Thursday, March 10, 2016

Suicide Reviews: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm 

Summary: Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organized to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges...

Date Published: August 17, 1945
Published By: Penguin (This Edition)
Number of Pages: 95
Rating: 5/5

What can be said about Animal Farm that hasn't been said already? This is why I find classics so hard to review but I'll do my best.

I read Animal Farm years ago for high school and really loved it. Reading it today, I still love it but because I wasn't studying the Russian Revolution simultaneously this time around, I forgot who some of the characters were supposed to represent. If anything this book is successful at, it does make me want to go back and study the Russian Revolution just so I can get a clearer picture of the allegory.

Animal Farm is subtitled A Fairy Story, which is entirely appropriate as the book reads like a modern-day fairy tale. There are no nuanced characterizations or complex plot details to be found. But that doesn't mean the story doesn't serve as a brilliant allegory and a scathing criticism of the failed ideals of the Revolution. It shows, little by little, how noble ideas can be swiftly corrupted by power and greed.

Animal Farm is still a great read after 71 years of being in print. But what's sobering is how relevant it still is to today's world. 

No comments:

Post a Comment