Animal Farm

Rating:
Summary: "Pig"-headed Beasts
Review: Animal Farm, a book full of "pig"-headed beasts! When reading this book my emotions ranged from being sympathetic with the animals in the beginning to pitying the animals for their stupidity. I felt bad when Mr. Jones would work the animals hard and only feed them enough to get by. But my sympathy turned to pity when the animals fell for Napoleons propaganda (squealer's speeches). After finishing the book I realized how bad totalitarianism is and despised Napoleon for becoming such a power hungry "pig".
My favorite character was probably Clover. She was my favorite because she was pretty smart and didn't always agree with Napoleon right away. She questioned his and the other pigs' behavior. She was the only animal that would realize every time Napoleon changed a commandment. She was also very nurturing and mother like towards the other animals.
I really liked how everything in the book paralleled something in Russian history. It was really interesting to try and figure out what everything meant. I also really liked the book because it was an easy read and I had no trouble trying to figure out what happened.
George Orwell did a wonderful job showing how totalitarianism is bad and eventually will not work in favor of the people or animals in this case. I really enjoyed how he used a story about animals to explain the effects of totalitarianism. It turned something that otherwise could be a boring subject into a story about a farm.
I learned a lot about totalitarianism in this book. I knew that it was bad prior to reading the book but I had no idea how it affected the people the so badly. I always used to wonder why the people never fought against a dictator but after reading this book I realize that sometimes the people don't even now how bad they have it.
I thought that the end of the book was sort of disappointing. I wanted the ending to include a big downfall of Napoleon since he was such a horrible leader to the animals. But instead the book ended with Napoleon being happy and still in control.
There are a few things I still don't understand. I don't know what the windmill in the book represents in Russian history. I also didn't understand the ending. Why couldn't you tell the difference between the pigs and the humans? and What does that represent in history?
I would definitely recommend this book. It is a very interesting book to read in either an English class or a history class. I wouldn't recommend this book to someone to read outside of school because the book is much more interesting when you can compare it to the Russian history.
I don't know if I would read another book by this author. This particular book was interesting because it was so accurately representing an actual country's government. I might read another book by this author if there was another book that included this quality.
Overall Animal Farm is an "oink"-ing good time to read!

