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Animal Farm

by George Orwell

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 1,368,400 ratings · 20,741 reviews

Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/ communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union.

Paperback, 152 pages

Published May 6th 2003 by Plume (first published 1945)

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Nov 16, 2008 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, satire, classics, cover-love

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a book I've been meaning to read for ages but never got around to - last week I not only read it but gave a lesson on the historical context for the grade 8 class, who will be reading this book and The Wave. As I found, out of the class of 24, about 20 of them had already read the book, and at least one kid knew it was an allegory of the Russian Revolution. Still, my lesson wasn't totally redundant :)

For anyone who isn't familiar with the story, Animal Farm is about the animals on a farm...more This is a book I've been meaning to read for ages but never got around to - last week I not only read it but gave a lesson on the historical context for the grade 8 class, who will be reading this book and The Wave. As I found, out of the class of 24, about 20 of them had already read the book, and at least one kid knew it was an allegory of the Russian Revolution. Still, my lesson wasn't totally redundant :)

For anyone who isn't familiar with the story, Animal Farm is about the animals on a farm in England rising up against the incompetent, cruel farmer (Mr Jones, who represents the deposed Tsar, Nicholas II) and taking over the farm, renaming it Animal Farm (USSR) and - so the glorious vision intended - running it for themselves, so their lives would be better.

The vision is given to them by a pig, Old Major, who dies not long afterwards. Old Major probably represents Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, and it's not the socialist ideal put forward that is critiqued by this book but how that vision is corrupted by certain other characters, namely another pig called Napoleon, who represents Joseph Stalin. Napoleon chases a pig called Snowball (Leon Trotsky) off the farm with his personally trained dogs (while still just the General Secretary of the Party, Stalin recruited people who would follow him blindly, so that when Lenin died in 1924 he was able to defeat Trotsky for the leadership position and his "dogs" kept everyone else in line).

The pigs then take charge, and with their literacy skills keep changing the rules the animals established in order to suit themselves, using a pig called Squealer to convince the other animals that their memories are faulty. After all, as the drafthorse Boxer keeps saying, "Comrade Napoleon is always right".

Boxer is - for me - the most heartbreaking character in the novel. He represents the peasants, and is the most hardworking animal on the farm. He has utter faith in the leadership of Napoleon and works himself to the bone - literally. His reward is very telling, though I don't want to give it away. Most of the characters represent either a person, several people or groups of people, and for the complete list you can check it out on Wikipedia.

Orwell, while a socialist, was very cynical about Stalin's communist USSR - and for good reason! Animal Farm is a very well-written critique of how socialist ideals are corrupted by powerful people, how the uneducated masses are taken advantage of, and how the dictator or communist leaders turn into capitalists (just look at China). It's a wonderful example of how effective the allegorical style/format can be, and a well-deserved classic.(less)

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Dec 16, 2012 Petra Xtra Crunchy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

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 with actual characters on the stage of communism (the old boar Major is Marx, Farmer Jones is the Tsar, the pi...more

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Aug 26, 2007 Tessa De Guzman added it

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

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Feb 23, 2012 بثينة العيسى rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

جورج أورويل عبقري بشكل مزعج. يكتب رواية أبطالها حيوانات في مزرعة ويخيل إليك بأن الأمر سيكون سخيفاً، أو شبيها بقصص الأطفال. على العكس، جورج أورويل نقل الواقع بكابوسيته، وجعل التاريخ أكثر قابلية للفهم، وشرح لنا باختصار كيف يمكن أن يتحول الإنسان إلى خنزير والخنزير إلى إنسان.

رواية جديرة بوقتك بالتأكيد.

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Nov 20, 2008 Manny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A perfect book. People will still be reading this in a thousand years time, when communism is just a footnote.

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Nov 23, 2013 Mohammed Arabey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

سيظل دائما جميع الحيوانات متساويين..الا ان بعض "الخنازير" ستري دائما انها "متساويه" اكثر من الاخرين

جورج اورويل عام 1943 يقدم لنا نموذج لثوره
ثوره ما من اجل عيش يتناسب مع العمل..من اجل حريه حقيقيه
ثوره ما من اجل الكرامه..ثوره من اجل العداله الاجتماعيه

ثوره نجحت في ازاله الضاغيه...ثوره نجحت في جعل الارض كلها حقا للثوار
صارت ارضهم وملكهم..صار خيرها كله لهم..صاروا يملكون زمام امورهم
صاروا يتغنون نشيد نصرهم...فرحين بحريتهم..يرون في المستقبل فقط رخائهم

آل التنظيم الي جماعه من الخنازير..يقودها اثنان

الاول اخت...more

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Feb 10, 2008 Sabine rated it 5 of 5 stars

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.

