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Animal Colony: A cautionary tale for today
At the dawn of a killer colonial winter, starving and desperate to live, a brave band of Animals escape the tyranny of their human Masters. Led by a visionary stallion, they brave miles of wilderness and a treacherous river crossing to start a homeland of their own--Animal Colony. There, they find freedom and prosperity... for a while. But a seductive and destructive belief system invades Animal Colony. The humble beasts must then learn to tell truth from enticing lie, or risk losing everything for which they've fought and bled.
181 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 14, 2014
An interesting read here. Makes me wonder where we are going in this current ocean of chaos that we call, "life with politics" here in the U.S. Quick read, worth checking!
November 9, 2009
This was a great read. I read it to my 11 and 13 year old aload yesterday and finished today. We couldn't put it down. I fought back tears a couple of times as I read and I thought about our current situation and the future I may face with my children. I stopped several times and ask my children what a certain part meant or what was the current day parallel to help them process. Also, with the Health Care reform bill passing in the house last night it made it that much more a stark reality. Wake up America!!!
December 1, 2010
Wow, this book is awful! It was given to me by someone I work with, with whom I had had a few brief political discussions. He said it dealt with "some of the things we've talked about." I've always thought that if someone goes to the trouble of not only recommending a book, but actually bringing me a copy, it's a gesture worthy of respect, so I always try my best to read any book that comes to me that way. So... I plunged in.
The book was -- mercifully -- short, although it managed at the same time to be immensely tedious. Its plot is a complete (though unacknowledged) rip-off of Orwell's Animal Farm. I suspect the authors of Animal Colony probably imagine their book to be an Americanization, or a modernization, or even a tribute to Orwell's book, but when you take the basic format, character types, and plot from another book and dumb it down radically, while simultaneously not giving an ounce of credit for what you've stolen -- well, that's just a rip-off. This book has none of the virtues that have made Orwell's book one that people are still reading decades after its publication. Whatever you may think of Orwell's politics, he could certainly write.
I can't say the same of this book's authors. Both the writing and the ideas are simplistic, the characters are completely one-dimensional, the dialogue stilted and banal. Yes, I know this is allegory, and yes, I know that the rules for character are different in allegory than in fiction that strives for some kind of psychological realism. Writing allegory, though, is not an excuse for writing poorly. This book reads like a children's book written by someone with no talent and little facility for language. No, actually -- it's worse than that. At times it reads like an entry in a bad writing contest. Here's one example, from early in the book. The animals have left the shelter of the farm and are seeking a new place to build a colony:
"So what?," you say -- "so these guys aren't writers by trade, but if their ideas are good ones, why should we quibble about their writing abilities?" Well, first of all because they published a book, so yes, their inability to use language correctly and clearly, and to express their ideas in at least a competent prose style, must be taken seriously. Secondly, their ideas, like their writing, are simplistic and unsound.
Apparently this book is a favorite in Tea Party circles, and I can certainly see why. Beneath the little animal story, it spouts the same old tired ideological claptrap that the right has been pushing at us all for decades now: the poor are poor because they're lazy and undeserving, taxes are a form of theft, the rich are more moral, harder-working -- quite simply better -- than the rest of us. It's amazing how many standard right-wing beliefs the authors manage to cram into this little book -- the unfairness of affirmative action, the evils of the press and of academia, the terrors of immigrants on welfare, the wrong-headedness of public housing and subsidized child care, among others -- but there are no new ideas here at all, and no arguments worthy of attention, just crass over-simplifications and strawmen villains.
Here, for instance, is how the authors address the problems of the inner-city poor, as well as the large-scale exportation of jobs and the economic changes inherent in globalization. Bucky the beaver, a hard-working business owner, has been fined by the government for not employing enough pink animals. Hopeless, an impoverished pig who would rather sleep than work, has been found starving outside of Bucky's door.
Thankfully, though, the book also offers a prescription for how to live well and avoid all the unpleasantness caused by the policies of the welfare state -- a magic solution that allows everyone to live in harmony. This passage is from a point in the book when things are going well, before the colony is corrupted by those terrible lazy poor people, and by those who think that pink animals should get preferential treatment over others.
There are other writers who have given us books which, in interesting and thoughtful ways, explore the tension between individual freedom and social responsibility -- Orwell, of course, but also Ursula LeGuin, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Aldous Huxley, and Marge Piercey are just a few that come to mind. If you're thinking about reading Animal Colony, do yourself a favor -- read one of these other writers instead. Or better yet, pick up a book by Jonathon Kozol or Frances Fox Piven, a book that directly addresses the real causes and consequences of the growing inequity in American society.
Me, I'm off to re-read Animal Farm, because it's been a good twenty years since I read it last, and because I need to get the taste of this artless, hateful bile out of my mouth.
The book was -- mercifully -- short, although it managed at the same time to be immensely tedious. Its plot is a complete (though unacknowledged) rip-off of Orwell's Animal Farm. I suspect the authors of Animal Colony probably imagine their book to be an Americanization, or a modernization, or even a tribute to Orwell's book, but when you take the basic format, character types, and plot from another book and dumb it down radically, while simultaneously not giving an ounce of credit for what you've stolen -- well, that's just a rip-off. This book has none of the virtues that have made Orwell's book one that people are still reading decades after its publication. Whatever you may think of Orwell's politics, he could certainly write.