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm
Review: "Four legs good, two legs better!"
While reading the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, I was bewildered and enlightened by the historical significance of his representation of key figures in Russian history with animals on the farm. He used these animals to portray the evils of a totalitarian government, and what happens to society under one. He was also able to explain many other issues such as the use of propaganda to deceive the lower class, which is what my opening quote is an example of.
I'd have to say my favorite character in the story was the faithful horse Boxer. He was not the brightest of animals, but worked as hard as he could down to his dying breath. He may not have been working for the right reasons, but he always did the best he could no matter what. His motto was "I must work harder" which is a perfect example of how he always tried to do his best.
My least favorite character, on the other hand, was the horse Mollie. Mollie was too interested in the affairs of humans, and was not very faithful to her companions on the farm. She was easily lured into slavery again by being bribed and petted by a farmer. She did not really like life on the farm without Mr. Jones because she was unused to not having any care or assistance from humans.
I like Animal Farm a lot. Not only was it a good story, but it also provided some excellent examples of the totalitarian government at work. From previous discussion, I was able to associate the animals with the specific historical figure they represented, which made my reading much more interesting.
I think George Orwell is an excellent storyteller and his writings have great influence on people, even today. His expertise and writing satires and allegories are apparent in Animal Farm, which pokes fun at the totalitarian governmental system, and each character and event in the story is representative of something deeper than the literal meaning.
I learned much about the history of Russia in the early 1900's and the rulers that took power. I also learned about key figures such as Josef Stalin and Carl Marx, and their political backgrounds. All of this information I would have never known and never researched had I not read Animal Farm.
I thought George Orwell did an excellent job of creating a cliffhanger to end the story. The way he ended it may be interpreted as incomplete to some, but really it represents how the cycle of revolutions continue, because cruel leaders continue to take power and oppress the people (in this case, animals).
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in history or politics because of its political and historical content relating to Russian history and the Soviet Union.
I think I would definitely read more books by George Orwell because he is brilliant when it comes to using his imagination to recreate past events in history in different scenarios, like he did with the animals on the farm.
Animal Farm is an excellent piece of literature and should be read by everyone interested in politics.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm Review
Review: Have you ever seen a horrible movie, watched a great movie or even read a repulsive book, or read a breathtaking one? You can always have ideas or feelings on what you watch and read. These feelings are known as movie or book reviews. After reading the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, I have many different feelings on this book, which is going to be known as my book review. In the process of reading this book, I have various emotions on the book and the author. George Orwell brought the real life events into a book by relating the books characters to those of real life. I feel this was a spectacular way to teach readers about outside events that were occurring. Each character mirrored a real life human or a representation of an event. Examples of this are in Russian History there were leaders of communism and that all people were equal. Leaders of communism were Carol Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky. In Animal Farm, a pig known as Snowball mirrors Trotsky. Lenin and Marx were both represented by the boar named Old Major. Overall, I feel that George Orwell was a good writer in being able to mirror real life events. Throughout the whole book, I could realize as the reader what point George Orwell was trying to get across. To any upcoming reader, in giving advice I would definitely brush up on some Russian History between the times of 1850's - 1900's.
I had many emotions for this books text. At the beginning of the book when Animals took over I really enjoyed reading of the leadership skills and what happened around the farm. After everything during the middle of the book, I noticed this book was very page turning, which led to me being frustrated of what were the upcoming events. In the middle-end part of the book, when Napoleon took over I noticed what was happening to the animals and it caused me to feel very heartbreaking and discouraged of the way they lived. Generally, the book made me have various emotions. For the ending however, it was a very different ending then most books, which made this book exciting, you basically had to think like you are in the authors mind. I liked everything about this book, except that for some parts where it tended to drag onward and left the readers confused in the path that is going to lead ahead. This frustrated me, but probably for most people made the book more exciting.
I learned actually a lot from this book, in first learning about the Russian History before I read about it and then knowing that the animals were reflections of real people. I could actually feel and relate to how they must have felt during the time of dictatorship. If someone didn't understand clearly about this portion of Russian history they learned about, then Animal Farm was a good way to clear up any not knowing or mystification. I would surely recommend this book to anyone that likes books that relate to real life. There also was a bit of humor, and eye events that caught me tight into the book. If you do not like to relate things to real life, this definitely would not be a book for you to read because personally if you didn't like to relate to real life events you would be left in confusion of where the author was going with the book.
This book was difficult to pick a favorite character because some characters were not explained well, or didn't have enough information to grasp about that character. Personally I feel my favorite character was Mollie the mare. She loves being pampered and groomed by the humans and didn't like the change of the new farm. On some aspects, but not all I am like Mollie. I don't like change what so ever and when I get used to something I have difficulty in liking the change. Another character that I liked was Snowball the pig because he shows many leadership qualities and knows when to take charge. My least favorite character was Napoleon since he was so power hungry. In life I dislike any person that is so power hungry that they don't care of aspects or other people beneath them, which shows they are not true heroes. Specifically, I had a clear understanding of the book, which didn't leave me with any questions what so ever on the novel. But, I would have had a difficulty understanding if I didn't comprehend the types of meanings George Orwell was trying to give to the book. I would without doubt read another book by George Orwell, if they had the same aspects of Animal Farm. I enjoyed reading the book, knowing and grasping the aspects of real life to the book. Books are your own opinion if you are going to like them or not, it all depends if you like how the author writes. The books I like mostly relate to reality, and as Oscar Wilde once said, "The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame."