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Nov 05, 2011 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-reads

Animal Farm was such a great book and demands a re-read. That time is way overdue it has been a while since I read this and I was trying to find a way to review what Orwell was trying to convey in this story. I found couple of good reviews that put it so much better in perspective so why try myself when it's been written about by so many people. When I read it again in the not so distant future I will add my own thoughts So here's to what some readers wrote in a couple of other websites.

Power co...more Animal Farm was such a great book and demands a re-read. That time is way overdue it has been a while since I read this and I was trying to find a way to review what Orwell was trying to convey in this story. I found couple of good reviews that put it so much better in perspective so why try myself when it's been written about by so many people. When I read it again in the not so distant future I will add my own thoughts So here's to what some readers wrote in a couple of other websites.

Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely-and this is vividly and eloquently proved in Orwell's short novel. "Animal Farm" is a simple fable of great symbolic value, and as Orwell himself explained: "it is the history of a revolution that went wrong". The novel can be seen as the historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism, or as a mere fairy-tale; in any case it tells a good story that aims to prove that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal and happy ,or at least equally happy.

"Animal Farm" tells the simple and tragic story of what happens when the oppressed farm animals rebel, drive out Mr. Jones, the farmer, and attempt to rule the farm themselves, on an equal basis. What the animals seem to have aimed at was a utopian sort of communism, where each would work according to his capacity, respecting the needs of others. The venture failed, and "Animal Farm" ended up being a dictatorship of pigs, who were the brightest, and most idle of the animals.

Orwell's mastery lies in his presentation of the horrors of totalitarian regimes, and his analysis of communism put to practice, through satire and simple story-telling. The structure of the novel is skillfully organized, and the careful reader may, for example, detect the causes of the unworkability of communism even from the first chapter. This is deduced from Orwell's description of the various animals as they enter the barn and take their seats to listen to the revolutionary preaching of Old Major, father of communism in Animal Farm. Each animal has different features and attitude; the pigs, for example, "settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform", which is a hint on their future role, whereas Clover, the affectionate horse" made a sort of wall" with her foreleg to protect some ducklings.

So, it appears that the revolution was doomed from the beginning, even though it began in idealistic optimism as expressed by the motto" no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. "When the animals drive out Mr. Jones, they create their "Seven Commandments" which ensure equality and prosperity for all the animals. The pigs, however, being the natural leaders, managed to reverse the commandments, and through terror and propaganda establish the rule of an elite of pigs, under the leadership of Napoleon, the most revered and sinister pig.

"Animal Farm" successfully presents how the mechanism of propaganda and brainwashing works in totalitarian regimes, by showing how the pigs could make the other animals believe practically anything. Responsible for the propaganda was Squealer, a pig that "could turn black into white". Squealer managed to change the rule from "all animals are equal" to" all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". He managed to convince the other animals that it was for their sake that the pigs ate most of the apples and drank most of the milk, that leadership was "heavy responsibility" and therefore the animals should be thankful to Napoleon, that what they saw may have been something they "dreamed", and when everything else failed he would use the threat of " Jones returning" to silence the animals. In this simple but effective way, Orwell presents the tragedy and confusion of thought control to the extent that one seems better off simply believing that" Napoleon is always right".

Orwell's criticism of the role of the Church is also very effective. In Animal Farm, the Church is represented by Moses, a tame raven, who talks of "Sugarcandy Mountain", a happy country in the sky "where we poor animals shall rest forever from our labors". It is interesting to observe that when Old Major was first preaching revolutionary communism, Moses was sleeping in the barn, which satirizes the Church being caught asleep by communism. It is also important to note that the pig-dictators allowed and indirectly encouraged Moses; it seems that it suited the pigs to have the animals dreaming of a better life after death so that they wouldn't attempt to have a better life while still alive...