I can't say the same of this book's authors. Both the writing and the ideas are simplistic, the characters are completely one-dimensional, the dialogue stilted and banal. Yes, I know this is allegory, and yes, I know that the rules for character are different in allegory than in fiction that strives for some kind of psychological realism. Writing allegory, though, is not an excuse for writing poorly. This book reads like a children's book written by someone with no talent and little facility for language. No, actually -- it's worse than that. At times it reads like an entry in a bad writing contest. Here's one example, from early in the book. The animals have left the shelter of the farm and are seeking a new place to build a colony:
I was laughing out loud by the time I got to the end of this paragraph, and I had to call my husband over so he could enjoy it as well. ("Without hesitating..." I love it!) This isn't the only example of this kind of ridiculously bad writing in the book, either. At one point, when the animals are sharing with each other, the authors write this: " ... every recipient made certain to give back a tangible portion from their own gifts and talents. The chickens did likewise with their eggs. And the sheep exchanged their wool to help the more coolly endowed stay warm." (p. 60) "The more coolly endowed?" Seriously? These guys really need an editor. Or perhaps I should say a "less bad-writing endowed person."Finally, just as it seemed that the last of their strength was almost spent, Buster the dog came bounding back from one of his frequent scouting missions.
"Guess what, everyone!" he panted, grinning broadly. "Just a few hundred yards ahead, I found a whole cluster of large, well-built shelters in a clearing! Without hesitating, I risked my life to check out each structure with my sense of smell. They used to be lived in by humans a long time ago, but they're now completely empty. They've been that way for some time." (p. 40)
"So what?," you say -- "so these guys aren't writers by trade, but if their ideas are good ones, why should we quibble about their writing abilities?" Well, first of all because they published a book, so yes, their inability to use language correctly and clearly, and to express their ideas in at least a competent prose style, must be taken seriously. Secondly, their ideas, like their writing, are simplistic and unsound.
Apparently this book is a favorite in Tea Party circles, and I can certainly see why. Beneath the little animal story, it spouts the same old tired ideological claptrap that the right has been pushing at us all for decades now: the poor are poor because they're lazy and undeserving, taxes are a form of theft, the rich are more moral, harder-working -- quite simply better -- than the rest of us. It's amazing how many standard right-wing beliefs the authors manage to cram into this little book -- the unfairness of affirmative action, the evils of the press and of academia, the terrors of immigrants on welfare, the wrong-headedness of public housing and subsidized child care, among others -- but there are no new ideas here at all, and no arguments worthy of attention, just crass over-simplifications and strawmen villains.
Here, for instance, is how the authors address the problems of the inner-city poor, as well as the large-scale exportation of jobs and the economic changes inherent in globalization. Bucky the beaver, a hard-working business owner, has been fined by the government for not employing enough pink animals. Hopeless, an impoverished pig who would rather sleep than work, has been found starving outside of Bucky's door.
Yes, it's all due to those high taxes and those lazy "pink" welfare queens -- and here you thought it was more complicated than that!The following week found the beaver in front of a judge appointed by Gill [the evil, greedy master pig]. The judge ruled that because Bucky could not pay the fines imposed, his home would be confiscated and turned into a Colony-subsidized dwelling for unfortunate Animals like Hopeless.
The bold action only reinforced Gill's reputation as a fighter for the poor and disadvantaged. However, it did little to improve Hopeless' [sic] lot. That next spring found the young pig and his friends living in squalor, in a dwelling now ruined by neglect. The neighborhood was by then riddled with trash and abandoned due to its reputation as a gathering place for thieves and vagrants.
Bucky soon moved his construction business beyond Animal Colony's borders, triggering a prosperity loss that grew into a Sector-wide unemployment problem.(pp. 119-120)
Thankfully, though, the book also offers a prescription for how to live well and avoid all the unpleasantness caused by the policies of the welfare state -- a magic solution that allows everyone to live in harmony. This passage is from a point in the book when things are going well, before the colony is corrupted by those terrible lazy poor people, and by those who think that pink animals should get preferential treatment over others.
Wow, isn't that great? All you have to do is keep out of the way, and the market will take care of everything! It's just so simple and easy!Animal Colony was expanding in both numbers and territory. Those moving to the new areas developed the land, organized and sent representatives to the Central Council. Competition between the Sectors kept revenues and services in balance. In a similar way, competition between businesses kept prices and wages reasonable. Animals with their own enterprises actually found it necessary to compete for employees by offering better pay and benefits.
As a result, prosperity became the rule for the next several years.(pp. 82-83)
There are other writers who have given us books which, in interesting and thoughtful ways, explore the tension between individual freedom and social responsibility -- Orwell, of course, but also Ursula LeGuin, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Aldous Huxley, and Marge Piercey are just a few that come to mind. If you're thinking about reading Animal Colony, do yourself a favor -- read one of these other writers instead. Or better yet, pick up a book by Jonathon Kozol or Frances Fox Piven, a book that directly addresses the real causes and consequences of the growing inequity in American society.
Me, I'm off to re-read Animal Farm, because it's been a good twenty years since I read it last, and because I need to get the taste of this artless, hateful bile out of my mouth.
March 26, 2016
While I enjoyed this book and believe all students would benefit from reading it and then comparing it to today's society, I think it would cause a major uproar!
This book is written on a 4th to 5th grade level but at the interest level of upper elementary to adults, especially those not happy with today's society. This book is very reminiscent of "Animal Farm"; I just wonder how many are willing to read and ponder an "Animal" version of today's American government?
This book is written on a 4th to 5th grade level but at the interest level of upper elementary to adults, especially those not happy with today's society. This book is very reminiscent of "Animal Farm"; I just wonder how many are willing to read and ponder an "Animal" version of today's American government?
June 15, 2009
Interesting book and a sobering allegory of our society and where we are headed. I have never read Animal Farm, but knowing the basic plot, I would say this book is similar...only probably an easier read!
August 26, 2014
Excellent!!!!! Totally relevant to today's political climate!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews