Rating: 
Summary: Animal Farm--Good Book
Review: Before reading Animal Farm, I had no idea that the history of the Soviet Union could be so fun!!! The story starts off with words of wisdom passed on by Old Major, Lenin's or Stalin's piggish counterpart and the founder of Animalism, a form of society in which all animals are equal and all have their duties to the collective. The pigs of the farm, being the most intelligent of farm animals, proceed to organize the overthrow of the current oppressive 'government' (Farmer Jones) and rename the farm Animal Farm. The duty of leadership has only two real contenders, the two predominant pigs of the farm: Napoleon (a ruthless, evil, and ultimately corrupt egoist-politico, representative of Stalin) and Snowball (a relatively selfless pig concerned mostly with reforms to the system, representative of Trotsky). Snowball is eventually driven out of Animal Farm, and thanks to Napoleon's 'propaganda minister', Squealer, the animals, dumb as they are, soon forget all that Snowball fought for and accomplished in the name of Animalism. The book is great, whether you know it is a 'brief history of twentieth-century Russia' or whether you see it simply as a fantasy tale. Orwell's use of foreshadowing in the development of the ending goes nearly so far as to ruin it, but it is surprising nonetheless. One of his tools for this was the Seven Commandments of Animalism, which provide a benchmark to refer to as we see Napoleon twist them and pervert them to One Commandement. I particularly liked the third-person point of view Orwell wrote from. It allows us to see everything that the animals don't realize is going on behind their backs as Napoleon schemes his schemes and plots his plots. And I found the contrast between Snowball and Napoleon to be very dramatic; Snowball's undying dedication to Animalism as compared to Napoleon's undying dedication to his own advancement. My opinion is that there should be more authors like George Orwell. Or maybe there should be more books like Animal Farm. Not just a striking analogy, but a really good, entertaining book. Recommended, two thumbs up, five stars, blah, blah, blah. The thing that hit me after reading this book:
Wow. That really happened.
Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm
Review: Animal Farm grabbed me and pulled me into the story right away. Already at the beginning you decided which animals you liked and which you had something against. When laws began mysteriously changing, and things started to become unfair, that's when you knew something was wrong. I would definitely recommend anyone too read it, because anyone who reads it will see the story differently from other people, so everyone can enjoy it. It's very well written, and I will definately read it again when I get older, especially since I live on a farm.
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Summary: Three quick points
Review: 1) "Animal Farm" is not a children's book. Yes, it is thin, and it is about animals. If there are any dim-witted lit teachers out there still assigning this book to their 12-year olds, please stop. They tend to write silly things about it on this site. ("It's boring. Talking animals are stupid.") Have them read Harry Potter instead, or better yet, teach them correct spelling and grammar. 2) "Animal Farm" will not make sense to people who don't have a good understanding of the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union, since this provides the crucial context for understanding the book's metaphorical meaning. (See point 1). Try reading Richard Pipes on the revolution, and Robert Conquest on the Stalinist terror. 3) Note to unreconstructed Stalinists: you will not like "Animal Farm." We knew this already. So save your precious typing fingers from ergonomic disorder, and spare us the "Orwell was in the British secret service" and your anti-historical bull about the Popular Front and whatnot. The Soviets saved the world from Nazism? Two words: Ribbentrop-Molotov. Put a sock in it and go read Eric Hobsbawm or something.
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Summary: A great story
Review: This story is well written and describes communism in an important way [it is banned from Cuba]
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Short Read
Review: Animal Farm is a great novel which tells the horrors of communism. I could really see how the characters represented real historical figures (Snowball represents Trotsky, Napoleon represents Stalin, etc.). It is an easy novel to read, and most importantly it is quite entertaining and enjoyable. Unfortunately, it is very short, so don't expect it to keep you busy for very long. Buy it, or at least check it out at the library. It's worth reading.
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Summary: An Amazing Allegory
Review: I found this allegory to be an excellent book! I have read part of 1984, another of Orwell's books, and I did not enjoy that book nearly as much as I enjoyed Animal Farm. This book is a must read!
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Summary: Animal rulers
Review: Animal Farm was a book that inspired me. The book let me see through my eyes that cruelty can punish you. You must treat other well so that you can be treated well. I learned that power currupts people. Ruling over people only makes you powerful, but not friendly.Life can be tough for animals. I learned a lesson. You should treat your animal just like humans.
Rating: 
Summary: "Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others"
Review: With "Animal Farm" George Orwell, I think it is fair to say joins the elite club of significant satirist like Kafka and Swift. It has proven it is a true piece of art just based on the fact that to this day, 65 years after it was written, it is still a matter of debate as to just how significant it is! Some, and maybe understandablely dismiss this book at first glance. C'mon lets think here for a second. Here's a book about a group of animals that over-throw a group of humans. If that isn't enough, it has two pigs on the cover. But, if you give "Animal Farm" a chance you will find it to be a remarkable piece of literature. The ideas brought up in this book are still issues we can discuss to this very day. Orwell's wonderful use of symbolism and metaphors makes this book so interesting. There is really much more to this book than meets the eye. I honestly can not add anything really new or fresh to say that others haven't already said. "Animal Farm", to me, is a major piece of literature that should be read by everyone. If you have some doubts about this book, those thoughts will vanish soon after the first couple of pages. I really enjoyed it! p.s. I always knew politicians were animals lol
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Summary: Orwell's lift-me-up for a dark time
Review: George Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1945 at the end of the World War II era when peoples spirts were very low. Animal Farm is a light hearted tale with a meaning. Animal Farm is about a dream of animals rule and a new religon called "Animalism". Animals taking over thier farm from their drunk owner and try to build a utopian society but they were in rude awkening. At first they were doing good: they made seven rules the animals had to live by, they were making more money and food then ever, and they finallay got to relax. But then things took a turn for the worse: animals having to fight in the humans attacks, snowball(the brians) was kicked off the farm, and they were doing more work and eating less. Pigs took control of the farm and the dreams were crushed but the animals were to stupid to figure out what was going on, even when they caught the pigs. "Animalism" was abolished and things were worse than before. The meaning of this book is that you can never have a utopian society because somebody will always want control and power. This is a must read, I had to read it in scholl but it was well worth it.
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Summary: Very Interesting and Provocative Reading
Review: I first read this book many years ago as a child and really enjoyed it. I saw it as nothing more than a fairy tale. I recently read it again and interpreted it very differently. It was well-written and very interesting. I believe that one of the things that made it so great was that it can be read by different people of all ages and can be interpreted so differently. I've heard the argument that it depicts humans conquering nature, that it depicts the negative aspects of communist government, etc. Either way, this simple book is a must-read. I recommend it highly.
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