In "Animal Farm", Orwell describes how power turned the pigs from simple "comrades" to ruthless dictators who managed to walk on two legs, and carry whips. The story maybe seen as an analysis of the Soviet regime, or as a warning against political power games of an absolute nature and totalitarianism in general. For this reason, the story ends with a hair-raising warning to all humankind:" 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".

http://more2read.com/?review=animal-farm-by-george-orwell (less)

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Feb 15, 2013 أميــــرة rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: علمتني-الكثير, novels

إذا قرأت "مزرعة الحيوانات" ولم تعلم أن كاتبها إنجليزي لربما ظننت أنه عربي الأصل! وإذا قرأتها وأنت لا تعلم أنها كُتِبت عام 1943 لربما حسبتها إصدارًا حديثًا!
بعد أن أنهيتها قرأت عنها بعض الدراسات النقدية من نقّاد مختلفي الجنسيات، وقد أجمعوا على أن تفرُّد أورويل يرجع إلى أنه كتب رواية تصلح لأي زمان ومكان.

كتبها أورويل تأثُرًا بالحرب العالمية الثانية، وكانت "المزرعة" هي الإتحاد السوفييتي، وكان لكل شخصية في الرواية من يقابلها في ذلك الوقت. ورغم ذلك عندما تقرأها ستجد في رمزيتها تقاربًا شديدًا مع واقعنا،...more إذا قرأت "مزرعة الحيوانات" ولم تعلم أن كاتبها إنجليزي لربما ظننت أنه عربي الأصل! وإذا قرأتها وأنت لا تعلم أنها كُتِبت عام 1943 لربما حسبتها إصدارًا حديثًا!
بعد أن أنهيتها قرأت عنها بعض الدراسات النقدية من نقّاد مختلفي الجنسيات، وقد أجمعوا على أن تفرُّد أورويل يرجع إلى أنه كتب رواية تصلح لأي زمان ومكان.

كتبها أورويل تأثُرًا بالحرب العالمية الثانية، وكانت "المزرعة" هي الإتحاد السوفييتي، وكان لكل شخصية في الرواية من يقابلها في ذلك الوقت. ورغم ذلك عندما تقرأها ستجد في رمزيتها تقاربًا شديدًا مع واقعنا، وستقفز الشخصيات المقصودة إلى ذهنك سريعًا، وسيتكرر هذا أيًا كانت جنسيتك! التفسير الوحيد هو أن طبائع البشر واحدة في كل الأزمنة، وإن اختلفت الظروف، ومصائر الشعوب تكاد تتطابق عند قيام الثورات، سياسية أو اجتماعية، والسبب أن زعيم الثورة -أو مكتبه السياسي أو عصبته الحاكمة- يتحول تدريجيًا إلى نظام الحكم المطلق، وتحل طبقته محل الطبقة التي ثار الشعب ضدها من قبل، وإن كان يطالب بالحرية في البداية فسيقننها لاحقًا منعًا للفوضى، وإن كان يطالب بالعدالة في البداية فسيصدر قوانين تعسفية ولوائح جديدة بدعوى أن "الظروف تقتضي ذلك"!

عمومًا الإنترنت حافل بالدراسات المحترمة والممتعة عن تلك الرواية، لمن أراد التعمق في فهمها بعد قراءتها.

وبقى أن أشكر (عبد الحميد الكاتب) الذي قام بعرض تلك الرواية -وليس ترجمتها حرفيًا- بمهارة، وأرفق مقدمة وجيزة عن حياة أورويل، وتذييل رائع عنها ذاتها.

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Oct 07, 2011 Sita Sargeant rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: Everyone should read it at least once

Recommended to Sita by: A few different people...

Shelves: own, classic, reviewed, nl

Animal Farm is one of those classic books that I’m always hearing people talk about. People are always telling me it’s one of those books you just have to read before you die (even though I don't plan on dying anytime soon, I thought I would get the book out of the way). So, when I found the book in my dads collection I thought “why not? Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

I can now see what all the fuss was about. This book was amazing and I am really glad that I finally took the time to rea...more

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Jul 10, 2012 أحمد rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

استمتعت بقرائتها منذ عشرة سنوات! استمتعت بقرائتها منذ ثلاث سنوات! واستمتعت بقرائتها منذ شهرين! القصة أصبحت جزءا من خلايا دماغي. لا أنساها إلا لأتذكرها عندما أمر في حياتي بموقف يذكرني بها. وما أكثرها من مواقف!

