Saturday 28 July 2012

Something for the weekend

I was not going to blog today (was going to leave caption contest up) as i was going to try and relax this weekend. Anyway, after getting sick of twitter getting knickers in a twist over a certain MP i decided to go down the pub for a pint, however most pubs round my way are loved up with the Olympics.

So i thought i would take a drive to a pub in the middle of nowhere and have a smoke and a pint in peace and quiet, I also decided to face up to my fear and actually start reading the books i got for Christmas ( this is because i have not read a book from start to finish as an adult, hence why i feared it), anyway the two books had been had been gathering dust and i took one with me.

So i parked the car in the car park (just missed a wall, silly place to put it anyway) and got a pint, some dry roasted nuts and then took myself to the beer garden to start on the book, I only intended to read maybe 2-3, maybe 4 chapters as i could only have one pint as driving.

I skipped the introduction blah, i wanted to start at chapter one.

Someone once said "You have become the one thing you set out to oppose" (or words to that effect).

The book was "Animal Farm" by George Orwell ( i take it you have all read it?).

I had heard that it was a must read for politics student/leaners and when the opportunity came to obtain a copy i jumped at it (after it being recommended by someone on twitter).

I sort of new what happened at the end and what the story was going to say. What i was amazed at was how it would do it in such a simple , yet meaningful way. The story of the animals rising up against the human master for the right reasons, they wanted freedom and to own what they produce themselves, they didn't want to rely on humans or have a master, they wanted self sufficiency and just to be left alone to get on with it. They worked on a windmill no matter what happened , one horse (called Boxer) had two main phrases :

    "I must try harder"   "Napoleon is always right"

The first phrase is indeed a noble and worthy phrase, the second is blind ignorance that only a member of a cult would follow or spout. But then there was Squealer , the master of spin who prayed on the weak and dumb animals to deceive them, tractor stats were used to convince them that life was better than under the humans before.

As i was reading this certain things made sense, the main one was why we call politicians "pigs" and accuse them of having "snout in trough".

I said up the post a bit i only intended reading tops of 4 chapters, i finished the book. It was a brilliant read and if you haven't got it then, get it!!!

It is available at all good book shops and some rubbish ones as well (Gag borrowed from Socceram) :)

Just a note, when i asked for recommendations for books i asked for one on libertarianism  and one on Socialism, I didn't get a book on socialisim i got a book on the state/gov instead.


2 comments:

  1. Well done, Billy. 1984 next!

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  2. Most sincerely: Well done mate! Keep at it. Your life always begins from now. But you have just got a new and better *now*.

    BTW Don't miss the introduction! Go back and read it, if you haven't already done so. It may help to throw some extra light or context on things.

    I am so pleased for you!!

    P.S. Don't forget that I recommended Voltaire's Candide, see here how it compares with Animal Farm: http://bit.ly/ObbatQ

    Sample: Speaking of the Jesuits, Candide's valet says They are masters of everything, and the people have no money at all. Sound familiar?

    Finally, did you see that George Orwell's real name was Eric Blair!!?

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