Animal Farm (PMC) 141182709

在线阅读本书 When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless eacute;lite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control. Soon the other animals discover that they are not all as equal as they thought, and find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. Orwellrsquo;s chilling lsquo;fairy storyrsquo; is a timeless and devastating satire of idealism betrayed by power and corruption. .com Review Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers'revolution gone wrong has rivaled Hemingway's The Old Man and theSea as the Shortest Serious Novel It's OK to Write a Book Report About.(The latter is three pages longer and less fun to read.) Fueled by Orwell'sintense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is anearly perfect piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegorythat actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust theirdrunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash incollectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars,and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' SevenCommandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animalsare equal. No animal shall drink alcohol, wear clothes, sleep in a bed, orkill a fellow four-footed creature. Those that go upon four legs or wingsare friends and the two-legged are, by definition, the enemy. Too soon,however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of theirintelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. "We pigsare brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of the farm dependon us. Day and night, we are watching over your welfare. It is for yoursake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." While this swinishbrotherhood sells out the revolution, cynically editing the SevenCommandments to excuse their violence and greed, the common animals areonce again left hungry and exhausted, no better off than in the days whenhumans ran the farm. Satire Animal Farm may be, but it's a stonyreader who remains unmoved when the stalwart workhorse, Boxer, having givenhis all to his comrades, is sold to the glue factory to buy booze for thepigs. Orwell's view of Communism is bleak indeed, but given the history ofthe Russian people since 1917, his pessimism has an air ofprophecy. --Joyce Thompson --This text refers to the Paperback edition. From Library Journal This 50th-anniversary commemorative edition of Orwell's masterpiece is lavishly illustrated by Ralph Steadman. In addition, it contains Orwell's proposed introduction to the English-language version as well as his preface to the Ukrainian text. Though all editions of Animal Farm are equal, this one is more equal than others. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. A modern day fable, with modern implications in a deceiving simplicity, by the author of Dickens. Dali and Others (Reynal Hitchcock, p. 138), whose critical brilliance is well adapted to this type of satire. This tells of the revolt on a farm, against humans, when the pigs take over the intellectual superiority, training the horses, cows, sheep, etc., into acknowledging their greatness. The first hints come with the reading out of a pig who instigated the building of a windmill, so that the electric power would be theirs, the idea taken over by Napoleon who becomes topman with no maybes about it. Napoleon trains the young puppies to be his guards, dickers with humans, gradually instigates a reign of terror, and breaks the final commandment against any animal walking on two legs. The old faithful followers find themselves no better off for food and work than they were when man ruled them, learn their final disgrace when they see Napoleon and Squealer carousing with their enemies... A basic statement of the evils of dictatorship in that it not only corrupts the leaders, but deadens the intelligence and awareness of those led so that tyranny is inevitable. Mr. Orwell's animals exist in their own right, with a narrative as individual as it is apt in political parody. (Kirkus Reviews) Animal Farm remains our great satire on the darker face of modern history. Malcolm Bradbury As lucid as glass and quite as sharp[Animal Farm] has the double meaning, the sharp edge, and the lucidity of Swift. Atlantic Monthly A wise, compassionate, and illuminating fable for our times. New York Times Orwell has worked out his theme with a simplicity, a wit, and a dryness that are close to La Fontaine and Gay, and has written in a prose so plain and spare, so admirably proportioned to his purpose, that Animal Farm even seems very creditable if we compare it with Voltaire and Swift. Edmund Wilson, The New Yorker Orwells satire here is amply broad, cleverly conceived, and delightfully written. San Francisco Chronicle The book for everyone and Everyman, its brightness undimmed after fifty years. Ruth Rendell With an Introduction by Julian Symons--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was born in India in 1903. He was educated at Eton, served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, and worked in Britain as a private tutor, schoolteacher, bookshop assistant and journalist. In 1936, Orwell went to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and was wounded. In 1938 he was admitted into a sanatorium and from then on was never fully fit. George Orwell died in London in 1950.

出版社	Penguin Classics
作者	George Orwell