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Animal Farm
by
Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.
A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown ...more
A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 141 pages
Published
April 1996
by Signet Classics
(first published August 17th 1945)
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Michael Donnelly
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Start your review of Animal Farm

Amazon's very Orwellian involvement with this book at the end. If Amazon ever partnered Facebook they'd own us.
This is not really a review, but one of those moments where everything that was clear to you suddenly becomes utterly muddied and you really can't say what lies beneath the murky waters although a moment before you were sure you could.
I'm reading Christopher Hitchen's astonishingly percipient and brilliant Arguably: Essays. I read Animal Farm too young to identify the individual animals ...more
This is not really a review, but one of those moments where everything that was clear to you suddenly becomes utterly muddied and you really can't say what lies beneath the murky waters although a moment before you were sure you could.
I'm reading Christopher Hitchen's astonishingly percipient and brilliant Arguably: Essays. I read Animal Farm too young to identify the individual animals ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

The only good pig is a dead pig.

Yeah, yeah, everyone claims Orwell wrote this as about the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and the rise of Communism.
Pshttt. Whatever.
You know what I think he was really saying?
Beware the Other White Meat!
Ok, maybe not.

Look, I know what you're thinking, That pig looks adorable!, but the next thing you know, that piggy is all grown up and stealing your cookies!

And you'll let it steal your cookies because Mr. Pig has convinced you that giving up your cookies ever ...more

Yeah, yeah, everyone claims Orwell wrote this as about the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and the rise of Communism.
Pshttt. Whatever.
You know what I think he was really saying?
Beware the Other White Meat!
Ok, maybe not.

Look, I know what you're thinking, That pig looks adorable!, but the next thing you know, that piggy is all grown up and stealing your cookies!

And you'll let it steal your cookies because Mr. Pig has convinced you that giving up your cookies ever ...more

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Those damn PIGS.
I can't even. ...more
Those damn PIGS.
I can't even. ...more

564. Animal Farm, George Orwell
Animal Farm is an allegorical 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 believe ...more
Animal Farm is an allegorical 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 believe ...more

Aug 26, 2007
Tessa De Guzman
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
curious children
Funnily enough, i read this book as a child and thought that it really WAS about animals. I remember thinking, Evil Pigs, I'm glad you're bacon in MY world, and Poor Hardworking Horsies, come live on my farm instead. You can have all the hay and makopa you want (sadly, no apples, tropical climate).
I reread it after education spoiled my natural inclinations for fast and absolute punishment of evildoers and eternal rewards for the good. I do find it pleasantly strange that these animals are symbol ...more
I reread it after education spoiled my natural inclinations for fast and absolute punishment of evildoers and eternal rewards for the good. I do find it pleasantly strange that these animals are symbol ...more

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS !
In the start, I thought this book would be from the view point of animals; about how they are treated, how they expect to be treated and how man is cruel towards them.
But but but;
I am amazed at how Orwell criticizes the political maneuvers and totalitarian rule, using animals to explain what humans do. The author beautifully portrays the way a revolution is started to stop what is happening and going full circle comes to the same point i ...more
In the start, I thought this book would be from the view point of animals; about how they are treated, how they expect to be treated and how man is cruel towards them.
But but but;
I am amazed at how Orwell criticizes the political maneuvers and totalitarian rule, using animals to explain what humans do. The author beautifully portrays the way a revolution is started to stop what is happening and going full circle comes to the same point i ...more

Update after my February 2020 Re-read
A lot has happened in the world since I read this in high school in the mid-1990s. The book is as interesting and powerful as I remember. However, I think having an adult perspective on life, government, laws, taxes, rights, etc. makes this a much more powerful for me now than it was when I was a teenager.
One of the great things about this book, too, is that it is not very long. I think that morality tales with political undertones can be daunting if you kno ...more
A lot has happened in the world since I read this in high school in the mid-1990s. The book is as interesting and powerful as I remember. However, I think having an adult perspective on life, government, laws, taxes, rights, etc. makes this a much more powerful for me now than it was when I was a teenager.
One of the great things about this book, too, is that it is not very long. I think that morality tales with political undertones can be daunting if you kno ...more

This book is featured on Shabby Sunday @ https://readrantrockandroll.com/2018/...
I read Animal Farm when I was in college and it was one of those reads where you think it’s going to be boring, but it turns out to be a favorite. It’s an allegorical tale representing the Russian Revolution where the characters in the book represent people during this time.
I won’t go into the plot too much, but in a nutshell, this story is about a group of farm animals who rise up against the evil farmer who cares ...more
I read Animal Farm when I was in college and it was one of those reads where you think it’s going to be boring, but it turns out to be a favorite. It’s an allegorical tale representing the Russian Revolution where the characters in the book represent people during this time.
I won’t go into the plot too much, but in a nutshell, this story is about a group of farm animals who rise up against the evil farmer who cares ...more

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The animals of a farm, tired of the continuous abuses of human beings, decide to rebel. And after chasing the owner, they try to create a new order based on an ideological concept of equality. It looks like a fairy tale, but it's not to entertain the little ones. Mainly, Orwell explored a historical fact through this story.

