Comrades,

After the football triumphs of which I informed the Tournament Fanatics Bereft of Fabulous Beasts, I decided to learn more about socialism. I carried out some reading, of sources that I wouldn’t recommend, and I’ve decided that there’s some good ideas in it – I may have to reconsider the manifesto of the Alternative Land Use Party. I’ve certainly become more principled; I refused to accept a carrier bag for the sandwich I bought from Marks & Spencer despite the fact I was already juggling a jersey (because it was too warm), an iPod and a wallet, I also refused a carrier bag for the carton of milk and loaf of bread that I bought from my local convenience store and I wrote those angry letters.

I decided to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. It’s perhaps one of those books everyone should read, although I don’t believe in forcing people to fall into line. I read 1984 a few years ago, I found it scary but worthy of my interest, other than my recent foray into socialism, this was as good a reason as any to read Animal Farm. I don’t see any need to comment on Animal Farm, it speaks for itself, like Orwell hoped. I would recommend acquiring a copy like the one I found in Leven library that includes the prefaces by Orwell (the original unpublished preface that was eventually added in 1972 and a preface written specially by Orwell for Ukrainian readers) as they were helpful to me in my exploration of these important and poorly-understood theories.