At the base of a ladder is the Mass. The Mass is cruel and evil and wrong. At the top of the ladder is the Strong. The Strong is many, and every one is one alone. The ladder is a journey, each rung a step that must be taken to move away from the Mass and towards the Strong. The purpose of Anthem was to show the steps in the most personal way possible. The three quotes above are the steps of the ladder that are the most grueling, and they are the most rewarding to Equality. "
- from Slave to Master, an Anthem essay by Emily Q.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Kite Runner Review
Lies. Love. Loyalty. Respect. War. Betrayal. Redemption.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (371pp) has it all .
There are many words to describe this book. Powerful, haunting, moving, innovative, astounding.
As I read this book, the sheer power of the emotion in the words had me laughing at some points, crying at others. On some pages, my heart jumped into my throat. On others, it nearly beat its way out of my chest.
The Kite Runner was so visual, so emotive, that I felt like I was right there with Amir through all his pain and guilt.
In the late 1900s, Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil. The Kite Runner is about two boys who grew up in Kabul during this time, their friendship, and their hearts.
There is so much to get from this book. Not only does the reader learn a little about the culture of Afghanistan and the country's recent history, but they learn about bravery, loyalty, and redemption.
"For you, a thousand times over..." - The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (371pp) has it all .
There are many words to describe this book. Powerful, haunting, moving, innovative, astounding.
As I read this book, the sheer power of the emotion in the words had me laughing at some points, crying at others. On some pages, my heart jumped into my throat. On others, it nearly beat its way out of my chest.
The Kite Runner was so visual, so emotive, that I felt like I was right there with Amir through all his pain and guilt.
In the late 1900s, Afghanistan was thrown into turmoil. The Kite Runner is about two boys who grew up in Kabul during this time, their friendship, and their hearts.
There is so much to get from this book. Not only does the reader learn a little about the culture of Afghanistan and the country's recent history, but they learn about bravery, loyalty, and redemption.
"For you, a thousand times over..." - The Kite Runner
White Fang Review
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." - Eden Ahbez, Nature Boy (song, recorded by Nat King Cole)
White Fang by Jack London (252pp) is one of my personal all time favorite books.
It is the story of a 3/4 wolf, 1/4 dog that grew up as a loner and fighter. Named by Indian masters 'White Fang', he first learned to use his fangs in his own defense, then in the defense of his masters, and finally in offense.
White Fang is sold to a man who sets him against other dogs for entertainment. He was beaten and goaded and mistreated, and he grew to hate the humans that crowded around his cage... and he took it out on the dogs that he met.
But then White fang is rescued...
And he learns what it is to love and be loved.
White Fang is an amazing novel of mercy and kindness and the changes those two things can wrought in a pained heart.
White Fang by Jack London (252pp) is one of my personal all time favorite books.
It is the story of a 3/4 wolf, 1/4 dog that grew up as a loner and fighter. Named by Indian masters 'White Fang', he first learned to use his fangs in his own defense, then in the defense of his masters, and finally in offense.
White Fang is sold to a man who sets him against other dogs for entertainment. He was beaten and goaded and mistreated, and he grew to hate the humans that crowded around his cage... and he took it out on the dogs that he met.
But then White fang is rescued...
And he learns what it is to love and be loved.
White Fang is an amazing novel of mercy and kindness and the changes those two things can wrought in a pained heart.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Anthem Review
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Anthem is a book that I look at with duality. In my own opinion, this book is to be read with caution in mind and taken with a grain of salt.
The theme of standing up for your individual rights is one I applaud. However, the idea of living for one's own self is one that I scorn.
Equality 7-2521 was a rebel against a loveless, suffocating Communistic society. Equality stood against the suppressing power of what we call peer-pressure... only it was a pressure that promised death to those who defied it.
I agree that individuality is important, but I don't think that fellowship with ones 'brothers' should be abandoned.
True, in Anthem, 'fellowship' was a twisted means of control. But real fellowship (friends, family, colleagues) is essential. What must not be forgotten is the need for balance between the two: working together in a group without forgetting that every member of that group is a unique individual in their own rights.
Towards the end of Anthem, the word ego took on both its 'truest' meaning, as Ayn Rand put it, and the meaning we use more commonly.
I no more endorse this book than I do oppose it. Anthem was a story of hope and the importance of self, but it feels to me that Ayn Rand took her 'truest' meaning of ego just a little too far...
Ego:
Anthem is a book that I look at with duality. In my own opinion, this book is to be read with caution in mind and taken with a grain of salt.
The theme of standing up for your individual rights is one I applaud. However, the idea of living for one's own self is one that I scorn.
Equality 7-2521 was a rebel against a loveless, suffocating Communistic society. Equality stood against the suppressing power of what we call peer-pressure... only it was a pressure that promised death to those who defied it.
I agree that individuality is important, but I don't think that fellowship with ones 'brothers' should be abandoned.
True, in Anthem, 'fellowship' was a twisted means of control. But real fellowship (friends, family, colleagues) is essential. What must not be forgotten is the need for balance between the two: working together in a group without forgetting that every member of that group is a unique individual in their own rights.
Towards the end of Anthem, the word ego took on both its 'truest' meaning, as Ayn Rand put it, and the meaning we use more commonly.
I no more endorse this book than I do oppose it. Anthem was a story of hope and the importance of self, but it feels to me that Ayn Rand took her 'truest' meaning of ego just a little too far...
Ego:
- the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its though
- egotism; conceit; self-importance
To perfect my world...
It's honestly hard to think of anything I could do to my own personal life any better than it is. I have great friends, a wonderful family, my pets. I always have what I need and most of the time what I want, too. My life is pretty great. Not perfect, maybe, but then who's is?
No, I happy with the way my life is. But the whole world in general? That could use some perfecting. There is not a single thing that could just up and fix the whole world like a snap of my fingers. No, that's not possible.
For the world to be perfected, to be put into balance, there would have to be a widespread breakout of compassion and understanding. Or love and the will for peace. Of kindness.
However, I doubt that that is going to happen anytime soon. After all, we're only human. Greedy, selfish creatures that we are.
No, I happy with the way my life is. But the whole world in general? That could use some perfecting. There is not a single thing that could just up and fix the whole world like a snap of my fingers. No, that's not possible.
For the world to be perfected, to be put into balance, there would have to be a widespread breakout of compassion and understanding. Or love and the will for peace. Of kindness.
However, I doubt that that is going to happen anytime soon. After all, we're only human. Greedy, selfish creatures that we are.
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