I went into this book knowing it was a politically driven story (I mean, hello, the forward tells you as much in the first place) but I found that even with that in mind, the story was still quite enjoyable. (I generally loathe all politically driven conversations; everyone’s too focused on swaying someone to their point of view to actually value another individual’s perspective. …but that’s a whole other can of worms we can leave unopened at this time.) Most of the animal characters were developed off of existing political leaders, two or three people (in one character), or groups of people in the Russian Revolution at that time. I really, really enjoyed the irony of the ending and how perfectly it captured the corruption of socialist ideas in the hands of corrupt leadership. I almost wish I could have been alive to witness the effects of this allegory on the world. But then again, it might have been harder to get my hands on a copy then…

And while I can see the depiction of the Russian Revolution and it’s components within this story, I also think that these characters and scenarios can transcend the intended allegory. Meaning it’s contents can be applied to more than just the Russian Revolution and it’s leaders, but to any nation in which leadership is corrupt and all powerful.

Anyway, Orwell’s writing was good – I would have liked it to be a touch more smooth and easy reading like, and it is a short book but you get a lot of detail and development from the story and it’s characters.

I definitely recommend reading it, if not for the historical nature of it then for the unique portrayal of the ideas held within.

Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/mini-reviews-slaughterhous... ( )

Orwell’s best work of fiction by some distance. It has the lightness of touch characteristic of his essays but otherwise absent from his novels. The narrative unfolds at a swift pace and with an organic inevitability. The characters are types, this is a fable after all, but Orwell uses his loyal carthorses, wise old donkeys and mindless sheep to moving effect. Animal Farm is short and brutal; unlike 1984, however, it leaves this reader feeling invigorated by Orwell’s artistry and clear-eyed vision, rather than bludgeoned into despair.

Is it about the tragedy inevitably brought by revolution? Or the tragedy of revolution betrayed? I think both interpretations are valid, though it would be an odd reader who concluded that the animals were wrong to rebel against Mr Jones. Despite his socialism there were strong elements of fatalism and pessimism in Orwell and they find clear expression here. It is also a book which could only have been written by someone with a profound, almost anarchistic, scepticism towards authority and ideology in all their forms.

Animal Farm was conceived as a book with a specific polemical purpose. Orwell wrote it to ‘expose the Soviet myth’: not to make the world safe for capitalism but to clear the way for genuine socialism. His timely intervention produced a work of timeless and universal relevance. Ultimately it isn’t about Soviet Russia. It speaks to our eternal need for liberation and how it is betrayed, not just by mendacious pigs, but our own misplaced faith in those who profess to lead us. ( )

Still a lovely fable. ( )

Great book! ( )

an easy read, ironic and scary ( )