Animal Farm written by George Orwell - read by Stephen Fry
Not sure if I listened to this book because of Stephen Fry’s narration or because of George Orwell’s writing or because of both but I’ve returned to Animal Farm again.
Audible have released a George Orwell collection with Animal Farm and 1984 (1984 to come later here) as read by Stephen Fry but it’s never ever a bad time to return to Animal Farm.
Overall, Animal Farm is a book about power and the abuse of power and how power always corrupts.
It shows us all the power of privilege and what happens when people become more privileged and have an opportunity to retain their lifestyle and the privilege of the new lifestyle at the expense of others.
It teaches us about the importance of where our information comes from and how we retain it and how we discuss it and how we share and the importance of having a voice.
It’s actually terrifying at the moment especially after the recent elections and everything that’s going on in the world.
It’s awful to open any newspaper and to see how we’re being manipulated by the people in power (see the blog here about the movie Bombshell and Rupert Murdoch )
Add to the story the shear joy of Stephen Fry narrating a book like 1984 and listening to it being read by someone who clearly understands what the point of the book is and it becomes something you can return to again and again.
It’s such an accessible thing and it must be taught and shared with the children of today, to lead them on to 1984 and onto thinking more clearly about the world around them and about how they syphon the information which at the moment is being pumped into their brains; unbridled from the people with power.
Social media is the modern anaesthetic for the masses, the new kind of religion.
Animal Farm shows this and Moses the raven is basically Mark Zuckerberg.
Heads up if you’ve not done audible before, it’s free for the first book or two so this is worth it. As soon as there is a viable alternative to get off audible and away from Amazon, that too will become essential but at the moment no one else has quite caught up.
Animal Farm read by Stephen Fry - priceless.
Blog Post Number - 2733