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Summary: Read This
Review:
Short as it is, this work represents all that Orwell had been leading to all his life. It's a satire and a fable -- and in very simple terms outlines the dangers of tyranny, the corruption of ideals. Orwell uses the Communist revolution as a template: and points out how, in the end, 'some animals are more equal than others' -- that is, the essential greediness of us all. In darker, more subtle terms, it suggests, too, that we are, in essense, animals ourselves -- we cannot escape our dark primal nature. And we need to always be aware and vigilant of this. It's a chilling, sad, illuminating and very effective masterpiece. Everytime I read it, it affects me more! Other recommended Amazon picks: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Losers Club by Richard Perez
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Summary: Totalitarianism results in a population's inability to fight
Review: Orwell's Animal Farm is a stirring story of a totalitarianismregime and its betrayal of its constituentsas a fable; achildren's story of a farm gone crazy. Offering a literary lesson built on brilliant and amusing character studies, this book centres on a farm of animals in a political satire exposing the evils of totalitarianism. The pigs lead the other animals in a revolt against the cruel tyranny of their human masters, only to fall into the same evils ways. Orwell's writing style is deceptively simple. He generally makes the excesses, corruption and abuses of power grossly explicit. After the Battle of the Cowshed, the pigs began to transform deliciously into replicas of the abusive people they displaced to run the farm themselves. While the ever-hardworking horses, Boxer and Clover, toil to keep the farm going, the overwhelming Napoleon and sycophantic Squealer lazed around, giving lame excuses to trick the animals who are not of first-rate intelligence. On the whole, this political thriller is a masterpiece of political satire, which bonds the reader to the feelings felt by the suffering animals.
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Summary: A Satirical Fable
Review: Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism, Orwell's take on Communism, is an illusion used by the pigs as a means of satisfying their lust for power. At the beginning of the book, Mr. Jones, the master of the farm, is irresponsible toward his animals, so old Major, a white boar, informs the other animals of the need to form a rebellion against Mr. Jones and the human race. The other animals embrace the idea of a revolution and develop a scheme to overthrow Mr. Jones. After the revolution is complete, the animals feel an immediate freedom, a set of commandments is developed for the new "Animal Farm," and they all begin working together for a common good. However, it does not take long for the new society to begin to corrupt. The satisfaction of removing Mr. Jones from the farm prevents the animals from noticing the politics still going on within the farm. The animals are convinced by those in power that their memory of the original utopia and commandments are false. So long as the animals cannot remember the past, because it is being continually altered, they will have no control over the present and future. George Orwell is making a great political statement in Animal Farm with specific emphasis on mass rebellion. It personifies Karl Marx's ideas for communism and illustrates what can happen after a revolution with specific attention to the fact that every society is political and contains "pigs" who will always grab for power. This satirical fable leaves the reader with a better understanding of communism and the anatomy of political revolution in any culture.
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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!
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Summary: A story of a corrupt revolution
Review: Animal Farm, by George Orwell, tells a story of the once peaceful Manor Farm. The animals decide to overthrow humans, and take on the job of supporting themselves by themselves. Day by day, the social imbalances start to emerge, such as the pigs determining themselves as the ¡§thinkers¡¨ of the society; therefore they should get more priorities. The revolution was created to change society to where all animals are equal, but through the seven commandments, Napoleon, the leader boar, takes absolute power over the animal society. This story explains the Russian revolution in average English, where almost anyone can read it to understand the story, but there are many ¡§real¡¨ meanings to it. Each animal represents a character in a revolution; such as Squealer representing the one who gets to a high status buy simply obeying the stronger side. Slowly it explains how their so-called equality becomes hard solid dictatorship. This idea of communism is easier said than done, as this book implies, since at the end, there will be someone who stands up to be a leader. There are many reasons that I recommend this book, but mainly because it compares real life to a fiction in a perfect way. Also as some minor positives, the book is short, very short so you won¡¦t be looking at a half ton book thinking ¡§do I want to read this?¡¨ for slow readers like myself. Lastly, as I stated above, this book is written in not very complicated English, so almost everyone can read it. On the five star scale, this book is definitely a five star, so read it!
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Summary: You'll be wasting you time!
Review: George Orwell is a genious Literate and I say that with the upmost pride in my voice. George Orwell not only took a subject that at the time,it was still 1945 may I remind you,was basically attacking the Russian system of communism. Now of course Russia, then the Soviet Union or U.S.S.R., is no longer under communist rule, but at the time we were still fighting in World War 2 and Russia was an Allied Force. Well obviously publishers werent scrambling to get a book that attacked a country that was aiding them in the fight against Mousolinni,Hitler,and Hirohito. The book starts off as a symbol of the start of the Russian revolt when Major(A play off of political prophet Karl Marx)urges a revolt against the dastardly doings of Farmer Jones(A play off of Czar Nicholos 2)and point in case they listen. Days later Farmer Jones forgets to feed the animals, soon afterwards all hell breaks loose. Being led by two strong leaders Snowball(A play off of Trotsky, I think his first name was Leon)and Napoleon(A play off of Infamous, yet cruel leader Joseph Stalin)the animals decide to wage a war against the humans and overthrow their corrupt regime(The humans represent the Capitalists woh exploit the weak). May I remind you the intentions are still good here, that is untill the idea of the Windmill(Russian Industry Modernizing) comes up....At first Snowball proposes a windmill so the stalls can be lighted and have flowing water by the power of hydroelectricity, however Napolean disagrees. Sensing his power running short and the people siding with him, Napolean gets the Dogs(A play off the KBG)to chase Snowball out of the Farm. Now its just Napolean, a lone dictator with a bad mind set, so whom does he get to explain he was for the windmill after all? Squealer thats who!(The representation of the Russian Media)After squealer explains it to the ignorant animals all but a few whom understand what is happening(Particalarly a stubborn mule named Benjamin who represents the witnesses of corruption but stand by and do nothing)and to the one follower whom belives his "Friendly Dictator" is always right, I'm talking of course about Boxer(Who represents the Unskilled Labor class)whose later sold,In a very sad scene, to a glue factory by the one he belives is always right. Later on Moses the wise raven comes in and(representing the Orthodox church of the time)tells of magical Sugarcandy Mountain and its glory of ripe windfall apples and sugarcake.Twoards the end the Pigs(communist party loyalists)take total control and leave the farm in hell, worse than it was with Farmer Jones...and twoards the end of the book in a stunning final word from Mr. George Orwell..."Soon they looked from the men to the pigs, the pigs to the men, and back to the men and could not tell the difference."
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Summary: Failed Utopia
Review: George Orwell writes about a society that parallels the Soviet Union in his satirical novel, Animal Farm, where the animals revolt against their cruel master and form a new society based on the same principles as communism.
After the animals' revolt and the formation of Animal Farm, the animals' name for their society, things start to look up. But as with the real Soviet Union, the leadership begins to become corrupt, conditions deteriorate, and freedoms slowly slip away. By the time anyone outside the leadership realizes what is happening, it may be too late.
This interesting and easy to read book provides fascinating political commentary on Orwell's time-period and the failures of communism (specifically the USSR). The reader's ability to see where things are going and the ability to spot the parallels of the characters from the novel in history only enhances the book and George Orwell gets his point across without mentioning the Soviet Union, its leaders, or communism even once. His warnings on the dangers of any form of totalitarianism show through in his writing, and this book almost reads like 1984 (another Orwell classic) in parts.
Those who read this looking for a happy fairy tale where a bunch of talking animals live in an utopia of their making will probably not be satisfied, nor will the story be rewarding if the reader ignores the historical context of the novel. But if you're looking for an interesting novel and don't mind the constant reminder that this was meant as a political commentary, you will probably enjoy this book.
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Summary: Animal Farm
Review: George Orwell's Animal Farm is a superb animation of the Russian Revolutioon. The book is amusing and interesting; it includes a comic element as it synonymously demonstrates the evolution from the proletariat revolution to a totalitarian government led by the swine of the society. Orwell successfully simplified the not-so-simple theory of class stratification and Karl Marx's proposed solution of communism. Orwell's method of conveyance is incredibly inventive. He uses satire in the form of a fairy tale to share his indignation for ideological doctrines that would, if allowed, lead to the eventual destruction of a society. Each character in the story is representative of someone who was involved in the Russian Revolution. Old Major is Marx, and inspires the proletariat revolution by motivating the over-worked animals and educating them on the ways of the human beings, who represent the bourgeoisie. Orwell's creativity convinces the reader that the animals on the farm are intellectual beings, revolting against the tyranny of the humans. Animal Farm offers itself as an example of a responsible criticism of Marxism. The story gives us a peek at the Utopian vision, and then offers a long look at what results from using a Marxist approach at achieving it. I strongly reccomend this book, as it is entertaining and educational. Orwell succeeded in creating a fairy tale that evokes both sadness and laughter, while causing us to feel sympathy and even empathy for the working class animals. The book escapes complexity, but its message does not.
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Summary: Lousy
Review: I have been forced to read this book 3 times for various school assignments and although Animal Farm is considered a classic, I find I like it less and less every time I read it. Yes there is deep metaphors and symbolism but the plot and characters are so bizarre that the story is hard to follow or enjoy.
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Summary: An interesting book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It's not as funny as it seems it should be, but there is humor. It makes you think about the way animals really do think of us.
Animal Farm is a book about a group of English farm animals who take over the farm they live on. They want freedom for all animals, but one of the pig leaders gets rid of the other and the cycle of cruelty starts all over again. The animals don't realize that they are being treated worse than ever and they believe whatever they're told.
It's a good book and it made me think about how certain people (or animals in this case) can manipulate and turn the power over to themselves.
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