How To Love Lit Podcast

Animal Farm - Episode #1 - Meet George Orwell and the array of world forces that produced this classic work!

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver.

And I’m Garry Shriver, and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. Today we start another political tale- this time instead of a play written two-thousand years, ago, we will discuss a novel, well officially it’s a novel, but its author called it a fairy-tale, albeit without the prince charming, beautiful princess and the happily ever after ending. I’m not sure how it’s a fairy tale at all, actually.

HA! Yes, Orwell was very careful with his words and that bit of satirical language sets the tone for what’s to come in this strangely inspirational scary yet playful warning about the dangers of power and totalitarianism. And speaking about Orwell calling it a fairy tale- the American publisher omitted that title in the American edition a year after it was written and after that so did everyone else- I’m really not sure why. ,It’s an obvious fable that works on several levels. First, it’s a charming story about talking animals- and it works so well on that level and written so simply that there are libraries who mistakenly put it in the juvenile section of the library. And in some sense it is simple and that makes it a relief to read. I saw in a survey done by the Independent newspaper of Great Britain that it is THE most popular book adults remember from their school days- even beats out The Great Gatsby, Charlottes’s Webb and lord of the flies- and if I were to guess, and I will, I have a feeling, that’s because most of the books we make kids read have complicated vocabulary, old fashioned syntax and are just exhausting. Animal Farm is none of that. It has a simplicity of form that makes it simple to navigate- but if you read it ONLY in that way- you are making a grave mistake. It’s not the same as the jungle book or Beatrix Potter. It’s a biting satire about Soviet Totalitarianism as well as an important allegory on basic human nature- what people are really like- and exposing complicated people as simply as he did is where the genius rests- We should never mistake simplicity of form with simplicity of ideas- and an oversimplification of this story makes you the gullible fools he’s writing about and warning you not to be.

Another point mentioning is that this book has been controversial from before it was published. Orwell finished the manuscript to Animal Farm in 1943 but it wasn’t published until August 1945 by a company called Secker & Warburg. Frederic Warburg published the book despite his wife threatening to leave him if he did publish it. It was horrifying to publish a book so openly mocking the Russians who were our allies in WW2 and had lost so many men in the fight against Hitler. The book came out literally the same month in which the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki- and although no one would have known it at the time- there’s a bit or irony to think about the fact that the Manhattan Project, an effort basically committed to figuring out how to blow up the world, was literally going on at the exact same time Orwell was writing this warning about the political scenario that would lead to such a disaster- anyway- despite his wife’s protestations, Warburg published the book and the 4,500 copies he printed sold out in just a few days. Nine million copies were sold by 1973 and Warburg gained popularity from his connection to Animal Farm. The fact that the everyone knew the book would be controversial only made them want to read it more.

Even after WWII and the book’s obvious success there has still been some opposition to it in the classroom, although nothing like of mice and men or Huck Finn. In the sixties in Wisconsin the book was challenged because of its phrases about revolution, and people were afraid this would cause public revolt .At the same time in New York, there was opposition because Orwell was a socialist and they did not want to teach a book thought to be written by a communist. But in the end, it has been hailed in free countries as a great exposition of communism, and it’s banned in countries where control of free thought is government policy. Animal Farm is still banned in Cuba, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates according to the American Library Association. Only a censored version is read in China and the book was banned in Russia from 1945 until the 1980’s. Of course, on the other side of this issue, and this is kind of funny- Animal Farm is the only book I know of that the CIA actually funded, In the 1950s, the CIA actually paid to have an animated version of this book distributed around the world.

It does seem that that this unassuming “fairy tale”does ruffle feathers- it can’t be ignored. There is a lot to say about the different ways to approach this book. First we must look at it in its original historical context, the politics of Russia, Spain, the 1940s, etc...this is how Orwell intende...

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Patrick Henry-"Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!" - Part 1 of the American Documents Series

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver. And welcome to the How to Love Lit Podcast.

I’m Garry Shriver. We’re glad you’re joining us, if you enjoy our work, please consider supporting us by giving us a five star rating on your podcast ap, such as apple. Also, consider texting your favorite episode to a friend. That’s how we grow.

Today, we begin a three part series where we explore three historical documents that have fallen into the American literary canon, not only for their historical importance, but also for their literary excellence.

As the history person, I get very excited when history and literature overlap- and today’s speech is an incredible example of literature changing the world.

Yes- that’s right. Today, we are going to analyze Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginian Convention- clearly a persuasive writing piece. Next week we’re going to look at the Declaration of Independence, and finally, we’re going to read and discuss the Constitution of the United States of America- primarily from a literary perspective. I’m very excited to explore these works, not just because they ae famous, but because they are rhetorical. As we’ve discussed, a lot of my teaching instruction centers around the analysis of rhetoric and these works are some of the very first in the American Canon- they are foundational but I don’t say BEST, because honestly, America has produced some really remarkable and important pieces of rhetoric. We’ve already featured Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot that has gone into the American conversation over the last 200 years, so Garry, since we’re starting at the beginning- which I guess we’re not- we’re onbly starting 200 years ago, but start us 200 years ago with the migration of European peoples to the Americas as our starting point, how do we get to Patrick Henry?

The tide of migration from Europe to North America, is only one occasion of the restless movements of mankind on this planet we all share. Of course, just on this podcast, we’ve looked at the Greek spirit as well as the Roman spirit, most notably represented through the person of Julius Caesar. But, of course, world history is the story of this progression- if you want to call it that- all over the globe. What stands as unique in the North American case, and something that was highly unusual, is that the thousands who came to the North American colonies did not only come here to exploit and conquer in the name of the Motherland- although that happened here too- there is little doubt. But strangely, most of the voluntary immigrants, did so because they did not like the country they came from nor many of the patterns of life that had evolved there.

In the beginning they were the offscouring of European society whose condition was so bad that moving to a wilderness settlement was a better option.

They came to create a new political and religious world- and although the North American story is not a story of perfect people doing perfect things- it’s often bloodly and sad- but what has emerged here after many years of stuggle- has become a notable success story for many on planet earth. The ideals that developed over the last 300 years have elevated the quality of life for millions that today call the United States home. So we want to take the next three weeks to explore three foundational documents that set in motion a system of government that is the basis for the oldest continuous working democracy in the world- today we’re going to look at Patrick Henry’s fiery speech before the Revolutionary war at the Virginia convention. Next week we’ll read through the Declaration of Independence and lastly we’ll look at to the Constitution.

Yes- When we think of exploration around the world, or at least me as I was brought up studying the colonization of Brazil and then last week as we saw with the Conquistadores- but I know this is also true for migrations to the African continent- we think of European developers looking for resources from other lands and and taking them back to Europe. For example, in the case of the Brazil, most colonizers were men employed by companies. They wanted gold, wood and other natural resources.

Well, don’t think that didn’t happened in North America too because that’s part of our story too. Four of the 13 colonies in North America owed their origins to trading companies. The English, the Dutch, the Swedes all christened settlements that eventually became colonies. So we have that. We also have this unusual religious foundation that we don’t commonly see in other colonizations movements. And in the case of this part of North Americs- it was the most influential faction. There were at least 20,000 pilgrims alone who came over in this group. I know lots of people are familiar with...

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