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Summary: Much More Relevant Than You're Being Told!
Review: I had to come back and write a second review of good ol' Animal Farm after I went searching through the hundreds of reviews to find my origional one. I hope somebody finds & appreciates this review in the pile. You see, I was struck by the number of people who think that this can ONLY be a critcism of Stalinism and the Russian Revolution. This is true, it is, and was probably written somewhat that way as Orwell had a falling out with the left, but I think his genius in writing this is that it APPLIES ALSO TO CAPITALISM, DEMOCRACY & FUNDAMENTALIST
REGIMES as well. This aspect is much more relevant today as a warning. What brings down a Marxist revolution? Greed! Well then, what brings down an entrepenurial business? Greed! What brings down fundamentalists? Greed! What brings down an anarchist collective? Greed!... ...and it's all there on the pages of Animal Farm. Halle-damn-leuyah! Fact is, Animal Farm is really about depending on each other versus selfish betrayal. It shows how great ideals are sold out. That's all. Nothing tricky. Very simple. Its genius lies in showing the mechanism in terms of a folk tale for all to see.
Anybody who doesn't believe that Animal Farm can exist in capitalism should have worked in the computer store I worked at years ago. Unfortunately, I was BOXER, and I nearly got WORKED TO DEATH & left to die like he did despite being the hardest worker! Disgruntled employee? YOU BET!...and I was proved right after the place collapsed for every reason that I said it would.
The pigs took over and destroyed it after I left: bankruptcy & insolvancy. So when somebody says, "it could happen!" speaking about Animal Farm & communism, tell them, "It already has, and it happens day after day after day in our homes & churches every time somebody takes credit for and steals another's work!" I would never justify what Stalin did. He was an evil guy just like Mao. but you have to see that Animal Farm is far more relevant than that. We do Orwell an injustice as a writer otherwise. In closing, I have to say that this book is superior to the much ballyhooed 1984. 1984 is much more, um, gothic, that is, it drips in atmosphere and torture without any way to see what went wrong. It's "doubleplusgood" in bringing us the concept of Big Brother and newspeak, but doesn't give anyway to identify the culprits the way Animal Farm does. This makes Animal Farm superior, in fact, "more superior than others"!
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Summary: Dictatorship
Review: Animal Farm is about a free society that became a victim to dictatorship. However, this was not obvious at first. First one society (the animals) overthrew another (the owners of Manor Farm) in a rebellion they felt they put off for too long. After years of turmoil, they finally got the courage to act on what they felt and rebel against their cruel owners (pg. 21-23). In celebration of their victory, and to show that their harsh captivity was over, they burned, destroyed and buried all the objects that were a symbol of their terrible past: whips, chains, cuffs (pg. 23-24). Their new society based on Animalism was doing fine, at first. Their living conditions were at their highest, they had goals for the future, and all the animals were treated fairly equally. Soon, though, the two leaders, Napoleon and Snowball, could no longer ignore each other's differences and Napoleon overthrew Snowball. Under Napoleon's rule, the society began to crumble. The work load of the animals increased, they got less food, and the punishments were cruel. Most of all, the pigs abused their power and became unfair to the animals under them. In conclusion, this story is an example of a society under dictatorship with cruel leaders, hungry for power.
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Summary: My Favorite Satire
Review: From the mind of George Orwell comes the best Satire ever written. No other book can compare with the sheer wit of this captivating story. This book definitely put Orwell to the top of the list, not only as a writer but as a man of intelligence. If you don't know already, this book is about the Russian Revolution. Whether or not you are familiar with Stalin and his wrong-doings won't matter when reading this book. When I first read it I had no clue, but the book still captivated me. It was just like a fable showing the greed of humanity. Every time I read the book again, I learn more about the Revolution and I pick up another thing or two. Truly amazing. Orwell's brilliance shines on with the likes of Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain. A very enjoyable book. It's amazing how much can be said in 139 pages.
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Summary: Some animals are more equal than others.
Review: Animal Farm was written as an attack against Soviet-style communism. Once the reader understands that many of the animals are equally as intelligent as most humans, the story opens up to many laughs. This is a must-read, however, take note that it is not at all a desparate cry out for capitalism. Rather, it is a story about controlling the means of production. Throughout, the reader is reminded that the animals were never better off then when the means of production were socially owned and distribution of duty and goods was decided upon "democratically." I do not believe that Orwell understood why a socialist state must inevitably fall to dictatorship - had he made that clear, then the story would earn four stars. However, it is quite clear that Orwell is a socialist, scapegoating power-hungry individuals for the failure of Marxism. That is why this book is revered in both leftist and rightest circles. Don't let Orwell pull a fast one on you here...
