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Summary: OVER RATED!!
Review: This book is, without a doubt, the most over rated "classic" I have ever read. It's not like there are multiple themes and ideas up for discussion here. The book has one point that it beats to death over and over again. Why anybody would ever need Cliffs notes to figure out what the book is about is beyond me. If you read the first 20 pages, you already know how the book is going to end. What, you mean the pigs gave themselves even MORE power? Shocking! I never saw that one coming! Save your energy for a book worth reading.
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Summary: The Book I Recently Read
Review: This book takes place somewhere in a farm in England. The book starts with all the animals meeting together in one big barn called by Major, an old pig who tries to pass on his will to the rest of the animals (since he knew that he was going to die from age), telling them to dislike mankind. What makes this a four star book is the human characteristics and ideas(tactics) of each animal. Such lines like,"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man agin" seems to be some kind of theme on humans. I personally like this book for its level of English and its nonfictional presence.
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Summary: George Orwell is visionary
Review: While this book is clearly a satire on the Russian Revolution, what fascinated me the most was how, decades and decades later, it still applies to us today. I was especially fascinated by the role of Squealer, the propagandist for the leader of Animal Farm. It struck me how well he was able to protect the leaders by using common scare tactics ("Listen to Napoleon or Mr. Jones will come back") and changing the rules, or commandments, to suit the desires of Napoleon (adding the words "in excess" to the commandment that animals are not to drink liquor). This book explores the possibility of a utopian society and is closely fashioned to the vision of the communist party. While its founders have good intentions (Ol' Major and Snowball), the downfall comes from overzealous, greedy, and corrupted leaders (Napoleon). Can Utopia be created? There are many, many lessons to be learned from this book. There is something for us all, especially if you are interested at all in politics. It is good to remember this book so that we, unlike the animals on Animal Farm, don't slowly become enslaved by the leaders sworn to protect us. Notice the word slowly. At the beginning, a revolution takes place where the Animals take over the farm, establish their noble 7 commandments of Animalism, and the people appoint Napoleon and Snowball to guide them in their new society. Napoleon is quick to take power from Snowball and begins using Animal Farm for his own greedy purposes. He abandons and changes the rules of Animalism to suit his purposes. Old traditions, such as the anthem sung by Ol' Major and the markings on the flags symbolizing the work of the common beast, are done away with. So are the committees created by Snowball for the improvement of the animals. Napoleon surrounds himself by bodyguards and, through an act of cleansing many of his enemies, begins to rule the farm in fear. No animal seems too shocked when the pigs begin to walk upright like their enemy, but are more shocked to see the whips come out again. In the end, the leaders become the very people that Animal Farm was created to be protected from and are duped into a worst lifestyle than was given to them previously for the welfare of the leaders. This didn't happen overnight, this happened over the course of a few years. In fact, most of the animals on Animal Farm weren't even part of the original revolution.
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Summary: Some fables are more equal than others
Review: I first read Animal Farm two decades ago, while I was in high school. I'm sure many of you did, too. I reread it recently, and I'm convinced that this is one of those books that one should reread when one is a bit older. Orwell's fable of farm animals' revolution sold out by their pig leaders is simultaneously short, fun, shocking, and engaging. It's also pithy and wonderfully written. Plotwise, you just have to crack a wry smile at the historical parallels that Orwell creates when his characters begin spouting their Marxist philosophies and begin to plot a revolution. Other plot points & themes are timeless -- the supply shortages, summary executions, propaganda, political assassinations, and single-candidate elections in "Animal Farm" can be seen in many dictatorships, from Stalin's to Saddam's. Overall, I highly recommend rereading this book, especially if you were a teenager the last time you read it.
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Summary: Workers of the world UNITE!! (or should we?)
Review: This is a brilliant piece of fiction. George Orwell is a superb political commentator. His satire is never so heavy that he forces the reader to see the Russian Revolution in the same way that he saw it. However, it is that subtlety that allows the reader to see the Revolution that way. The downtrodden lower classes, the animals on a farm, realize that they are the ones doing all of the work, not Mr. Jones, the symbol of the establishment. Once the animals have rounded up the troops, a Revolution commences. I don't want to risk changing the effect this book can have on the reader by giving away too many details on the following government, for that is where the absurdity of the Revolution's ideals really begin to show, but I'll just say that the leaders of the farm become corrupt by the power that they have acquired. _Animal Farm_ is hard to outdo in terms of Political Satire, and I think that it deserves all of the admiration it receives. Orwell has a wonderful knack for taking very complex issues and making them simpler than you would have thought possible if you had not read him.
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Summary: Communism in the real world (talking animals excepted)...
