For a decade or more, commentators have likened our world to that seen in George Orwell’s 1949 novel, 1984. A place where everyone is under constant surveillance by Big Brother and where propaganda is used to control minds while free thinking and freedom of expression are prohibited. But looking at what’s happening now, perhaps the author’s earlier allegorical novel Animal Farm is closer to the mark.
Originally published in 1945, Animal Farm has been reprinted in a deluxe edition by the Folio Society 80 years later, accompanied by a full set of wonderful satirical artworks by the British illustrator Quentin Blake. Arriving in a robust, buff-coloured slipcase, the 112-page novel includes 27 monochrome internal illustrations, a wraparound cover piece depicting the Manor Farm pigs in a wash of pinks, greys and tea-stain brown, plus a framed illustration on the front of the slipcase that reappears in colour as a frontispiece facing the title page.
Quentin Blake is renowned for his creative collaborations with children’s author Roald Dahl during the 1970s and 1980s, and here, he brings the same charm and quirkiness to a story with a dark political subtext. In the pigs, we see curiosity, cleverness and hope as they aim to overthrow the farmer, Mr Jones, and establish a society where all animals are created equal. Soon, in some of them, Blake also reflects cunning and, eventually, sorrow.
The fury of the hounds, the strength and suffering of the packhorse, Boxer, and the naivety of the other farmyard animals are similarly captured in his simple, gestural linework.
In a master stroke by the art directors at the Folio Society, the key text in the book’s layout has also been rendered by Quentin Blake. His jaunty script feels a little like political graffiti, quickly scratched onto the surface by an extremist – a harbinger of the totalitarian order that develops on the farm.
Police dog state.
Remind you of anyone?
The old hog was an idealist.
Old Mr Jones, the old order.
Blake’s lettering features in gold block foil on the slipcase and printed in a rustic brown for the title page, chapter heads, and drop caps throughout. A linen texture gives the book’s hardback cover an added layer of tactility. The body text is typeset in Berling.
Although Quentin Blake’s work is associated with children’s books – he was the UK’s first Children’s Laureate from 1999 to 2001 – his style is also reminiscent of newspaper comic strips. In this sense, it chimes perfectly with Orwell’s thinly veiled commentary on Stalin and his governance of the USSR, as well as other characters in the Soviet pantheon.
When it comes to parallels with today’s world, disinformation, propaganda, history rewritten, unquestioning loyalty, arrogant leadership, and tyranny are all present in Animal Farm.
At 92, Quentin Blake has illustrated over 300 books and continues to champion the discipline as patron of the UK’s Society of Illustrators. Animal Farm is now available from the Folio Society for £49.95.
Boxer rebuilt the mill but to whose benefit?
Manor Farm was idyllic back in the day.
