Animal Farm and Related Readings

Rating:
Summary: Satire that taps the human condition, but lacks development
Review: Few authors have been capable of holding as individual a style as Orwell, for whether it is Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm, Orwell makes sure he stamps his beliefs onto the reader. Here in what Orwell describes as a 'fairy story' we see the bitter irony of socialist politics and collectivism corrupted by those very elements they initially overthrew - elitism. Animal Farm is a short read, and because of this, it has to be intense, which it is. The moral engagement of the reader is exceptional - for Boxer, Old Benjamin, and the ruling pigs (Napoleon/Squealer) are all styled to draw from us a unique response. Yet Animal Farm, with its great potential and success, fails to develop as much as an innovative idea such as that it uses could offer. The novel, it seems, tends to stop developing by about the fiftieth page, the 'political' structure of the farm in place. After that Orwell only gives extensions off the back of what happens earlier in the novel. That is not to say the novel does not have impact - it does, but by the concluding pages I, at least, was yearning for more. More injustice, or a happy resolution via a new Rebellion, or a development of the social structure of the farm along the lines it had started to take, would all have performed a great encore. A wonderful skeleton of a novel exists, but in a sense, it lacks 'meat on the bones'. It is well worth a quick read, don't doubt it. And the numerous strands of themes running through the pages are not to be missed. Yet, something about Orwell's style here - apart from his trademark 'depression' - is not fully exercised. But there is something there

Rating:
Summary: The best (and only) books I've read so far this year :)
Review: When I first started reading this (at age 25) I was ridiculed by a friend for reading a "kid's book". I think Animal Farm trancends age groups in that there's something to be learned by people of all ages. I particularly liked the way the revolution is shown as a full cycle, to the point where the animals are not only back where they started from, but in a worse situation. I also liked the way Orwell simplifies not only communism, but capitalism (and maybe dictatorship?) also (being a system full of holes and ripe for the evils of greed and power).

Rating:
Summary: Simply, the best book I've ever read
Review: I've read Animal Farm 3 times and each time I read it I get something more out of it. My 7th grade teacher made my class read it to illustrate communism. It worked great and showed us how tempting communism is and how easily it can spread. No matter how old you are, I suggest you pick up a copy of this book and read it.

Rating:
Summary: Educational, not interesting!
Review: Although the book teaches you many educational facts about Communism, I felt that it was not worth my time. Every time I sat down to read it, I found myself drifting asleep. It may be good for one thing, but definitely not worth the time of reading.

Rating:
Summary: This book was very interesting and enjoyable
Review: My name is Nicole. I read the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. I thought that it was a very good book. It taught me a lot about Communism and the way people are treated under Communism. I liked how the author turned the idea of Communism into a book about animals on a farm. That gave me a better idea of what Communism is all about. My favorite part was when the animals started to realize what was going on. They started to see that they weren't equal at all. In conclusion, I thought that this was a very good book.

Rating:
Summary: Animal Farm is a very good book on Communism, using pigs.
Review: Hi, my name is Brooke. In my Language Arts class, at Shenandoah Middle School, we read George Orwell's book, Animal Farm. I think this book was very interesting. The animals on the farm are rebelling against their farmer, Mr. Jones. He is always drunk and never feeds the animals, so they are always hungry. They wound up kicking him off the farm and rebelling all of mankind because of their type of government-communism/dictatorship. If you want to find out what happens, read Animal Farm!

Rating:
Summary: This is a very good political book.
Review: I think Animal Farm is a very good book. I like how this book shows the good intentions and poor results of communism. Communism is described very well in this book. Mick, Grade 8

Rating:
Summary: I thought that the book Animal Farm by George Orwell was bad
Review: The book Animal Farm by George Orwell was very childish and there was not a good plot to it at all. I would definately recomend that you do not read this book.

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book.
Review: Hello, my name is Megan. For an 8th grade English class, I had to read the book Animal Farm. I really enjoyed this book because of the background of Communism in it. I also enjoyed the whole story. This book represents all of the important people of Communism in it such as, in this book Marx is represented by a pig named Major, Lenin by a pig named Snowball, and Stalin by a pig called Napoleon. If you want to see who or what other animals are, go read this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: An overall spectacular book about a group of rebellious animals who take over their farm from the humans. The book brilliantly satirizes the Russian revolution and is highly entertaining, while at the same time very educational. A must have for any book lover.