Animal Farm: A Fairy Story

Rating:
Summary: Orwell's Best Book!
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


Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs Up for Animal Farm!
Review: Animal Farm takes place on a farm in England. An old pig tells all of the farm animals that they need to revolt one day and take over control of the farm. It starts out well, the animals are all equal and work together for the common good. But the pigs slowly take over absolute control of the farm. One pig, named Napolean, becomes the farm's dictator, executing animals, rewriting history, and slowly becoming more like the humans that they overthrew in the first place. The story is modeled after that of The Soviet Union. The conflict is unfornuately, not resolved. This is because the book was written before the Soviet Union was defeated and overthrown. If the book had been written after the USSR's downfall, however, I am positive the ending would be similiar to that of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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: 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!

Rating:
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."

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: This isn't just about Soviet Communism, it is about USA.
Review: I read this book from the American perspective, and I think this perspective too, fits perfectly.

The colonists overthrow Britian (corrupt and evil enslaving power), we establish our utopia. Our utopia is a Constitutional Republic.

At first, everthign works great. We have freedom, we have respect for rights, and we have an honest money and trade system. All people are equals, and each is free to produce and live an abundant life.

But, slowly, over time, the principles (the commandments) are abused. The treachery is hidden from public view. The pigs (congressmen) treat themselves to extravagant spending. The executive wages war and rallies support for its stupidity initiatives (space flight, war, socialism). Congress, in alliance with the money/banking powers, establishes fradudlent paper money, illegal and fradulent banking systems, and our economy is reduced to a unproductive series of accounting gimmicks. When times get bad, we go to war.

Now we are left with a system of government far worse that that of the original England. We embrace socialism with a eagerness not even shown in Russia.

We THINK we're free, we think we have justice, we think we have open and free elections, we think we have a real economy. All lies, all told to keep up the morale of the working class for the benefit of the elite. The business of the government in America has been to (unconstitutionally) wage war, and to lie to the most people in a believable way. The government views it's function as a propaganda mnachine, to keep people believign in the fantasy, for the benefit of the fradulent financial elite. All while the underlying "doctrine" is ignored. All while the judiciary looks the other way regarding the "commandments", the
constitution. Today, judges view their role as social engineers (for the greater good), not as their oath would imply- keepers and defenders of the "commandments".

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm's double meaning
Review: SHOULD BE --- AND HOPEFULLY STILL IS --- REQUIRED READING FOR ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS. IF EVERY AMERICAN WERE TO READ THIS MASTERPIECE, THERE WOULD BE A GREATER LIKELIHOOD THAT OUR GRANDCHILDREN WOULD RETAIN THE FREEDOMS THAT SO MANY GENERATIONS OF AMERICANS HAVE FOUGHT AND DIED FOR.