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Snowball's Chance
This unauthorized companion to George Orwell's Animal Farm is a controversial parable about September 11th by one of fiction's most inventive and provocative writers.
Written in 14 days shortly after the September 11th attacks, Snowball's Chance is an outrageous and unauthorized companion to George Orwell's Animal Farm, in which exiled pig Snowball returns to the farm, takes charge, and implements a new world order of untrammeled capitalism. Orwell's "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" has morphed into the new rallying "All animals are born equal--what they become is their own affair."
A brilliant political satire and literary parody, John Reed's Snowball's Chance caused an uproar on publication in 2002, denounced by Christopher Hitchens, and barely dodging a lawsuit from the Orwell estate. Now, a decade later, with America in wars on many fronts, readers can judge anew the visionary truth of Reed's satirical masterpiece.
Written in 14 days shortly after the September 11th attacks, Snowball's Chance is an outrageous and unauthorized companion to George Orwell's Animal Farm, in which exiled pig Snowball returns to the farm, takes charge, and implements a new world order of untrammeled capitalism. Orwell's "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" has morphed into the new rallying "All animals are born equal--what they become is their own affair."
A brilliant political satire and literary parody, John Reed's Snowball's Chance caused an uproar on publication in 2002, denounced by Christopher Hitchens, and barely dodging a lawsuit from the Orwell estate. Now, a decade later, with America in wars on many fronts, readers can judge anew the visionary truth of Reed's satirical masterpiece.
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
7 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 2, 2017
Rating: 5* of five
SNOWBALL'S CHANCE is marketed, for legal purposes one supposes, as a parody. If a classic is a book that's never finished saying what it has to say, then this is less a parody than an extension of the franchise into the 21st century. (I really hope you'll see the humor in that once you've read the book.) My review is live now at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. Melville House publishes a lot of crucial reading via The Neversink Library. This one is particularly valuable in Trump's America.
SNOWBALL'S CHANCE is marketed, for legal purposes one supposes, as a parody. If a classic is a book that's never finished saying what it has to say, then this is less a parody than an extension of the franchise into the 21st century. (I really hope you'll see the humor in that once you've read the book.) My review is live now at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. Melville House publishes a lot of crucial reading via The Neversink Library. This one is particularly valuable in Trump's America.
April 21, 2009
I love this book! I read Animal Farm when I was 14 and have wanted to read it again but haven't gotten around to it. Now it's a must after reading 'Snowball's Chance'. John Reed has an imagination like no other and his writing style is incredible. As I was reading, I found myself putting faces to the animals, not thinking of them as animals, and saying "ah-hah....", along with laughing in parts and feeling an incredible sadness in others. I recommend 'Snowball's Chance' to everyone, whether you're a fan of Orwell's 'Animal Farm' or not.
--I went to the animal show, where all of the animals go.
Said a flea to a fly in a flue, "Oh fly, what shall I do?"
Said the fly, "Let's flee!" Said the flea, "Let us fly!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue--
--I went to the animal show, where all of the animals go.
Said a flea to a fly in a flue, "Oh fly, what shall I do?"
Said the fly, "Let's flee!" Said the flea, "Let us fly!"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue--
September 3, 2025
Fans of Orwell's classic may feel it their duty to oppose this unauthorized sequel/satire, but to do so would be a mistake. This is a perfect extension of Orwell's book-- a skewering of American policy and capitalism run wild that, as the book suggests, led to 9/11. The book was famously written in thirteen days in the dim light of windows covered to keep the debris of the Twin Towers out of Reed's East Village apartment. The filth and horror of the tragedy is evident throughout this book, as is the answers to the question we all asked: how did this happen?
October 19, 2008
Of coure, I learned I love to be hated by the people I hate. I also learned something major about second drafts; the second draft is a cutting draft. If a writer can remember that, he will save himself/herself eons of work.
October 25, 2016
Too ham-handed.
March 9, 2021
رمان مخمصۀ حیوانات بر پایههای نوشتۀ پرقدرت جورج اورول، مزرعۀ حیوانات، ایستاده اما بر آن تکیه ندارد. مهمترین نکتهای که میتوان دربارۀ این کتاب مطرح کرد، تلاش بیحدوحصر نویسنده برای به هجو کشیدن نگاه اورول به جوامع دیگر و بهویژه جوامع کمونیستی است. جان رید در نقیضۀ، پارودی، خود جورج ارول بزرگ را به دام انداخته و تمام آرمانهای ضدچپگرایانۀ او را به باد تمسخر گرفته و طرفه اینکه این آش را با استفاده از همان موادی پخته که اورول به کار برده بود. کاری که در زمان انتشار اثر اصلاً به مذاق طرفدارن اورول، بازماندگانش و غولهای سرمایهداری دنیا خوش نیامد، تا جایی که اثر را نادیده گرفتند و حتی بهتندی به آن تاختند.
آنچه در کار رید توی ذوق میزند، شتابزدگی و اصرار به انباشتن اثر با تمامی نمودها و نمادهای سرمایهداری است که باعث شده داستان گاهگاه به شکواییهای کودکانه بدل شود و از مقصود اصلی دور بیفتد. انتخاب کلمات و انباشتن داستان از تمامی وقایع معاصر با جزئیات دقیق، جا را برای شکلگیری روایت داستانی تنگ کرده است. گویا نویسنده بیشتر دربند نوشتن جوابیه بوده تا خلق اثری ادبی، که با توجه به نگاه رید بهعنوان یک سوسیالیست، میتوان حدس زد نگاه او به ادبیات جنبۀ کاربردری دارد تا هنری ادبی.
باتمامی این تفاصیل، مخمصۀ حیوانات نقیضهای جذاب، بازیگوش، بیمحابا و تندوتیز است که خواننده را با روی دیگر سکۀ داستانهای پادآرمانشهری آشنا میکند و با استفاده از ویژگیها و ترفندهای این گونۀ پرطرفدار ادبی، اشتباهات و سهلانگاریهایش همچون آینه مینمایاند؛ حال اگر منتقدین برآشفته شوند و به قبای اطلسشان بربخورد و در دفاع از عقاید سرمایهدارانهشان فریاد بکشند هم اشکالی ندارد، باید گفت: آینه چون نقش تو بنمود راست، خود شکن آیینه شکستن خطاست.
دنیا همانقدر که در دام کمونیسم ترسناک بود، امروز در دام کاپیتالیسم دهشتناک است.
آنچه در کار رید توی ذوق میزند، شتابزدگی و اصرار به انباشتن اثر با تمامی نمودها و نمادهای سرمایهداری است که باعث شده داستان گاهگاه به شکواییهای کودکانه بدل شود و از مقصود اصلی دور بیفتد. انتخاب کلمات و انباشتن داستان از تمامی وقایع معاصر با جزئیات دقیق، جا را برای شکلگیری روایت داستانی تنگ کرده است. گویا نویسنده بیشتر دربند نوشتن جوابیه بوده تا خلق اثری ادبی، که با توجه به نگاه رید بهعنوان یک سوسیالیست، میتوان حدس زد نگاه او به ادبیات جنبۀ کاربردری دارد تا هنری ادبی.
باتمامی این تفاصیل، مخمصۀ حیوانات نقیضهای جذاب، بازیگوش، بیمحابا و تندوتیز است که خواننده را با روی دیگر سکۀ داستانهای پادآرمانشهری آشنا میکند و با استفاده از ویژگیها و ترفندهای این گونۀ پرطرفدار ادبی، اشتباهات و سهلانگاریهایش همچون آینه مینمایاند؛ حال اگر منتقدین برآشفته شوند و به قبای اطلسشان بربخورد و در دفاع از عقاید سرمایهدارانهشان فریاد بکشند هم اشکالی ندارد، باید گفت: آینه چون نقش تو بنمود راست، خود شکن آیینه شکستن خطاست.
دنیا همانقدر که در دام کمونیسم ترسناک بود، امروز در دام کاپیتالیسم دهشتناک است.
February 12, 2023
بهترترترین هجویه برای مزرعهٔ حیوانات که ممکن بود نوشته شود.
November 30, 2016
The problem with writing a sequel to a legendary literary property is that it’s almost impossible to do it right, and if you beat the odds and manage it, you won’t get any of the credit. For the original creator, the situation is already bad enough: if your work is a success, fans will clamor for more of the same and curse you for not producing sequels at a fast enough pace, while critics will excoriate you for returning to the same well instead of branching out in new directions. For the imitator or inheritor, though, it’s even worse: in addition to exposing yourself to lawsuits from coin-hungry estates, you deliberately open yourself up to charges of riding a greater artist’s coattails. If your work is inferior, you’re just a trashy literary hanger-on, trying to gain fame by hitching your wagon to a much brighter star; if your work can somehow stand on its own merits, people will wonder why you felt the need to rework an existing classic in the first place instead of just putting out your own original material.
If there’s anything especially noteworthy about John Reed’s Snowball’s Chance, a highly unofficial and hastily assembled sequel to George Orwell’s legendary anti-authoritarian allegory Animal Farm, it’s that it somehow manages to fall victim to pretty much every one of these pitfalls. The Orwell estate got all up in arms about it, threatening to drag him through the courts; devotees of the original (most particularly Christopher Hitchens, an Orwellian blowhard on a number of levels) were infuriated with him for squatting on the reputation of his betters; critics attacked for being simultaneously unoriginal and uninteresting; the modest literary talents possessed by its author were drowned in his unsuccessful attempt to simultaneously evoke and satirize his inspiration; and the attention the book received was almost entirely due to its controversial nature, rather than any actual positive qualities it possessed. It derailed Reed’s minimal career as an author, losing him a publisher and relegating him to the world of parody and mash-up, and it largely exists today as a testament to the twin follies of dangerous hubris and bad timing.
The work itself is easily digested; one of the curious things about it is how many missteps it manages to make in such a small amount of space. Only 130 pages long — slightly lengthier than Animal Farm, but still easily digestible — Snowball’s Chance revisits the famed revolutionary socialist barnyard of Orwell’s Manor Farm many years down the road. Assisted by a number of new characters, Snowball, the banished Trotskyite trotter and enemy of the state, returns to transform the now-corrupt commune into a free-market paradise, complete with electric lights, amusements for tourists, and an underclass of middlemen and money-makers. Things go awry when, tired of their exploitation from afar, the animals of the forest (portrayed here as a sort of mish-mash of Native Americans and Middle Easterners) contrive, under the leadership of a fanatical religious prophet, to bring down the towering Twin Mills, triggering a war of aggression and the rise of interspecies prejudice.
It’s not that this is a bad idea, necessarily. You could make the argument that, in the go-go era of Market Über Alles, when 19 hijackers managed to put up a detour sign on the road to the End of History, an Orwellian attack on capitalism might be necessary. Unfortunately, time worked against Snowball’s Chance in a number of ways. Its debut right after the September 11th attacks put it in full view of a public that had zero interest in clever tweaks of their rage and culpability, and even if that’s the time satire is needed the most, it fell on deaf ears until its revival a decade later — and now, with right-wing authoritarians coming back into power all over the globe, Orwell’s original works seem a lot more relevant than Reed’s book ever could. It had a moment, and it missed it. Besides, Orwell already wrote an attack on capitalism, and it was called Animal Farm; the point of the parable wasn’t that the revolution was doomed by bad ideas, but that it was sold out by the presence of corruption. The final scene of the original is not merely an indictment of Stalinism, but of the way it betrayed the promises of socialism.
That question also haunts the way a lot of people reacted to Snowball’s Chance. Orwell has always been a divisive figure, whose reputation, ironically, is used as a cudgel by various ideological factions depending on what kind of point they’re trying to prove. Was he too much of a socialist, or not socialist enough? Was he a liberal who sold out to conservatism, or a young radical who learned the error of his ways? The introduction to the book, by firebrand columnist Alexander Cockburn, concerns itself entirely with recent revelations that Orwell may have snitched on his red comrades; the importance of this claim is a discussion worth having, but tellingly, Cockburn has nothing whatsoever to say about Reed’s actual book, preferring to use his foreword as a springboard to hack Orwell’s reputation.
It might be just as well, though. Whatever you think about Orwell — either as a thinker or a writer — he was a lot better than Reed is. The brilliance of Animal Farm was its simplicity, its schoolbook rhythms and fairy-tale manner that made it such a perennial presence on Required Reading lists. Reed tries for an awkward imitation/evocation of Orwell’s style in Snowball’s Chance, but he never quite gets it: he introduces too many characters that are too hard to keep track of, a fatal flaw in an allegory. His punning references are either groaningly obvious or impenetrable, and the story takes what ought to be readily graspable traits and behaviors and makes them too complicated. Subtlety and complexity are desperately needed in actual political analysis in the post-9/11 era, but they’re death to the kind of book that Snowball’s Chance is trying to be. It shambles along, stringing together its metaphors in the same slapdash way its characters assemble Animal Fair; by the time it comes to its abrupt conclusion — ending at the exact point where the interesting parts of its narrative really ought to begin — it seems like a wasted opportunity. At the end of Animal Farm, it was impossible to tell the pigs from the men they worked so hard to overthrow, but there is no chance of mistaking Snowball’s Chance for the work that inspired it.
If there’s anything especially noteworthy about John Reed’s Snowball’s Chance, a highly unofficial and hastily assembled sequel to George Orwell’s legendary anti-authoritarian allegory Animal Farm, it’s that it somehow manages to fall victim to pretty much every one of these pitfalls. The Orwell estate got all up in arms about it, threatening to drag him through the courts; devotees of the original (most particularly Christopher Hitchens, an Orwellian blowhard on a number of levels) were infuriated with him for squatting on the reputation of his betters; critics attacked for being simultaneously unoriginal and uninteresting; the modest literary talents possessed by its author were drowned in his unsuccessful attempt to simultaneously evoke and satirize his inspiration; and the attention the book received was almost entirely due to its controversial nature, rather than any actual positive qualities it possessed. It derailed Reed’s minimal career as an author, losing him a publisher and relegating him to the world of parody and mash-up, and it largely exists today as a testament to the twin follies of dangerous hubris and bad timing.
The work itself is easily digested; one of the curious things about it is how many missteps it manages to make in such a small amount of space. Only 130 pages long — slightly lengthier than Animal Farm, but still easily digestible — Snowball’s Chance revisits the famed revolutionary socialist barnyard of Orwell’s Manor Farm many years down the road. Assisted by a number of new characters, Snowball, the banished Trotskyite trotter and enemy of the state, returns to transform the now-corrupt commune into a free-market paradise, complete with electric lights, amusements for tourists, and an underclass of middlemen and money-makers. Things go awry when, tired of their exploitation from afar, the animals of the forest (portrayed here as a sort of mish-mash of Native Americans and Middle Easterners) contrive, under the leadership of a fanatical religious prophet, to bring down the towering Twin Mills, triggering a war of aggression and the rise of interspecies prejudice.
It’s not that this is a bad idea, necessarily. You could make the argument that, in the go-go era of Market Über Alles, when 19 hijackers managed to put up a detour sign on the road to the End of History, an Orwellian attack on capitalism might be necessary. Unfortunately, time worked against Snowball’s Chance in a number of ways. Its debut right after the September 11th attacks put it in full view of a public that had zero interest in clever tweaks of their rage and culpability, and even if that’s the time satire is needed the most, it fell on deaf ears until its revival a decade later — and now, with right-wing authoritarians coming back into power all over the globe, Orwell’s original works seem a lot more relevant than Reed’s book ever could. It had a moment, and it missed it. Besides, Orwell already wrote an attack on capitalism, and it was called Animal Farm; the point of the parable wasn’t that the revolution was doomed by bad ideas, but that it was sold out by the presence of corruption. The final scene of the original is not merely an indictment of Stalinism, but of the way it betrayed the promises of socialism.
That question also haunts the way a lot of people reacted to Snowball’s Chance. Orwell has always been a divisive figure, whose reputation, ironically, is used as a cudgel by various ideological factions depending on what kind of point they’re trying to prove. Was he too much of a socialist, or not socialist enough? Was he a liberal who sold out to conservatism, or a young radical who learned the error of his ways? The introduction to the book, by firebrand columnist Alexander Cockburn, concerns itself entirely with recent revelations that Orwell may have snitched on his red comrades; the importance of this claim is a discussion worth having, but tellingly, Cockburn has nothing whatsoever to say about Reed’s actual book, preferring to use his foreword as a springboard to hack Orwell’s reputation.
It might be just as well, though. Whatever you think about Orwell — either as a thinker or a writer — he was a lot better than Reed is. The brilliance of Animal Farm was its simplicity, its schoolbook rhythms and fairy-tale manner that made it such a perennial presence on Required Reading lists. Reed tries for an awkward imitation/evocation of Orwell’s style in Snowball’s Chance, but he never quite gets it: he introduces too many characters that are too hard to keep track of, a fatal flaw in an allegory. His punning references are either groaningly obvious or impenetrable, and the story takes what ought to be readily graspable traits and behaviors and makes them too complicated. Subtlety and complexity are desperately needed in actual political analysis in the post-9/11 era, but they’re death to the kind of book that Snowball’s Chance is trying to be. It shambles along, stringing together its metaphors in the same slapdash way its characters assemble Animal Fair; by the time it comes to its abrupt conclusion — ending at the exact point where the interesting parts of its narrative really ought to begin — it seems like a wasted opportunity. At the end of Animal Farm, it was impossible to tell the pigs from the men they worked so hard to overthrow, but there is no chance of mistaking Snowball’s Chance for the work that inspired it.
January 24, 2016
Wow! I didn't expect a sequel book that's purpose was to satirize/parody Animal Farm and its author's writing style to be this good! While "Animal Farm" was incredibly relevant to the time it was written by exposing the evils of Stalinism, "Snowball's Chance" is incredibly relevant to the present by not only exposing the pitfalls of capitalism, but by alluding to racial segregation, the corruption of the press, trickle down economics, pollution, religious extremism, and international terrorism. The novel also finishes off with a blatant stirring allusion to 9/11. I know this book has ticked off a lot of diehard George Orwell fans, but even though I love "Animal Farm" I'm of the mindset that nothing is free from criticism. I really liked this book and I would suggest that you give it a try before deciding on the book's quality.
May 27, 2014
There is a reason George Orwell's Animal Farm continues to be a well read classic long after the warnings he issued are relevant. Animal Farm is a well-written novel where the allegory doesn't take over plot.
There is a reason few remember John Reed's Snowball's Chance, a semi-sequel to Animal Farm, even in the wake of remembering September 11, 2001 (nearly fifteen years later). The book is so overwritten that one finds it hard to glean any meaning from it.
Where the allegory in Animal Farm is well prepared and seamlessly interacts with the plot, so much of Reed's novel felt like an explanation of the allegory; Reed wanted to MAKE SURE we got it. As a reader, I found this to be insulting and flat out boring for the most part.
There is a reason few remember John Reed's Snowball's Chance, a semi-sequel to Animal Farm, even in the wake of remembering September 11, 2001 (nearly fifteen years later). The book is so overwritten that one finds it hard to glean any meaning from it.
Where the allegory in Animal Farm is well prepared and seamlessly interacts with the plot, so much of Reed's novel felt like an explanation of the allegory; Reed wanted to MAKE SURE we got it. As a reader, I found this to be insulting and flat out boring for the most part.
June 4, 2007
It was fascinating to check back with Snowball,and his second chance with
the farm. John Reed's animal characters hold a mirror to the continuing saga
of evolving economics and human foibles.Good read.
the farm. John Reed's animal characters hold a mirror to the continuing saga
of evolving economics and human foibles.Good read.
January 19, 2008
I have to say that I don't remember much about Animal Farm, but Snowball's Chance is really something, an awesome extended riff on September 11th, homelessness, immigration, and number of current social issues. It rocks. Nice work dude.
February 7, 2021
SIX WORD REVIEW: Different animals representing American diversity...brilliant.
August 30, 2022
Make Animals Great Again!
I’m not quite sure if I should call John Reed’s ‘homage’ as it were to Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ brave and original, or cowardly and exploitative.
Written soon after the attacks of September 11, Reed places his novel back in the barns that Orwell wrote back at the end of World War 2. He in fact resurrects many of Orwell’s characters. There is Snowball the pig, Benjamin the donkey, as well as many other callbacks to familiar names.
The difference in this novel however is that Communism, which has now become a bit tired and drab, is now replaced upon the triumphant return of Snowball, by a kind of manic consumerism among the animals. With this consumerism of course comes wealth disparity, a class of the super rich, a class of middle class animals who stare out their ‘windows’ (a metaphor for television, now probably our phones) all day, as well as an immigrant animal class. With immigrants naturally comes resentment and campaigns to expel them pick up speed.
As crime rises and the animals become more decadent, a displaced group of beavers living under a strict “Beaver Code” that believes upon death they will go to a world with 1600 virgin birth saplings, plots to blow up the symbol of the Animal Farm (now Animal Fair as the pigs have turned it into a glorified zoo), The Twin Mills.
It doesn’t take a lot of strenuous analysis to read this as a fairly straightforward critique of late stage capitalism as well as Muslim extremism. I’ll leave it to others to debate the moral issues of comparing Muslims to beavers and police to snarling dogs protecting the wealthy pigs.
I think there is always a place for satire, even if it is done clumsily, so it is slightly discouraging to read the criticisms the book received. Some accused Reed of blaming America or capitalism for the attacks of 9/11. While Reed is certainly critical of American exceptionalism and consumerism, he is also critical of blind religious faith. There is plenty of blame to go around.
By the time Reed has Snowball the pig grab a microphone and stand on the rubble of Twin Mills and exhort his fellow animals with chants of: “Revenge, justice, retaliation! The blood of beavers will flow in the river of the Woodlands!”, we are quick to despair that for all intents and purposes this actually happened. When an immigrant rabbit is beaten, we recognize this scene as well:
“And one of the shepherds nabbed a running rabbit. Wasn’t that Zeke? The Woodlands newcomer who worked the candy-apple stand? And before any animal could formulate a word, or even a thought, that dog had torn Zeke to shreds. And that dog, anyone who looked at that dog immediately saw it, he must have known something about Zeke the rabbit. And to look at Zeke, well, even in a chaos like this, he was clearly guilty of something”
To be clear, there is no justification for the violence that occurred on 9/11. However, to lack the ability to be introspective about one’s own behavior and its potential consequences, for both Americans and Muslims, practically insures a cycle of violence that is far larger than anything an at times ham-fisted satire can achieve.
October 5, 2013
Written in a period of a few weeks shortly after the September 11th attacks, Snowball's Chance reads like it was published more to seize the moment and benefit from the publicity it would receive from pissing off Orwell's estate (and his fans) than for its literary or critical value. There's not much point in reading it now that the attacks are so far in the rear view mirror and the controversy over its publication has evaporated.
Snowball's Chance follows Animal Farm as the rule of Napoleon has ended, and Snowball has to returned to the farm having embraced capitalism and the market. Accompanied by a team of technocratic goats, he usurps power and transforms Animal Farm into Animal Fair--an ongoing carnival powered by the Twin Mills where the animals of the farm work for wages. Reed also introduces the animals of The Woodlands, representing radical Islam. Drawing from the United States' actual involvement with these groups--including the Taliban--in Afghanistan, it's not hard to read Snowball's Chance as another "America's chickens coming home to roost" perspective, in this case somewhat literally (though the terrorists are hedgehogs and beavers, not chickens).
The book touches on a wide array of themes in U.S. history when it's not specifically about 9/11. Reed tries cramming in as many references as possible, sacrificing any semblance of a plot in the name of creating Animal Farm parallels to real world events. Orwell's original was unsettling because it showed a steady creep toward a betrayal of Animal Farm's utopian ideal, ending with the powerful final scene of the animals seeing the pigs transformed, but Reed has no such purpose; he seems to hope the reader will be shocked, or will enjoy fantasizing about Lee Harvey Oswald as a badger. If he fails to succeed on either front--as he did with me--there isn't much left to enjoy.
Snowball's Chance follows Animal Farm as the rule of Napoleon has ended, and Snowball has to returned to the farm having embraced capitalism and the market. Accompanied by a team of technocratic goats, he usurps power and transforms Animal Farm into Animal Fair--an ongoing carnival powered by the Twin Mills where the animals of the farm work for wages. Reed also introduces the animals of The Woodlands, representing radical Islam. Drawing from the United States' actual involvement with these groups--including the Taliban--in Afghanistan, it's not hard to read Snowball's Chance as another "America's chickens coming home to roost" perspective, in this case somewhat literally (though the terrorists are hedgehogs and beavers, not chickens).
The book touches on a wide array of themes in U.S. history when it's not specifically about 9/11. Reed tries cramming in as many references as possible, sacrificing any semblance of a plot in the name of creating Animal Farm parallels to real world events. Orwell's original was unsettling because it showed a steady creep toward a betrayal of Animal Farm's utopian ideal, ending with the powerful final scene of the animals seeing the pigs transformed, but Reed has no such purpose; he seems to hope the reader will be shocked, or will enjoy fantasizing about Lee Harvey Oswald as a badger. If he fails to succeed on either front--as he did with me--there isn't much left to enjoy.
August 31, 2014
I liked this book actually, and though I wish all of the old Animal Farm characters had remained, it was good. I thought it was a bit weird at the end, bringing in the whole 9/11 prospect, but all in all a good read, especially if you have read Animal Farm. The one thing that ticked me off was that Snowball became pretty much just like all of the other pigs, and Napoleon at that, but he wasn't at all like that in Animal Farm!
May 26, 2015
An unofficial sequel to Orwell's Animal Farm, it targets what Orwell had addressed in his book. Having been written after 9/11 attacks, Snowball's Chance makes heart wrenching references, down to the very detail of the blindness of the pigs to the attack, and down to the animal farm's response of "kill!kill!kill!" to the attacks, which still carries on to this day.
March 3, 2016
I really liked the premise of reframing Orwell's story as an anti-capitalist/anti-militarist allegory, and parts of it worked really well for me - the surge of berserk jingoism at the end is horrifyingly plausible - but other parts were a bit heavy-handed, and the writing itself is rather unremarkable. Probably a 3.5, all things considered.
December 20, 2008
Snowball is a capitalist. Fine. Beavers are Islamo-fascists. Fine. Water is oil. Fine. But did this anti-Orwell work have to be written as such a blatant, soulless allegory? My biggest criticism? Tired writing.
August 19, 2012
This was an interesting companion to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, focusing on September 11th and America's role in the attacks. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars on this, as it is an interesting idea, I am just not sure if he managed to completely succeed. Still, worth a read...
September 27, 2012
This self-proclaimed sequel to Orwell's "Animal Farm" has the pigs embarking on a capitalistic mission, with results as disastrous as the original Communist/Stalinist one. And thrown in for good measure, 9/11, etc.; a good bit of edifying fun.
November 19, 2012
Absolutely loved it, yet again. (shocker, i know) I loved the humor and all of the new characters and the snarkiness. I'm going to try to have a Snowball's Chance assembly with John Reed at my school.
December 30, 2009
Sooo good. It's a very fitting sequel to Animal Farm; I don't understand the scrutiny John Reed has been inflicted with.
June 11, 2011
a modern take of Animal Farm-I liked it for the most part, but had a hard time enjoying it because I kept on getting sucked into the politics of it all.
March 21, 2023
اول از همه اینکه به هر کسی که کتاب #قلعهی_حیوانات را مطالعه کرده ، خواندن این کتاب را اکیداً توصیه میکنم ...
اورول در قلعه حیوانات قویا در صدد کوبیدن نظام کومونیستی، بیان معایبش و تمسخر سرتاپای این سیستم هست.
پرفروش بودن و جذابیت قلعه حیوانات هم نشان دهنده موفقیت نسبی اورول است.
۵۷ سال بعد از اولین چاپ قلعه حیوانات،(کمی بعد از حمله به برجهای دوقلوی آمریکا) جان رید جرئت کرده روی دیگری از مزرعه حیوانات را به نمایش بگذارد.
"اسمیث در مصاحبه ای که با جان رید در آپارتمان او داشته، نوشته است: «رید گفت روز یازده سپتامبر وقتی در آپارتمانش در ایست ویلیج پیامدهای حمله تروریستی را در تلویزیون تماشا می کرد، این فکر از سرش گذاشت که اثر کلاسیک اورول را از نو بنویسد. این طور به یاد می آورد که: «به خودم گفتم چرا ا��ن کار رو کردن؟ حمله به برجهای دوقلو به ما نشون داد که نظام ما هم مشکل داره.»"
مقدمه و مؤخره این کتاب برای من بسیار جالب بود حتی جالبتر از متن اصلی
اشارههایی کوچک به شرایط جنگ سرد ، خفقان آن دوره و علاوه بر آن ، خاطرات نوجوانی نویسندهِ مقدمهِ کتابِ مخمصه حیوانات از موج اجتماعی ای که با رمان اورول ایجاد شده بود ذهنم را باز تر کرد....👇
"چیزی که دوره پیش دانشگاهی در دبیرستان هيثرد اون به من یاد داد، این بود که از قلعه حيوانات متنفر باشم؛ چون هروقت عقاید سوسیالیستی ام را در مدرسه ابراز می کردم، با ریشخند همکلاسی هایم روبه رو می شدم. آنها از خودشان صدای حیوان درمی آوردند و شعار البته بعضی ها از بعضیهای دیگر برابرترند سر می دادند."
و مهمتر از همه بیان همکاریهای اورول با سازمان امنیت ملی آمریکا، چیزی که طرفداران اورول منکر آن هستند .👇
"مخمصه حیوانات زمانی منتشر شد که شهرت اورول به خطر افتاده بود چون فاش شد که او در دهه چهل فهرستی از افراد مظنون به کمونیست مخفی و رفقای مسافر را در اختیار وزارت خارجه بریتانیا قرار داده و بر آنها انگ یهودی یا همجنسگرا بودن زده."
جان رید در مخمصه حیوانات، اسنوبال قهرمان، را به داستان برمیگرداند و جامعهای جدید میسازد .
جامعهای که هدف آن هرچه بیشتر کار کردن و خوشبخت شدن نیست بلکه کمتر کار کردن و لذت بردن است ... (*آشنا نیست؟*)
جامعهای که ادعای برابری و آزادی در آن بیداد میکند اما...
جامعهای که حافظهای تاریخی مردمش بسیار کوتاه است...
کسانی که بیرون مرزهای این جامعه هستند مشتاق مهاجرت به آن اند اما...👇
"حیوانات تازه از راه رسیده کارهای رختشویی و عوض کردن یونجه خوابگاهها را بر عهده داشتند و حیواناتی هم که سابقه و حق آب وگلی داشتند، به
قره جق بهداشت به کار سه روز در هفته در غرفه های مجهز به بخاری و تهویه مطبوع کارناوال مشغول بودند و آن چهار روز دیگر هفته را هم، خب، معلوم است، هر کاری دلشان می خواست می کردند. می توانستند سیگار دود کنند، مشروب بنوشند یا خواب ببینند.“
آیا این جامعه برای شما آشنا نیست؟
ترسیم این جامعه که برای ما خیلی از جامعه ی کمونیستی اورول آشنا تر است وجه ضروری خواندن کتاب مخمصه حیوانات است.
"⛔️ خطر اسپویل ⛔️"
کتاب با فاجعه ی آسیاب های دوقلو (بخوانید برج های دوقلو) به پایان میرسد…
فاجعه ای که به دست بیدستر هایی (بخوانید مسلمانانی )رخ میدهد که هنگام حمله شعار "ستاره آبنبات قندی" (بخوانید بهشت) سرمیدهند…
داشتم فکر میکردم کاش جلد سومی نوشته میشد و این بار ازنگاه و نظر ساکنان جنگل ، ادامه ماجرای قلعه حیوانات روایت میشد.
https://taaghche.com/book/93067
اورول در قلعه حیوانات قویا در صدد کوبیدن نظام کومونیستی، بیان معایبش و تمسخر سرتاپای این سیستم هست.
پرفروش بودن و جذابیت قلعه حیوانات هم نشان دهنده موفقیت نسبی اورول است.
۵۷ سال بعد از اولین چاپ قلعه حیوانات،(کمی بعد از حمله به برجهای دوقلوی آمریکا) جان رید جرئت کرده روی دیگری از مزرعه حیوانات را به نمایش بگذارد.
"اسمیث در مصاحبه ای که با جان رید در آپارتمان او داشته، نوشته است: «رید گفت روز یازده سپتامبر وقتی در آپارتمانش در ایست ویلیج پیامدهای حمله تروریستی را در تلویزیون تماشا می کرد، این فکر از سرش گذاشت که اثر کلاسیک اورول را از نو بنویسد. این طور به یاد می آورد که: «به خودم گفتم چرا ا��ن کار رو کردن؟ حمله به برجهای دوقلو به ما نشون داد که نظام ما هم مشکل داره.»"
مقدمه و مؤخره این کتاب برای من بسیار جالب بود حتی جالبتر از متن اصلی
اشارههایی کوچک به شرایط جنگ سرد ، خفقان آن دوره و علاوه بر آن ، خاطرات نوجوانی نویسندهِ مقدمهِ کتابِ مخمصه حیوانات از موج اجتماعی ای که با رمان اورول ایجاد شده بود ذهنم را باز تر کرد....👇
"چیزی که دوره پیش دانشگاهی در دبیرستان هيثرد اون به من یاد داد، این بود که از قلعه حيوانات متنفر باشم؛ چون هروقت عقاید سوسیالیستی ام را در مدرسه ابراز می کردم، با ریشخند همکلاسی هایم روبه رو می شدم. آنها از خودشان صدای حیوان درمی آوردند و شعار البته بعضی ها از بعضیهای دیگر برابرترند سر می دادند."
و مهمتر از همه بیان همکاریهای اورول با سازمان امنیت ملی آمریکا، چیزی که طرفداران اورول منکر آن هستند .👇
"مخمصه حیوانات زمانی منتشر شد که شهرت اورول به خطر افتاده بود چون فاش شد که او در دهه چهل فهرستی از افراد مظنون به کمونیست مخفی و رفقای مسافر را در اختیار وزارت خارجه بریتانیا قرار داده و بر آنها انگ یهودی یا همجنسگرا بودن زده."
جان رید در مخمصه حیوانات، اسنوبال قهرمان، را به داستان برمیگرداند و جامعهای جدید میسازد .
جامعهای که هدف آن هرچه بیشتر کار کردن و خوشبخت شدن نیست بلکه کمتر کار کردن و لذت بردن است ... (*آشنا نیست؟*)
جامعهای که ادعای برابری و آزادی در آن بیداد میکند اما...
جامعهای که حافظهای تاریخی مردمش بسیار کوتاه است...
کسانی که بیرون مرزهای این جامعه هستند مشتاق مهاجرت به آن اند اما...👇
"حیوانات تازه از راه رسیده کارهای رختشویی و عوض کردن یونجه خوابگاهها را بر عهده داشتند و حیواناتی هم که سابقه و حق آب وگلی داشتند، به
قره جق بهداشت به کار سه روز در هفته در غرفه های مجهز به بخاری و تهویه مطبوع کارناوال مشغول بودند و آن چهار روز دیگر هفته را هم، خب، معلوم است، هر کاری دلشان می خواست می کردند. می توانستند سیگار دود کنند، مشروب بنوشند یا خواب ببینند.“
آیا این جامعه برای شما آشنا نیست؟
ترسیم این جامعه که برای ما خیلی از جامعه ی کمونیستی اورول آشنا تر است وجه ضروری خواندن کتاب مخمصه حیوانات است.
"⛔️ خطر اسپویل ⛔️"
کتاب با فاجعه ی آسیاب های دوقلو (بخوانید برج های دوقلو) به پایان میرسد…
فاجعه ای که به دست بیدستر هایی (بخوانید مسلمانانی )رخ میدهد که هنگام حمله شعار "ستاره آبنبات قندی" (بخوانید بهشت) سرمیدهند…
داشتم فکر میکردم کاش جلد سومی نوشته میشد و این بار ازنگاه و نظر ساکنان جنگل ، ادامه ماجرای قلعه حیوانات روایت میشد.
https://taaghche.com/book/93067
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2018
There is definitely insight here, but overall it's kind of let down by the writing.
The metaphor as a whole works reasonably well, but it seems to try too hard to metaphorically represent every tiny aspect of post-war capitalism and neoimperialism - but then, having made a small jibe or reference to a real-world event, it'd often move on and never mention it again. With the result, it felt a bit cluttered, and certainly didn't have the elegance of Animal Farm. It also doesn't work as well as a didactic fable as Animal Farm does - it relies much more heavily on you already knowing the political landscape very well, and broadly agreeing with Reed's view of it, and so functions more as in-joke than fable.
I also think it would have been improved if there wasn't such a sense of trying to satirise Orwell himself. The foreword possibly shaped my impression of this (it goes to great lengths to attack Orwell's personal politics, as well as snubbing his writing style) but it very much seemed as though the book was designed to lampoon Orwell and neoimperialist capitalism in equal measure. This effort to mock Orwell's prose distracted from the political satire - which, I dunno about you, but that's what I'm here for. If Reed had just played the style straight and used it to move from Stalinism onto the new target, it would have worked a lot better in my view.
The metaphor as a whole works reasonably well, but it seems to try too hard to metaphorically represent every tiny aspect of post-war capitalism and neoimperialism - but then, having made a small jibe or reference to a real-world event, it'd often move on and never mention it again. With the result, it felt a bit cluttered, and certainly didn't have the elegance of Animal Farm. It also doesn't work as well as a didactic fable as Animal Farm does - it relies much more heavily on you already knowing the political landscape very well, and broadly agreeing with Reed's view of it, and so functions more as in-joke than fable.
I also think it would have been improved if there wasn't such a sense of trying to satirise Orwell himself. The foreword possibly shaped my impression of this (it goes to great lengths to attack Orwell's personal politics, as well as snubbing his writing style) but it very much seemed as though the book was designed to lampoon Orwell and neoimperialist capitalism in equal measure. This effort to mock Orwell's prose distracted from the political satire - which, I dunno about you, but that's what I'm here for. If Reed had just played the style straight and used it to move from Stalinism onto the new target, it would have worked a lot better in my view.
December 5, 2022
The book was good though adequately familar to many modern 1st world countries and their troubles. I won't deny the author's colourful writing and his fruitful imagination. The story is worth a read.
However, at times there seems to me to be a missing layer of depth, and most of the story comes back as a bit whimsical. Like, why are beavers potentially muslims or from the middle east? None of this appears developed.
I also dont think character of the animals fit as well as Orwell's book.. i.e. i'm unsure if Orwell can be credited to the sheep analogy i.e. creatures that huddle together and rarely fall out of line ( only to keep talking loudly over 'moaners').
Although the job shifting but back scratching dog ( which could easily have been a cat ) sounded believable and colourful.
In saying that, although the picture here IS familar, it has vaguely as much coldness that animal farm had and to those who dont do dark and honest books, this may fall better into their lap.
However, at times there seems to me to be a missing layer of depth, and most of the story comes back as a bit whimsical. Like, why are beavers potentially muslims or from the middle east? None of this appears developed.
I also dont think character of the animals fit as well as Orwell's book.. i.e. i'm unsure if Orwell can be credited to the sheep analogy i.e. creatures that huddle together and rarely fall out of line ( only to keep talking loudly over 'moaners').
Although the job shifting but back scratching dog ( which could easily have been a cat ) sounded believable and colourful.
In saying that, although the picture here IS familar, it has vaguely as much coldness that animal farm had and to those who dont do dark and honest books, this may fall better into their lap.
June 18, 2019
What a weird lovely little book. Definitely can tell it was written in two weeks, but it's also maybe the better for it. I want to hand this book to every 10th grader who's just read Animal Farm for the first time and make their teachers talk about THIS too. It's just as important as Orwell, and if you don't think it is, you're deluding yourself to how important Animal Farm actually is.
February 13, 2020
Interesting extension to modern issues of political and social problems. Satirizes current and relevant socialism versus capitalism of the world we live in. The text was well written although seemed to fall a bit long in some of the descriptive instances. Overall, I enjoyed the story finding it relevant to issues humans face today.
June 11, 2022
Clever and funny and I was interested to learn about Orwell's dark side. A bit obvious in the construction, but that's probably a comment on Animal Farm which it parodies.
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