The Rebellion of the Beasts: Or, the Ass Is Dead! Long Live the Ass

Rating:
Summary: Interesting precursor to "Animal Farm"
Review: "The Rebellion of the Beasts" is amazingly well-written and not too terribly dated for a book published in 1825. It makes for very interesting reading, keeping Orwell's "Animal Farm" in mind. The introduction by Douglas Anderson states that there is no evidence that Orwell read this book, and that idea is buttressed by the differences in both the development of the story and in the details of the rebellion by the "brutes". If Leigh Hunt was indeed the author of "The Rebellion of the Beasts", he must be elevated to the post of patron saint of PETA by default, given his deep sensitivity to the sufferings of ALL the "brutes", from the ass to the flea. Some of the satire and more obscure details (hey, I was forced to "Google" several items) are above and beyond modern readers, but the story IS engaging and thought-provoking. We "humans" do take the lives and sufferings of our fellow creatures entirely too lightly. Hunt speaks up for all the other animals; the mammals, the fishes and the insects included. In fact, I now feel quite guilty about having enjoyed raw oysters at a recent roast and pig-picking. On the downside, the book is small and just 150 pages long. On the upside, those of us with the attention span of a gnat (like me) can easily consume it without flagging.