Animal Farm

by Blair Eric Arthur

Animal Farm is an allegorical and dystopian novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union, he believed, had become a brutal dictatorship, built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror. In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin ("un conte satirique contre Staline"), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".--Wikipedia.

Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Prospero · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I have little more to say. I merely repeat, remember, always your duty of enmity towards Man and all his ways. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And above all, no animals must ebe tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal."
- p.6

"All Animals are equal, but some Animals are more equal than others."
- p.90

--

If there's one artifact of the 20th century that we ought to save and preserve for posterity, it ought to be this book.

I read this for the first time at the age of nine or ten, and I remember thinking it was unlike any other children's novel I had ever read up until that point (because of course, it's not a children's novel at all, but a novel for adults, who are basically grown-up children). I didn't realize its impact on me at the time, but I've since come to recognize that it has shaped my worldview in countless and subtle ways, probably more profoundly than any other novel I've read.

I read it again recently, and yes, it's still a timeless classic on failed revolutions and the corruption of power, and has one of the most famous and memorable of endings in all of novel-dom. In less than one hundred pages Orwell has masterfully written a timeless meditation on the tragedy of Stalinism, the corruption of revolutions in general, and dissected an array of personalities that everyone will recognize.

What I love about Animal Farm is that it's simple enough for children to read, and yet profound enough for adults to appreciate. The prose is layered and bursting with world-weary wisdom, and rewards a careful reading. Rating this novel anything less than 5 stars would be a crime, comrade.

Long live Animal Farm! Long live the Rebellion!

--

"Orwell replied that though Animal Farm was 'primarily a satire on the Russian Revolution' it was intended to have a wider application. That kind of revolution, which he defined as 'violent conspiratorial revolution, led by unconsciously power-hungry people', could only lead to a change of masters. He went on: 'I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job..."
- p.vii

[Mohammad Saqlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boy George decided to write about everything wrong with humanity in under 100 pages in the disguise of a fable all the way back in 1945 which resulted in a book that will always stand the test of time. We get a political satire which provides commentry on history altering by the leaders and the sheeps blindly obeying them . Sentencing anyone who questions your actions to death, putting yourself on top of the pyramid and still managing to convince the people that everything is alright. That's what I call a masterpiece
10/10

[GRG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every animal is equal to others, but some animals are more equal. As a history fan I support snowball even if it probably happened something to him cause of a De Sica’s relative animal idk

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

fire satire

[Jami Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this as a teenager, it was refreshing to read it again as an adult. I don't think my teenage brain truly understood the depth of Orwell's writing, but my adult brain certainly does.