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Summary: This Little Piggy Went To The Soviet Union
Review: This is a classic book and a must read for anyone who is interested in history or politics. In his work, Orwell talks about the life of a group of animals on a farm who decide to overthrow their master. After overthrowing they planned to start a new government which at first is based on the animals being represented equally. As the book goes along however one can see how certain animals abuse their power.
This is a great book for many reasons but mainly because it is easy to read and understand the links Orwell is making to communism. Animal Farm is a great story and Orwell does a great job developing characters in such a short time. Do yourself a favor and give it a look
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Summary: my review
Review: I thought this book was very interesting. I liked how all the animals came together to defeat Mr. Jones, but I didn't like it how the animals were able to talk to humans. I thought that was going a little overboard. But I thought it was cool the way the animals, though devistated, pulled through everything with hope and courage. I liked it how so many bad things, like how the windmill that they had worked so hard on was destroyed twice, happened to them, but they kept their heads high, and just kept rebuilding it.
All in all, I thought it was okay, and would only recommend it to people that like fiction.
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Summary: my review
Review: I thought this book was very interesting. I thought it was cool how the animals formed together to get rid of Mr. Jones.But one of the things I didn't really like about this book was how the animals were able to talk to humans. But, I did like it how the animals never gave up. Even when everyone was against them, when the windmill kept getting destroyed, and when they found out that Snowball was betraying them, they still found a way to pull through together, and not fall apart like you think they would.
All in all i thought this book was fairly good, and i would only recommend it to people that are into fiction.
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Summary: Animal Farm
Review: I enjoyed reading Animal Farm very much. I found it amusing how pigs (of all animals) could rise above the rest to become dictators. George Orwell did a fantastic job in linking the pigs to communism. My favorite character in the book was Boxer, the horse. He was such a good guy (horse) that after the glue factory incident I lost all my respect for Napoleon, Squealer and the rest of the christmas hams.
Since I finished the book I have not looked at any animal- tame or wild- in the same way. I was supposed to help my grandpa slaughter cows, but I just couldn't after what they did yo me favorite horse, Boxer. I have treated all animals with the utmost respect, with the exception of pigs. I have noticed that the ruthlessness of the pigs in the book, are not far off from reality. The pigs often ram each other created swelling in the belly.
All in all, I tip my hat to George Orwell for his excellent job in writing this book for all the world to experience.
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Summary: The link to communism
Review: Animal Farm is a book that describes communism in Russia's history. It is written with symbols, so it is easy to understand for all ages. Animal Farm is also sophisticated enough to keep all ages interested. Major, the older pig, symbolizes Karl Marx. He tells of a dream where animals prosper and they are not controlled by humans. Soon after he tells of this dream, he dies. One night, when the humans are expecially lazy, the animals overthrow the humans and chase them from the farm. Snowball and Napolean appear as leaders, who symbolize Trotsky and Stalin respectively. Snowball and Napolean usually disagree on how to run things, but Snowball presents the ideas that are better for the whole. While Snowball was the better speaker, Napolean gained support between speeches easier. On a specific day, Snowball and Napolean were giving reasons for and against building a windmill. Snowball was for it and gave an inspiring speech about how it would be hard but the luxeries that came from it would far outweigh the work. Napolean on the other hand gave a half-hearted speech on why it was a bad idea. After his speech, he makes a little yelp and dogs come in and chase Snowball off the farm, just as Trotsky was expelled from Russia. Napolean starts to go against the main rules of Animalism (communism) and his propaganda machine, Squealer, always explains how they "forgot" the rule or parts of it while he just changed it. Napolean gets richer while the farm as a whole gets poorer. Rations get cut and things are the same if not worse than before the animals took over. The only one who realizes this is the stubborn donkey named Benjamin. The only one that realizes what Napolean was doing, and for some reason does nothing. I recommend this for anyone interested in a good story, expecially if you want to learn more about how communism went down in Russia. It provides the Communist story in a easy to learn way, yet does not dumb it down so that you get left with holes in what happened.
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Summary: Ripe for Attack
Review: I hadn't thought much about Animal Farm since I wrote an essay on it for English class in tenth grade. But now, in my first year of college now, I just read the book again for my English class. My friend's parents work in publishing, and she gave me an advanced copy of a book attacking Orwell's idea. The book is called Snowball's Chance, by John Reed, and has gotten some attention here in New York. It got me to thinking that in some ways he's right to not like Animal Farm, because Animal Farm does sort of blame the Russians, as if we don't have a lot of problems of our own. But I liked Animal Farm, too, because the Russians really did have an oppressive system.
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