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Animal Farm by George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair)

I have read Animal Farm and 1984, and I have to say I enjoyed 1984 more. However, my favorite book by Orwell is Homage to Catalonia. I dunno, just resonated more to me than his fiction works.
 
We did this book in my English class like, two years ago.
Well I mean, we only read a couple chapters before OHMAHGAWD GCSES! revision came upon us, so...

I'm guessing life doesn't get better on the farm? Q.Q
 
Ruby said:
The problem is that Orwell's fiction works are basically just an extension of his non-fiction. He became temperamentally incapable of writing books that serve a literary purpose before a political one. That's why his writing style is non-literary and plain even in 1984, which is supposedly a science-fiction novel. I think he felt that whenever he was addressing a large audience, it was wrong not to say something political. And if 1984 and Animal Farm fall short as literature, they have still been unbelievably successful from a political point of view. Orwell's capacity as a writer has to be given some credit for that. Otherwise it's like evaluating a writer of comedy and ignoring whether he makes people laugh.
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Yeah, but that doesn't defeat the point that his books are really boring and not especially well-written. Which was pretty much what I was saying. The politics of his novels are interesting, but nothing else is, which really ruins my enjoyment of them.
 
Applejack said:
Yeah, but that doesn't defeat the point that his books are really boring and not especially well-written. Which was pretty much what I was saying. The politics of his novels are interesting, but nothing else is, which really ruins my enjoyment of them.
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I would politely disagree with you. Although Animal Farm isn't a particularly challenging novel, I find the story incredibly interesting.
 
Applejack said:
Yeah, but that doesn't defeat the point that his books are really boring and not especially well-written.
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I think I only half agree with that. So far as the actual prose is concerned, his books are wonderfully written, especially Animal Farm. Prose was Orwell's greatest talent, and his style of writing has dated incredibly slowly. But at the same time, I can see why someone might think that his kind of prose, wonderful though it is, is more suitable for non-fiction than for novels. (Now, if it's actually his plots you dislike, or his characterization, or something purely novelistic like that, I can't argue with you there.)
 
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Ruby said:
I think I only half agree with that. So far as the actual prose is concerned, his books are wonderfully written, especially Animal Farm. Prose was Orwell's greatest talent, and his style of writing has dated incredibly slowly. But at the same time, I can see why someone might think that his kind of prose, wonderful though it is, is more suitable for non-fiction than for novels. (Now, if it's actually his plots you dislike, or his characterization, or something purely novelistic like that, I can't argue with you there.)
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Well, of course it's more suited to non-fiction - and I personally don't find that that style translates very well to fiction. I am fully aware that other people think otherwise and okay, I can understand why, but I find it tedious to get through. I re-read Animal Farm recently - since I'd read it when I was like twelve and I supposed that maybe it was just me not 'getting' it - but I didn't find it any more interesting than I had before. I don't really feel anything from his descriptions, which kind of sounds weird, but that kind of thing really puts me off a person's writing.

(I also don't like dystopian novels in general, but you know.)
 
Well, fair enough, I suppose. Personally I find Animal Farm entertaining and 1984 to be the boring one. You have to remember that nearly all of Orwell's writing is designed to be readable by oppressed barely literate proletarians 400 years from now. :/
 
I don't like either! And I don't care about those hypothetical future people. >:(!
 
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