How Animal Farm led a radical muslim to moderation

[Dan]

http://www.npr.org/2015/01/15/377442344/how-orwells-animal-farm-led-a-radical-muslim-to-moderation

Very interesting story. Animal Farm is also a book that made me think. It's fairly short and very enjoyable.

I think everyone should read it.

[Mark]

I read it in school, and didn't think too much on it, even when it was explained. But then I re-read it a few months ago and suddenly thought 'my God. I GET it.'

That said, my English teacher was the sort who'd sap the interest out of everything.

[Dan]

I read it in school, and didn't think too much on it, even when it was explained. But then I re-read it a few months ago and suddenly thought 'my God. I GET it.'

That said, my English teacher was the sort who'd sap the interest out of everything.

I don't think Animal Farm can have any effect when explained,  you have to experience it.

If anyone here didn't read it, you really should. It's short, it's entertaining, it's in the public domain. And it's eyes opening.

What age were you when you first read it?

[Mark]

About 14/15.

The teacher did explain that the whole thing was a metaphor for the rise of Soviet Russia, but he also had a habit of waffling and going off on unrelated tangents.

Seriously. Once, he was talking about the Globe Theatre, I wandered off into a daydream, and when I snapped back, he was going on about the size of Mars Bars and Wagon Wheels in the 30s....

[Dan]

The teacher did explain that the whole thing was a metaphor for the rise of Soviet Russia, but he also had a habit of waffling and going off on unrelated tangents.

I think it's a secondary concern. The biggest thing is that you get how a promised utopia turns into a dystopia. It feels very believeable. Just like that guy I posted about. He realized that his buddies would turn exactly like the animals in the book.

It'd be a great book even if it was based on a fictional place.