Review: Orwell's satire of Soviet Communism and the death of Utopia is one of the standards of political satire of the twentieth century. The motto that "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" resonates through this story as the major failure of Communism. The story begins on a farm where the animals have had enough of their human owner and stage a revolt. Initially, all animals are equal, but soon enough, the pigs take control and slowly turn the Farm into a dictatorship, while perverting the original commandments laid down after the Revolution. Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and the NKVD are well-represented by various animal characters, as are the show trials and massive state projects undertaken by the Soviets. Most compelling are the workers, especially the horse Boxer, whose motto, "I will work harder," is a simple mantra of the optimism of the Revolution and the willingness to carry whatever load is asked, for the good of the Farm. When Boxer is no longer useful, he is ungloriously disposed of, with little regard or thanks for his years of backbreaking labor. The end of the Book is simply Communism as Orwell saw it in his time: a corrupt regime ignoring and robbing its people, while making friends and mixing with those it claimed were the enemy, to the point where it was impossible to tell them apart. Orwell had first-hand experience dealing with the Stalinist brand of communism while he was fighting in Spain, and obviously realized that instead of cultivating a workers' paradise, Communism had spawned a culture of fear and lies. This is a great story written in tragic fashion, all the more sad when you realize that the small farm is a metaphor for millions of people and an entire nation, under the thumb of a merciless and corrupt government.
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Summary: Animal Farm review:
Review: I know that this book was written as a satire of communism, and I'm sure that's been drilled into everyone's head a thousand times over. I won't talk about that; instead, I'll talk about what the books means to me. I skirted around reading this book for a while because the subject seemed like something I wouldn't be particularly interested in, but I was wrong. Animal Farm was started on an idea that was planted in the mind of the other animals by an old and respected farm figure -- Old Major. He had a dream that animals would take their place as the true heirs of the land. After Old Major dies, a revolution takes place on the farm, and the animals overthrow the owner, Mr. Jones, and claim the farm as their own. At first, things went as planned. All animals were equal, and many things were done with the good of the animals in mind. Then, the pigs (who were smarter than other animals, naturally) began to slowly warp this dream into something more cruel and deceitful until the animals can hardly distinguish between the pigs and Man. I think this story can apply to any form of government. The pigs kept the other animals in line by telling them what they wanted to hear or using excessive force -- much like many governments in the world today. They twisted and warped the thoughts of the masses, making themselves look more heroic and "for the masses". They even had the scapegoat in the form of a banished pig named Snowball on which all their problems were blame. "Blame Snowball" seemed to be an underlying motto in the book. The pigs benefited from the prosperity of the farm while it's other inhibitants suffered. Most of the animals were fiercely loyal, and the pigs misused this trust. A great example is Boxer who worked harder than anyone on the farm, and when he was no longer useful to the farm, he was suddenly an expendable asset (and you can imagine what happens from there). And you can see hints of that in any society. I never expected to enjoy this book as much as I did, and it will definitely be a part of my library for years to come.
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Summary: Standing Ovation
Review: You don't need a thirteen year old reader to tell you that this book is a masterpiece. Orwell's imaginative and creative mind is well displayed in this brilliant novel portraying modern government and human characteristics. The symbols in the book are so rich. Propaganda, intelligence, gullibility... all very carefully molded in the book. Again, Standing Ovation for author George Orwell for hitting a home run with literature.
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Summary: Summer Reading-Not So Great
Review: I was assigned to read this book for my summer reading program at school. I heard from quite a few people that is was not a very interesting book. It is very small and so i decided to get it over with and see what all the fuss was about. I did not enjoy it just like everyone had told me. It was a good portrayal of how governments and communism is but using animals to portray this was a poor choice. I actually laughed alot at this book as I read it realizing that I was reading a book about animals personified as humans but yet totally against the human race. So in all it was a good reprensentation of governments power used in the wrong way, but the other side is the stupidity that runs throughout the book.
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Summary: Beware ham-fisted tyrants!
Review: "Animal Farm" is so short, so easy to read, and is so famous and influential, that the question is: Why would you NOT read it? If you are new to Orwell, then this is the perfect place to start. It displays, in miniature, his characteristic skepticism, good sense, and keen insight into the corrupting effects of power. It also hints at that underlying sense of guilt that pervades his longer works. The book was criticized at the time of publication for being a flawed fable, in that the pigs, being innately more intelligent than the other animals, were naturally fitted to be the masters. I think that misses the point. This is an allegory of human society, not a manual of animal husbandry. Every character and incident in the story has a clear parallel in modern history. Now that the Soviet empire is no longer with us, I suppose the allegory may not seem so relevant, but there still exist totalitarian regimes that came about as a result of a popular revolution being commandeered by extremists and, no doubt, there will be others in the future. Some lessons of history should never be forgotten and Animal Farm is a great place for each new generation to learn them.
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