The animals of a farm, tired of the continuous abuses of human beings, decide to rebel. And after chasing the owner, they try to create a new order based on an ideological concept of equality. It looks like a fairy tale, but it's not to entertain the little ones. Mainly, Orwell explored a historical fact through this story.
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was wh...more

I did NOT expect to love this like I did. I thought it would be one that I would be happy I read but didn't enjoy. Nope. I loved this book. Not only was the message clear and strong, but put in a disturbing way that'll stick with me. It was entertaining as a story alone but that ending packed a very real punch. Loved it.
...more

I first read this in Grade 11 and decided it was my favourite book. I knew a reread needed to happen right away, but it took me four years to finally get around to it when my boyfriend gifted me this beautiful illustrated edition. Animal Farm is a book I often think about and often quote, and it was a bit nerve-wracking to go back to it to see if it actually lived up to everything I had built it up to be. Thankfully, I'm thrilled to say it did.
In many ways it's a little bit underwhelming the sec ...more
In many ways it's a little bit underwhelming the sec ...more

George Orwell's Animal Farm is undeniably one of the best short novels ever written in the English language. It is a deceptively simple tale, which even older children could read. About an animal uprising, it is written in the style of a fable, and yet it can be read on so many levels. It is clearly both a satire and an allegory, a dystopian tale, and its author George Orwell made no secret of what regime, and which politicians, he was so mercilessly parodying. Yet as with all great novels, it s
...more

"I won't read again to this writer", that was my first impression to "ANIMAL FARM".
George Orwell was recommend to me by his two most famous books:"ANIMAL FARM" and "1984", and I had started reading "ANIMAL FARM" first by chance.
Then I though that Orwell, almost, hadn't have something to talk about in his other book; because he "has summarized up all what is happening in the occupied revolutions".
Later, I knew that "1984" was about Dystopian world that occurs after ANIMAL FARM's world. and Over ...more

Apr 16, 2017
Sean Barrs
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2-star-reads,
modernist-movement
George Orwell leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. This is a blatant political statement. There’s no reading between the lines in order to ascertain the meaning, it’s all here on the page. After around page twenty it was very obvious how this book would end. History repeats itself and in this case it goes full circle. Nothing changes. And a wise old Donkey was the only one in the piece aware of this. We can presume he has seen it before, though, on a character level he was a bit of an a
...more

Genre: Political Satire
Publication Date: August 1945
Love this book!
This book is satiric and humourous. Orwell has depicted the political and civil issues of early Russia in a beautiful way.
His writing is clever and makes the reader find himself very much engaged with the story and at times sympathetic towards the animals, only to realise that it is an allegory and all this had actually happened to people before and such misuse of power and trust still happen all around the world.
Publication Date: August 1945
Love this book!
This book is satiric and humourous. Orwell has depicted the political and civil issues of early Russia in a beautiful way.
His writing is clever and makes the reader find himself very much engaged with the story and at times sympathetic towards the animals, only to realise that it is an allegory and all this had actually happened to people before and such misuse of power and trust still happen all around the world.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
An allegorical parody of Stalinism, Animal Farm is considered to be one of Orwell's more popular works. Heavily inspired by Orwell's experiences during the Spanish Civil War, the novel is about a number of farm animals who revolt against their drunken and irresponsible owners and caretakers, driving them out of the farm and taking care of affairs themselves. The story is based on an ideology called Animalism, a tongue-in-ch ...more

Dec 13, 2016
Dan Schwent
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2016,
2016-books
Under the leadership of the pigs, the animals of Manor Farm overthrow their human owner and go into business for themselves with all animals doing their part. However, some parts involve a lot less work than others and things quickly change...
I somehow managed to dodge this landmine in high school and the ensuing couple decades. However, I had a few conversations about it at work and decided it was time to give it a read.
Animal Farm is a dystopian tale of revolution and the ensuing government. A ...more
I somehow managed to dodge this landmine in high school and the ensuing couple decades. However, I had a few conversations about it at work and decided it was time to give it a read.
Animal Farm is a dystopian tale of revolution and the ensuing government. A ...more

"They always call the other side ‘the elite’. Why are they elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are. I became president and they didn’t. And I’m representing the greatest, smartest most loyal best people on Earth – the deplorables, remember that?"
- Donald Trump, June 20 2018
"Four legs good, two legs better!"
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945
...more
- Donald Trump, June 20 2018
"Four legs good, two legs better!"
- George Orwell, Animal Farm, 1945
...more

Animal Farm is a dystopian tale of revolution and the ensuing government that takes over afterwards. It could easily be a symbolism of most revolutions that occur in history. A new leader comes in and it’s the same as the old leader. Rinse. Repeat.
(Note to self):
Must. Not. Get. Too. Political. With. This. Review.
I absolutely loved this book and the tale of this animal farm should concern anyone that believes in a free-thinking society. All it takes is a revolution, distrust in facts, listening t ...more
(Note to self):
Must. Not. Get. Too. Political. With. This. Review.
I absolutely loved this book and the tale of this animal farm should concern anyone that believes in a free-thinking society. All it takes is a revolution, distrust in facts, listening t ...more

Not as formidable as 1984, this modern day fable, though, bears down hard on socialism and even more on the very aspects of our nature that brings power struggles about.
First published in 1945, this allegorical criticism of Stalinist communism is nonetheless still relevant today as a cautionary satire on totalitarianism in general.
...more
First published in 1945, this allegorical criticism of Stalinist communism is nonetheless still relevant today as a cautionary satire on totalitarianism in general.


