Characters in Books III

(Said the Cat) " Do you play croquet with the Queen today?"

"I should like it very much," said Alice, "but I haven't been invited yet."

"You'll see me there," said the Cat, and vanished.

Alice was not very much surprised at this, she was getting so well used to queer things happening.  While she was still looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.

"By-the-bye, what became of the baby?" said the Cat.  "I'd nearly forgotten to ask."

"It turned into a pig," Alice answered very quietly, just as if the Cat had come back in a natural way.

"I thought it would," said the Cat and vanished again.

*********************

I have always loved the famous Cheshire Cat - its curious behaviour, seemingly so cat-like - so beautifully drawn by Sir John Tenniel and its brilliant creation by Lewis Carroll.  And its capacity to vanish, might just bring to mind the Cat in Animal Farm which, after the animals - or more strictly-speaking, the pigs - had taken over, appeared only at meal-times!

While thinking about this short piece I scanned others' illustrations of this mythic beast and found them very poor stuff indeed, so I conclude without further comment, just more Tenniel:

Until the next time.

"Newspeak" in Russia Today

As time and life go by, my respect for George Orwell increases.

His wonderful concept of "Newspeak" that he introduced in "1984" is alive and well in Russia in 2008.

In Putin's Russia, bad news is evidently not acceptable according to the Daily Telegraph which reported on a survey of public attitudes to the Russian economy yesterday:

 "And sure enough, at a time when their country is locked in its worst financial crisis in a decade, they [The Russian people] are more optimistic about the economy than they have ever been. According to opinion polls, 57 per cent reckon it is flourishing, up from 53 per cent in July.

The survey's findings are a triumph for the state, proving that the Kremlin has not lost its touch when it comes to manipulating fact. Obeying orders from the top, Russian television has banned the use of words such as "crisis", "decline" and "devaluation. "

Soon no doubt, official policy will be that belief in fairies is mandatory!

One could I suppose,  characterise recent Russian history in Orwellian terms: 

From Animal Farm to 1984 in twenty years!

Until the next time