Animal Farm - George Orwell

The book's fame preceded it. And hence my surprise at finding it a short story. A hundred pages or so. I was amazed at the concept of such a small story being so famous. Not that I was naive enough to reject the thought of short stories being famous, but I had fancied Orwell to be a novelist, much due to having seen the motion picture based on his book "1984", which , I will add in parentheses, was an utter disappointment.

George Orwell was famous for his anti-imperialist views. And in "Animal Farm" he seems to be mocking the socialist system. Or rather, any system in general. The story takes to a fantasy where animals organise a revolution against the human masters, or at least plan to. A revolt breaks out in a particular farm. The animals drive out their masters and run the farm by themselves. But of course, where there is a system, there are hierarchies. The story beautifully associates the various animal characters with the variety of people we meet every day. There are the leaders, the propagandists, the intelligentsia, the labour, etc.

The symbolism is shockingly real. One never feels out of context while reading the story. The way Orwell has described the human psychology (rather, the mass psychology) is worthy of many appraises, as it has already had. George Orwell delivers a smack on the faces of all the socio-political systems with a panache and mockery that is rarely as complete.

The concept was very entertaining; the story amusing. But I did not find his style of writing anything special. I do intend to read "1984" sometime in the future. But George Orwell is not as yet close to being on my list of authors who compel you to pick another book of theirs as soon as you put one down.

Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Dostoyevsky had impressed me immensely in "The Idiot". His style of story telling was utterly grasping, even though he frequently digressed from the topic at hand to discuss unrelated philosophies which might have been more applicable in the Russian society of his times but were still interesting enough to stir the contemporary reader into thought. So it was with high hopes that I picked up this book : hailed as the greatest of Dostoyevsky's novels.

The inception of the story was in a time when the Russians were facing a society divided between the thought schools of socialism and nihilism. On one hand was the idea of a society that was communal, where every one would live for the society as a whole, working for the benefit of every comrade. On the other hand were the nihilists who defied all authority and believed in their own right to make their life better by any necessary means. Dostoyevsky is supposedly inspired into the concept by the happenings around him when certain members of the intelligentsia abused their power to reason.

The book begins with an immediate focus on the protagonist and the narration sticks to him throughout without any change in the vantage point. The book relays the emotional tumult that the protagonist goes through in his views regarding what a crime is and who the concept of crime applies to. The emotional uncertainty and the nagging moral conscience are real enough to relate to on a much lower level. The various characters throwing light on how a human brain works and why it reasons as it does. The visions of grandeur that one is better than the crowd around him. The craving to prove himself in some way. The hesitation of "the first step" and the belief in a justification beyond. All these are very clearly expressed in either the discussions among the characters or the subauditions of the protagonist, Raskolnikov. Raskolnikov finally gives in to the physical strain that the mental harassment puts him under. But his final salvation comes from Sofya, a religious girl forced into prostitution because of poverty. Utterly symbolic of the corruption that has crept into the thoughts of the educated middle classes of every society where the rightfulness of a person is judged by his profession and social status.

The plot was gripping beyond comparison. There were times towards the middle and the end of the story when I simply could not help turning page after page, pushing back my sleep till after another chapter, then yet another chapter. The character building was nothing short of brilliant. The unnecessary details left out. The story ran as smoothly as conceivable.

"Crime And Punishment" exceeded it's reputation. An excellent read to say the least. Dostoyevsky impressed again and I will surely pick up another work of his before long.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Having seen the movie, I was biased against picking up this book ere I found myself browsing through the ever hypnotic shelves of fiction in a frequently haunted bookshop. I however wanted to prove to myself that Nicholson could not be surpassed. Hence the book; though the consequences could have hardly appealed to the imagination.

The plot could not have been more lucrative; neither the emotion that the writer expressed. The late sixties being the breeding grounds of the story, the rebellious attitude of the story is apparent. However, the imagination of the writer stands out beyond all else. Kesey has written an account of the terrible oppression and the suffocation that was faced by the free/creative souls during the cold war on both sides of the curtain. The basic spirit of the book is visible a mile afar.

The book narrates on behalf of an American Indian in a mental asylum. Chief Bromden tells us how it was like to survive as eccentrics and positively insane in the sixties. Mixed with the freedom seeking and psychedelic induced life of the sixties, it all stands, but stark naked, that the fundamental theory of the book is rebellion again 'the system'. The system is defined as the classical communist propaganda that aimed at making the human species a 'resource' rather than a life form (credits to Deva for the word). The rebellion, led by a certain Mr. Randle Patrick McMurphy, was aimed at realising indivisuality inside an asylum. To see one self as a person rather than a slave of the community. The system depicted by a megalomaniac nurse is shown as an executor of conformity as well as the executer of those that did not conform. The endless tactics used by the 'society' are discussed and so are the emotions they instill in the human brain.

The story inspired me beyond measures. The thought held me culprit for not rebelling. To speak of it in the modest way, Ken Kesey is indeed an instiller. He inspires beyond expression while exposing to you the bitter truth of life. He is one of those few talented that know how to write. However in the conclusion of the root curiosity, Nicholson kept his position as McMurphy. His grinning face never failed to pop up during McMurphy's trickery. Though I would like to immensely credit Ken Kesey as a story teller.