The inherent evil in Teletubbies. The satanic perversion of one extremely Disneyfied utopia. Orwell's super scary fairy tale is actually PERFECT. The tenderness in the animals easily translates to that shared by all mankind for itself. And, oh, so easily do modern political players fill the spots of pigs or dogs.
Basically in "A.F." all the little animals contracted serious rabies simultaneously. Who will survive the plague? A.F.=America, now. The fairy story of SHORT MEMORIES & DUPES.
This is the ...more
Basically in "A.F." all the little animals contracted serious rabies simultaneously. Who will survive the plague? A.F.=America, now. The fairy story of SHORT MEMORIES & DUPES.
This is the ...more

George OrwellI got stunned for a while when I finished Animal Farm-a masterpiece from George Orwell- for the novella depicts our society so perfectly- the role of power, how corrupts those who are apex of a social system and eventually they eliminate their competitors, and it happens with almost every social system, it's like a treatise on our society.
Napolean is not inherently evil, Napoleon's subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr. Jones' principles and after that the animals treat fellow ani ...more
Napolean is not inherently evil, Napoleon's subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr. Jones' principles and after that the animals treat fellow ani ...more

What a book! It is kind of confusing to read a story about animals who speak and stuff. Many people say that you need to know about the Russian Revolution to be able to read this, but NOPE! This book is full of symbols, clues, methaphors. How can you notice them? Well, just read the story! Why did Orwell choose a pig as a main character, and not a... let's say, butterfly? Or a pigeon? Or a cute dog? Or a rat?
About the story, despite the characters are animals, they behave like humans, they even ...more
About the story, despite the characters are animals, they behave like humans, they even ...more

This book didn't read like a 'classic' at all for me. It was so easy to get into. The writing style is simple and amazing. It's short but the story is relevant and weaved in such a way the readers get lots to think and reflect about the working system in a society, especially the political system.
This small book made me think about the class division and the different caste systems that are still relevant today. The political system is seemingly complicated but this book gave me a glimpse of it ...more
This small book made me think about the class division and the different caste systems that are still relevant today. The political system is seemingly complicated but this book gave me a glimpse of it ...more

Jan 13, 2018
Peter
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literary-fiction,
classic
Elucidation
An extremely famous and popular book that carries a major political message. Essentially Animal Farm is a parody of communism from the Bolshevik revolution, to the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. Beyond the obvious, we can see that this is a tale as relevant today as it was in the 1940s. After the Romanovs were removed, what actually changed for the average person? This is the incredible foresight George Orwell had when first publishing his book in 1945. We can package a revolutio ...more
An extremely famous and popular book that carries a major political message. Essentially Animal Farm is a parody of communism from the Bolshevik revolution, to the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. Beyond the obvious, we can see that this is a tale as relevant today as it was in the 1940s. After the Romanovs were removed, what actually changed for the average person? This is the incredible foresight George Orwell had when first publishing his book in 1945. We can package a revolutio ...more

I read this in high school and hated it because it terrified me.
It still terrifies me.
Read this.
It still terrifies me.
Read this.

Wow. Everything about this was so clever. I think my mind just exploded.
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
8. A classic with less than 200 pages
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
8. A classic with less than 200 pages

I absolutely loved this book. It wasn't boring to me at all. I think Orwell did a great job of symbolizing all the injustice that happens in name of an outside force and how simple minded people who do not educate themselves get taken advantage from, be it West for Soviet Russia, America for Iran or Terrorists for the United states.
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Michael's Book Review | 1 | 1 | Feb 25, 2021 05:41PM | |
Was anyone else completely scarred by this book? | 2 | 21 | Feb 09, 2021 11:44PM | |
Do you try to communicate with animals now? | 10 | 73 | Jan 25, 2021 08:59PM | |
The Insecure Writ...: Discussion - Animal Farm | 20 | 33 | Dec 01, 2020 09:41AM | |
All About Books: Animal Farm (Shannon, Greg, Gemma, June, Charbel, Alannah, Petra, others welcome!) | 92 | 140 | Nov 23, 2020 10:44AM |
Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. His work is marked by keen intelligence and wit, a profound awareness of social injustice, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, a passion for clarity in language, and a belief in democratic socialism.
In addition to his literary career Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial ...more
In addition to his literary career Orwell served as a police officer with the Indian Imperial ...more
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“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
—
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“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
—
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