Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (Penguin Modern Classics) |
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George Orwell
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Pages: 144 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0141182709
Pub: Penguin Classics
Pub date: 2000-02-24
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4409
Editorial Review:
Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong has been recognized as a classic of modern political satire. Fuelled by Orwell's intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing--both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol, wear clothes, sleep in a bed or kill a fellow four-footed creature. Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends and the two-legged are, by definition, the enemy. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. "We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of the farm depend on us. Day and night, we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." While this swinish brotherhood sells out the revolution, cynically editing the Seven Commandments to excuse their violence and greed, the common animals are once again left hungry and exhausted, no better off than in the days when humans ran the farm. Satire Animal Farm may be, but it's a stony reader who remains unmoved when the stalwart workhorse, Boxer, having given his all to his comrades, is sold to the glue factory to buy booze for the pigs. Orwell's view of Communism is bleak indeed, but given the history of the Russian people since 1917, his pessimism has an air of prophecy. --Joyce Thompson
Reader Reviews:
It is clear that Orwell is sadly misinterpreted by many readers (0/0 people found this helpful)
Orwell was a socialist and fought with the POUM and was a member of the ILP. This quote is from the preface of the 1947 Ukrainian Edition of Animal Farm:
Indeed, in my opinion, nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of Socialism as the belief that Russia is a Socialist country and that every act of its rulers must be excused, if not imitated.
And so for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the Socialist movement.
The idea that Animal Farm is a critique of socialism, therefore, is complete corruption of what Orwell was arguing. What Orwell was criticising was the counter-revolution that took place in Russia under Stalin (Napoleon). This book should be read in its proper context to see the message that Orwell is trying to present. It is more subtle than simply 'socialism/communism is bad'.
Can be enjoyed at more than one level (1/1 people found this helpful)
Timeless classic that can be enjoyed at various levels: adults, especially those familiar with Soviet history, can appreciate the political allegory, while children could still appreciate this as an amusing and frightening tale of animals taking over from people. Orwell's original foreword, reproduced at the end of this edition, is also worth reading for its salutary lesson on how liberal intellectuals can sometimes fool themselves into supporting the most illiberal regimes.
Animal Farm (0/4 people found this helpful)
The book isn't bad. i ended up reading it to my daughter. she loved it. George's works are really quite dark. "Animal farm" is not a satire its more of a Dark drama. its good for a quick read but it lacks feeling.
read it if you haven't got anything better to do.
Aren't you all so very clever (5/20 people found this helpful)
Other reviewers choose to linger on the rather obvious allegory of the parallels between Napoleon and co. and Trotsky, Marx, Lenin and Stalin. This is not just supposition, it had been stated by many (author included) that this was his intent. I think too many people have been reading this at G.C.S.E and now think they're literary experts. Those same people are not so adept at drawing out themes from the likes of Hemingway and Dostoyevsky.
Look, the novel is interesting and concise, little over 100 pages. It tells of an uprising on a farm led by Napoleon and a brigade of pigs, under the teachings of an old pig (Marxism anyone?). They rouse the poplation of farm to throw off the shackles of human autocracy (i.e Russian Tsars) and establish themselves.
This is where the problems become apparent. The animals are set to gruelling tasks and must also repel the invading farmers (could represent any nations who favoured the Tsars at this time). It mirrors the failure of Communism and why it fails, that being that the leaders are prone to corruption and are capitalists at heart. So Napoleon re-writes the tenets of their rules (an interesting metaphor that is relevant in the spin obsessed politics of today), the pigs choose to shed the squalor of their comrades and begin to live in the same manner as those they deposed, and become worse dictators than those they deposed. They even have a secret police.
A good story, with strong characters, surprising for such a short book of such strong allegory. If you ignore the whole metaphor of Russia, you are left with a story that stands up in its own right. The villainous pigs will incite the anger due for any good antagonist, the touching loyalty of the horse who works himself to death because he has been brainwashed, and the treatment he receives.
Napoleon Strikes Once More! (0/4 people found this helpful)
This book, as the name suggests, is about animals and how they feel. But, I think what Orwell is trying to do is relate all that human modern dictators do to leading animals in a farm. Orwell has been claver because it shows, in a way, the things that happen during a dictatorship.
In the beginning the book introduces us to all main animals and the sufferings that go on at Manor Farm. The first chapters is about the leader of the animals, Major, telling them that soon an animal rebellion would come along and the humans would not have to be called master. He teaches them a song called 'Beasts of England' in which the lyrics tell the animals about animal freedom. That night poor old major dies. The animals then decide to rebel, they do this successfully and drive their evil master Jones out. The animals knew that they had to be civilised and so every day they had a meeting to discuss how to improve the new 'animal farm' (they decided to call it that). When they went to the meetings they marched pass the old head of Major. Eventually Jones came back but Snowball, a strong young pig, and Boxer, an extremely strong horse, and their animal comrades defeated them using roman battle tactics. Snowball and Boxer were given an award, Animal Hero, First Class and a sheep that died was given Animal Hero, Second Class. The animals try and show their freedom in every way, they even make a flag! They make commandments which every animal must follow and they try to spread the word to neighbouring farms. They found a gun that Jones had left. They fired this gun twice a year, once on the day of the rebellion and once on the day of the Battle of Cowshed (where they finally defeated the humans). At the meetings there seemed to be a continuous rivalry, Snowball and Napoleon, two pigs. Eventually Napoleon defeats and drives Snowball away unfairly. Then Napoleon changes everything and starts to change the commandments to suit him, but no-one can get near him because of his guard of grizzly dogs. But the animals don't realise what is happening...
This book was very interesting and made me think about, how modern politics actually works. Very relevant to the Russian Revolution. It was a great read.
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