To Orwell Today,
re: ANIMAL FARM COMIC IN MAURITIUS

Hello Jackie,

I visit your site every so often to see what contributions have been made.

My particular interest is "Animal Farm". I maintain a website WELCOME TO MY WORLD. As you can see it is currently dedicated to anything related to the 1954 animated movie by Halas & Batchelor.

When time permits I will be adding my sideline Animal Farm collection. I have quite a few illustrated publications of the novel, including:

Italy's La Fattoria Degli Animali from 1947,

Argentina's Rebelion en la Granja from 1948,

and the 1954 Latvian edition.

Fortunately for me Karlis Smiltens who illustrated the Latvian edition kindly signed the book for me and gave me two of the original artworks which I treasure.

So I was extremely interested in seeing the Mauritius Animal Farm comic strip from Robert Furlong. I have heard about a comic strip being sent to all parts of the world in newspapers and the like, but never found a hard copy of it. I would be very keen to get in contact with Robert and ask if he would be able to acquire a copy or two for my collection.

I know there was an Arab comic strip version printed in Egypt around 1950 which I am keen to track down.

I attach also what I believe to be an original edition of the 1950 Maria Kriger and Gleb Struve Russian translation,

It is printed on flimsy post-war paper and fits age-wise. It is in terrific condition considering the paper quality and age. That was an exciting find.

I will keep you posted when I finally get my publications online. It will take some time though, as you would know.

Cheers,
Chris Rushworth

Greetings Chris,

Thanks a million for sending those excellent samples of your amazing ANIMAL FARM book and comic collection.

Regarding the Russian version - it was probably only read by members of the Inner Party at that time, and passed around only in samizdat to the proles. Orwell couldn't get ANIMAL FARM published in England until after the war - it being too unflattering of "Uncle Joe" - so no doubt Stalin kept it suppressed and covered-up in the fatherland - it being analogous of his brutal tyranny and revolution.

I'll forward your email to Robert Furlong in Mauritius and hopefully he'll get in touch with you. I'm planning to travel there one day (in my dreams).

All the best,
Jackie Jura

To Orwell Today,

Hi Jackie.

Thanks for your response and posting the items on your webpage. I'm more inspired now to get my act together and post all publications on my website.

Cheers,
Chris

ANIMAL FARM 1947 RADIO DRAMA (reader Chris asks what was the first adaptation of ANIMAL FARM besides Orwell's own 1947 radio dramatisation and the 1954 animated movie), Email, Apr 19, 2015

Reader Ana is publishing a Spanish edition of "Animal Farm" and asks permission to use photos of comics and rare editions from the website, Email, Mar 24, 2010

Reader Kaspars' small company in Latvia is planning to record an audioook of "Animal Farm"

A decade of Putinism, Wall Street Journal, Aug 27, 2009
Ten years ago on Sunday, Russia's Duma confirmed Vladimir Putin as prime minister. The vote took place only one week after then-President Boris Yeltsin had nominated the little-known former KGB operative for the post. Yeltsin's surprise resignation only four months later left Mr. Putin as acting president and paved the way for his election as head of state in March 2000. This swift and far-from-transparent ascent to the pinnacle of Russian power was a sign of things to come.... The most striking quality of Putinism, though, is its hostility to free expression. This decade-long assault on a fundamental human right is not a reprise of the uniform, all-encompassing ideological control that was the hallmark of the Soviet period. To give Russia the veneer of a liberal society and simultaneously create a useful societal steam valve, authorities have come up with a new, selective censorship model. In this system, the state tries to censor information of true political consequence while allowing a certain amount of independence at the margins.

The control of the mass media has become a top priority in the Putin era. The state has now captured or tamed all of the major national television channels. The Kremlin first wrested control of NTV, which at the time Mr. Putin became president was known for its hard-hitting coverage, including of the conflict in Chechnya. Right after Vladimir Putin's election to the presidency, then-NTV owner Vladimir Gusinsky was charged with fraud and briefly jailed. In 2001 state energy giant Gazprom took control of the station. Around the same time, the Kremlin turned the state-owned but until then more independent-minded Channel One and RTR—the other two main stations with national reach—into government mouthpieces. While there is rich diversity in entertainment programs, informal blacklists prevent Putin critics from gaining access to national public-affairs programs. A steady flow of Kremlin-friendly propaganda, meanwhile, vilifies the remnants of Russia's political opposition and independent civil society. The Kremlin has not only marginalized domestic dissent but also tried to suppress the work of foreign media. Capricious tax inspections and vague extremism laws are designed to intimidate international broadcasters, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the BBC. Using these methods, authorities have already shut down 28 of the 36 Russian radio stations that used to carry RFE/RL programs.

As hard-nosed as the Kremlin's institutional controls of free expression are, it is at the personal, extralegal level where the modern censorship model gets truly ugly. The few brave journalists and activists who still dare to criticize the government — particularly those who try to expose state corruption and human-rights violations — live in constant danger....

After a decade of Putinism, a deep chill on free expression has set in. Self-censorship has become a matter of survival. The rule of law, though much discussed, does not exist. Corruption flourishes at all levels of society. The assault on Russia's freedom is not just a domestic human-rights problem. Anyone seeking to do business in the country loses in a system that operates in the dark, where shady deals involving state-run companies and corrupt officials are the norm and police and regulatory agencies don't enforce the law but the Kremlin's agenda. Early hopes that the new president, Dmitri Medvedev, would bring more openness and liberalization have been shattered. Even though Mr. Putin has returned to the premiership after an eight-year hiatus, it seems he — rather than his hand-picked successor — is still calling the shots. Given the continued censorship, human-rights abuses and lawlessness in Russia, it would almost be worse for the country's reform prospects if Mr. Medvedev really were in full control of his presidency. It would mean that Putinism is now so entrenched, it no longer needs Mr. Putin to enforce it. Go to RUSSIA IS HELL'S INFERNO

Unsolved murders of journalists in Russia. AFP, Aug 18, 2009 (The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the unsolved murder, since 2000, of 16 journalists in Russia and warned that critical journalism risks "becoming extinct" in the country....)

ORWELL'S PUBLISHING PROBLEMS