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING Animal Farm
Review: A book focusing on the cruel injustice of totalitarianism through talking animals: this sounds more like an adult's Charlotte's Web to me. But as it turned out I couldn't put the book down! I'd sit down expecting to have to force my eyelids to stay open for at least ten pages and an hour later have finished five chapters.
Besides being glued to the page, I learned a lot about Russian history along with how a government functions. This simplified form of communism turning into totalitarianism helped me understand the uses of propaganda, secret police used by such leaders as Hitler and Stalin, and how the public is kept in the dark. When the sheep and horses were so blind to the slavery they were being forced into I at first felt angry, but realized that this is how many societies function. Ordinary, innocent people can become Nazis or can starve under a gluttonous ruler if they don't care enough to pay attention to what leadership is doing.
My favorite character in the book changed as the story progressed. At first I felt intrigued by the pigs Snowball and Napoleon, amused by devious tricks and ideas. But as Napoleon become increasingly brutal I found that I liked Benjamin, who seemed to be stubborn and "unpatriotic", but turned out to be foreshadowing the end result of Animal Farm. I especially was moved by his display of emotions towards Boxer towards the end.
While at the end I wanted to dislike the book's abrupt and rather depressing ending, I realized that it was the most appropriate ending and got Orwell's point across. Obviously the book could not have a happy ending since Russia's history of monarchs to communism to totalitarianism was itself depressing. It also left you questioning if the animals would rebel yet again or fall under the rule of the pigs.
George Orwell is an amazing writer who has strength in simplifying complex ideas and turning boring, dry history material into amusing fictions. These two gifts have helped Orwell communicate serious problems which need to be addressed to all people (even sheep) and also help people become a little more skeptical of powerful governments.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, even if they were not interested in politics and history. I would also like to read other books by Orwell because of his deep, yet easy to understand context.
I still have some questions from the book: was the Major pig in the beginning Karl Marx or Lenin, or both? While many argue he was Lenin, I am somewhat puzzled by that explanation since the Major was not portrayed as malicious. I also wondered if the animals at the end of the book rise up yet again, or were there none smart enough left to lead a revolution against the pigs. Lastly, would the pigs resort to eating the other animals like humans? Beef-it's what's for dinner on animal farm.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm: Worth Reading
Review: Animal Farm could quite possibly be one of the best satires ever written. Published in 1945, Orwell's purpose in writing this book was the abolition of totalitarianism. Through the use of allegories in his writing portraying a farm where the animals rebel, Orwell is able to make logical arguments against the political tyranny happening during his time in Russia. Orwell's work is a very exciting piece of literature. Orwell's genius was able to create a children's book that had a much deeper message than those common to children's books. Orwell uses action to keep his readers involved. Action is constantly happening throughout the book. Every page turn reveals an unexpected twist. Without the unexpected surprises, this book would not be the legend that it is today. My favorite character in Animal Farm is Boxer. Boxer, a horse on the farm, is a very interesting character. While not very smart, Boxer is the workhorse (no pun intended) of the operation. His motto, "I will work harder," frequently inspires other animals to do their part in the operations of the farm. Boxer exhibits qualities that the other animals wish that they had. I also admire the effort and devotion that Boxer puts into his everyday tasks. I learned a lot from reading Animal Farm, especially about the history surrounding the rise of totalitarian governments. It is interesting to parallel the events that occur in the book with events that happened in the real world. From the Bolshevik Revolution to the exile of Trotsky, Orwell doesn't forget any events. The book is written very well and gives a very good lesson at the end. Orwell masterly weaves the book together in the last chapter when the animals realize that they can't tell the difference between their new rulers (the pigs) and their old ruler (Farmer Jones). They realize that they are not better off than they were before their revolution. There is only one question left in my mind. I wonder what happened to Snowball, the pig that represented Trotsky. Once he is exiled, Orwell never mentions his whereabouts definitely.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories with underlying morals. It is amazing how complexly Orwell was able to write this book. Readers will enjoy the parallels to historical events. I would recommend looking over the history of Communism before reading this book; then you will be able to appreciate the great thought that Orwell put into this book.
Although I have not read any other books by Orwell, I would definitely not hesitate to read one. I have heard great reviews of his other books, and am convinced that he is a great author. Just after reading Animal Farm, I would recommend any Orwell books to anyone. Orwell spent much thought when writing this book; don't let this go to waste. Through satires like Orwell's, we may be able to prevent other mistakes from happening in the future. This book has influenced me in more than one way. Not only have I learned about totalitarianism, but now whenever I think about slacking off I remember the words of Boxer and think, "I will work harder."

