And another thing…

DESPITE a very polite invitation, I am unable to meet with Old Holborn and Tory Bear today in the Westminster Arms where, they say, I was to have been presented with a copy of Orwell’s Animal Farm.

The gesture was planned after I posted an article suggesting that Orwell’s classic tale of agricultural shenanigans and glue factories was a charming children’s fable, just ripe for Disneyfication.

But today, being a celebration of a major victory against terrorism, is full of tradition. And one of the best loved, and more recent, traditions is Old Holborn (“I’m not mad – I’m furious!”) dressing up as that bloke out of V  For Vendetta and trying to march into the House of Commons, only to be asked by a police officer to remove his mask and go through the x-ray machine like everyone else, and then writing a blog post about how we’ve become a police state under Labour.

Which all just goes to show how lucky we are to live in a  country where people still have the right to demonstrate against not having the right to demonstrate about not having the right to protest.

Anyway, I’ve already got a copy.

I MIGHT as well endear myself to the salivating anoraks Libertarians even further by welcoming in advance the gift of a copy of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

When I described Nineteen Eighty-Four as “a rollicking good read” after receiving a copy from Old Holborn in the post last year, I provoked a deluge of indignation. Now, so I’m told, he’s preparing to send me a copy of Animal Farm (you know – the one you read for your O-levels if you don’t have time to read Nineteen Eighty-Four).

Which is great news. I have a very old copy and it’s always nice to get a new replacement. I might even read it again.

I’ve always been amazed that Disney never adapted it. Admittedly, it’s a bit depressing for a fairy tale, but so was the original version of The Little Mermaid before the kingdom of the mouse lightened it up a bit. All you’d need is a few good tunes (“You got four legs and he’s got two, let’s work together and we’ll see this through…” Or how about “I’m more equal than you, he’s more equal than me, everyone’s equaller than everyone else, just leave the math to me!” And who can forget the tear-jerking “So long Boxer, goodbye old friend, just because it’s a glue factory doesn’t mean it’s the end…”)

Roll on November 5th.