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm
Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell is a very entertaining, informative book that can be read quickly and accurately.
There were many points throughout the book where different emotions could have been forced upon the reader. There were points
when I felt sad, such as when boxer was taken away to the horse slaughterer, shocked, when the animals were executed, and
happy for the animals after they had triumphed in chasing Jones from the farm. In the end, however, I felt dissappointed in the
way one did not get to see the animals start another rebeliion against the new "humans."
Boxer was my favorite character in the book because of his optimistic attitude towards all elements of Animal farm. His hard-
working attitude is something to be proud of, and is demonstrated through his motto, "I will work harder."
I enjoyed the overall plot line and particularly how simple it really was, in itself. However, when applied to Russian history it requires
a higher level of thinking. The ending did not give too much closure, but the book was written to show the cycle of totalitarianism, and
giving closure would signify that the cycle ends, which is not the case.
By reading the book, it helped me to understand more fully the events in Russian history dealing with Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky, in
addition to other elements of the situation.
Although it is safe to assume that the animals begin another rebellion against the changed Napolean, it is not specified in the book

whether they do so or not.
I would recommend this book to a friend and I would like to read other books by this author because of his clean-cut, straight-forward
style, which is a welcome break from more complex books. It is also effective in illustrating not only the events in Russian history specifically, but
also the steps leading to totalitarianism.
If you are reading this review and have not yet read Animal Farm, I urge you to stop reading reviews, go out and acquire a copy and start
reading today.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm
Review: "Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." This quote was spoken by George Orwell (Eric Blair) who was the author of the novel Animal Farm. Orwell always opposed the idea of both capitalism and communism. His distorted feelings showed throughout this novel by using characters such as Snowball and Napoleon to represent historic figures of Trotsky and Stalin.
Throughout the novel, my feelings were torn on which character to side with. At the beginning, I felt a shot of sadness when Mr. Jones is unexpectedly forced away from his house. He and his family are corrupted by those that he thought he could trust. However, soon my emotions sided with Snowball. Snowball felt that all animals were equal and wanted the farm to prosper. However, Napoleon was more concerned with himself and taking the authority from Snowball. I felt anger towards Napoleon and his selfish power struggle with Snowball. He disregarded any of Snowball's accomplishments in order to raise his own ego. For example, after Snowball is removed from the farm, Napoleon produces Snowballs idea of a windmill as his own. Near the end of the novel, I resented that the other farm animals did not stand up to Napoleon after his power hungry acts. The fear that these animals held, due to Napoleons zero tolerance of being challenged, was horrific. As one can see, feelings of anger, sorrow, and trust were all obtained when reading this novel.
My favorite character in the novel was Benjamin. An old, cold-hearted donkey that was quiet yet very intelligent. He was able to see the changes in the pigs and how the rebellion against humans was failing. He is able to comprehend the power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball and see the unpleasantness of life that was to be in the future. Benjamin's stubbornness and intelligence to be persuaded to enjoy life under Napoleon made him my favorite character.
The best part of the book was the commandments. I thought that the making of commandments served as the grounding for the book. I found it interesting how Napoleon was able to slip through the loop holes of the commandments in order to do what he pleased. The fact that the animals did not oppose Napoleon, even though they had a distinct feeling that he had rearranged them, was unusual. The commandments showed that many power-hungry leaders will change policies and regulations in order to better receive what they want.
Conversely, my least favorite part of the book was the absent-minded animals, who did not assume responsibility for overthrowing their leader. Even after dreading each day's heavy workload and receiving a meager amount of food, the animals did not question the actions of their leader. The killing of fellow animals, sleeping in a warm house, and trading with humans did not even send a slight occurrence of rebellion. If I was one of the animals, I would have tried to overthrow Napoleon, in order to receive a better life for all.
I thought that George Orwell did a fantastic job at writing Animal Farm. Considering the time period it was written, it took a lot of courage to write such a contrasting novel. His ideas on what world would be like without capitalism was very impressive. I enjoyed how Orwell wrote about his feelings towards the world he lived in and how it could be improved.
From reading this book I learned many things. I never knew of the contrasting leader, Trotsky and Stalin. This novel taught me many things such as the Bolshevik revolution and the overthrow of Czar Nicholas. Without reading this novel, I would not know of the past Russian history.
The ending of the book caused a slight disappointment. Orwell's ending seemed to argue that life will never be better than what it is. He writes that the pigs are the same as the cruel human farmers. The frustration that life and government will never become great is a sheer lack of trust of better tomorrow. Although this book is well written, the ending is slightly pessimistic.
Animal Farm was an easy read that was not very confusing. The only trouble a reader may have is relating this novel to Russian history. However, even by having a brief background of the revolution, this novel is straightforward and uncomplicated.
I would certainly recommend this book to a friend. It fairy-tale imagination of pigs running a farm was funny and intriguing. The humor and information in this novel was what made it interesting to read. I believe that no matter the gender, students and adults would enjoy this novel.
Later I would like to read another novel by George Orwell. His humorous content and informative writing caused me to strive to finish the novel. I thought this novel was very well written in the fact that it was very organized. I could easily read Animal Farm without being confuse. If Orwell's other novel is like this one, I would definitely read it.

Orwell portrays in this novel, that although Napoleon and the other pigs start out with good intentions, they soon change. The existence of power can cause people to hurt others in order to gain it. Power can corrupt anyone into doing wrong at any moment of time. As George Orwell once said, "On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time."

Rating:
Summary: A Very Symbolic Classic
Review: A short novel of only 130 page, Animal Farm is not a difficult book to read. George Orwell was well-known for ANIMAL FARM and 1984. The book is very symbolic. You find the revolution of the animals on Manor Farm is a symbol of the Russian Revolution. The book is an example of an allegory and a satire. The book has memorable characters- Boxer the hard working horse symbolizing the Russian people, Napolean the cruel and manipulating leader symbolizing Stalin, Snowball the ambitious and outspoken pig symbolizing Trotsky, and the idealitic Old Major symbolizing Marx.

This book is a classic work of literature and is an excellent short novel to read. George Orwell wrote this novel meticulously and put in it criticism and a great deal of thought. A clever book, and a great read. I strongly reccomend it.

Rating:
Summary: The History of USSR from 1917 to 1943
Review: It is a misrepresentation that "Animal Farm" is anti-communist. It certainly is anti-stalinist, but it is as much anti-capitalist. It is written from a historical perspective of a trotskyite and even uses common trotskyite terminology, in many cases (representation of Stalin as Napoloen is a very common analogy in Trotsky's works who likened Stalin's usurpation of power to that of Napoleon more than 100 years earlier). The story is not much more than a fable version of Trotsky's "Revolution Betrayed"

Also, there are not a lot of meanings to the book. The story line is simple and very predictible, if you know Russian/Soviet history of 1917-1943.

The events in the book almost have one-to-one correspondence to what really happened to Russia. Under the leadership of the bolshevik party(pigs) animals(people) depose capitalists (Mr. Jones) and establish the first ever worker's demoracy (Animals' Farm). Then, the deposed leaders attempt to gain the power back by getting capitalist countries - England and France, among others- to invade the newly found Russian Soviet Republic ("Jones and all his men, with half a dozen others from Foxwood and Pinch-field" invade the Animal Farm). However Trotsky/Snowball proves to be very able as Comissar of War and saves the newly found regime. In the impending power struggle Trotsky loses out to Stalin(Napoleon), who goes on to slowly get rid of all the principles on which the USSR (Animal Farm) was founded on.

Even the personal characteristics of the two main bolshevik leaders are very accurate, albeit allegoric - "Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way." Stalin was not a good speaker, but had a strong will, and the Bershire is definitely a reference to Stalin's Geogrian Background - he was the only bolshevik leader from Georgia and spoke Russian with heavy accent. Trotsky on the other hand, was the greatest speaker of the Russian Revolution, a brilliant writer, but wasn't suited for intraparty struggles. ("Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.") Orwell also doesnt forget to mention Stalin's ability to amass support behind the scenes - "At the Meetings Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches, but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself in between times."

Orwell describes the events quite meticulously - intraparty struggles, usurpation of power by Napoleon/Stalin, stalinist vilification of Trotsky/Snowball, falsification of history to suit Stalin's goals and to downplay Trotsky's role in defence of the revolution during the Civil War and the Intervention, industrialization (the building of the Windmill), the betrayal of the revolution's ideals, the purges and the stalinist terror by the Stalin's secret police (Napoleon's dogs)- all of them are described and are easily recognizable.

The book ends with Napoleon being involved in a dialogue with with humans from the neighbor farms - Mr Pilkington (Churchill) and others. This is probably a reference to the Yalta conference, where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt forgot their differences and divided spheres of influence. "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which". Stalin, a representative of a country that was supposed to have a higher form of government than capitalist democracy is a tyrant, just like leaders of capitalist countries; and for Orwell the only positive (and tragic) character in the book is Snowball/Trotsky.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm
Review: Animal Farm was an intresting book about how animals take over the humans and run them off of their farm. Even though the book refers to animals, it is very ture about our human nature and how we like to take over and control things. The book was written after World War Two it is very ture in today's world.