أحمد الديب
ديسمبر 2008

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May 02, 2012 Meridyforgot rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. {Please read this first: Okay, I like my original review. It shares my opinion in what I thought was a humorous way. Perhaps if some of you knew me personally, you would find it more funny and actually understand what I am trying to say. However, I have decided to add a "less emotional" review at the end of the original. So if you would like to find fault with the first one, please continue to read the second. If after that, you would like to share a comment that entails of in it's entirety, "Yo...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Zinta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It wasn't my first stay on the farm. I'd read Orwell as a girl, one with ethnic roots reaching back to the Baltic States (Latvia) then occupied by the Soviet Union, and so having grown up on stories of human cruelty and betrayal, of human nature gone corrupt when faced with the seduction of power -- all of that rather than the common, soothing fairy tale. For that reason, I surely understood it on a deeper level than most of my peers. I was fifteen the first of many times I visited the Soviet Un...more It wasn't my first stay on the farm. I'd read Orwell as a girl, one with ethnic roots reaching back to the Baltic States (Latvia) then occupied by the Soviet Union, and so having grown up on stories of human cruelty and betrayal, of human nature gone corrupt when faced with the seduction of power -- all of that rather than the common, soothing fairy tale. For that reason, I surely understood it on a deeper level than most of my peers. I was fifteen the first of many times I visited the Soviet Union. And even though I had been born in the then freedom of the United States, I understood well enough that what I was witnessing was the essence of evil.

George Orwell was a socialist. With leanings towards Trotsky, perhaps an idealism that would be tested by the ugly reality of human nature, he did not stand where I stood in terms of ideology. I leaned more towards a laissez faire capitalism, a system never tested on this planet to this very day, but that did not detract from my enthusiasm for "Animal Farm." On this barnyard, we saw eye to eye and snout to snout.

"Animal Farm" is a story as if written for a child, and yet, not. Its language is simple. But the adult aware of history and politics, of the ways of government out of control, fully recognizes the parallels Orwell intended with the Russian Revolution. His animal characters had human counterparts. Marx, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, all find their form here among pigs become men, or is it men become pigs. Guard dogs mimic KGB, hard working horses (Boxer) mimic the hardworking proletarians, tragically deluded. A farm of abused and overworked animals, often slaughtered when they have passed their prime as work animals, revolt against the farmer - mankind - surely the epitome of cruel animal. Alas, given such power as to run the farm themselves, the animals quickly shift into social classes delineated by power. Pigs rule, and with their rule comes privilege. To sustain privilege, the pigs change laws to their convenience and pleasure. The basic tenet of "All animals are equal" becomes "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

Orwell wrote about the Russian Revolution. And well he should, because it can be argued that the cruelty of that government has as yet not been fully understood by the "free world" even today. Yet the power and timelessness of this tale is that it can be applied to all governments when not held firmly within their checks and balances -- and frightening parallels can be witnessed in the current administration of the United States. I reread the book today with growing dis-ease. With all of our talk of superiority, our Patriot Acts and our eavesdropping, our acts of aggression and our collective amnesia surrounding the Geneva Act, there but for the grace of God go we... (less)

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Aug 23, 2007 Steven rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, class, 1001, time-100

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow. It took maybe a couple of hours to read this book - talk about a couple of hours well spent. I always thought I knew the story well, but reading its presented a wholly different experience. After a speech by wise Old Major , the great pig (read Marx/Lenin), in which it is noted that the life of an animal is misery and slavery and than man is the only creature that consumes without producing, the animals rise up and throw off the yolk of their oppressive master Jones (read Romanov family). T...more

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Jul 16, 2008 sahar alimohammadi added it · review of another edition

با خواندن این کتاب به یاد همه انقلاب های جهان افتادم،خصوصا انقلاب اسلامی خودمان!

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Oct 11, 2011 K.D. Absolutely rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Angus Miranda

Shelves: 1001-core, banned, time-100, modern-library, fantasy

Animal Farm is a significant novel for the Western World. George Orwell wrote this in 1943 as a tirade against the Soviet Union. Orwell was born to a poor family so he did not enjoy his early years of schooling as a boy at Eton because his classmates were rich. As a young man, he went to serve the British Army in Burma and he also did not enjoy it because Burmese people hated British people as they were the colonizers. During WWII, Russia was an ally of Great Britain so the British government ba...more Animal Farm is a significant novel for the Western World. George Orwell wrote this in 1943 as a tirade against the Soviet Union. Orwell was born to a poor family so he did not enjoy his early years of schooling as a boy at Eton because his classmates were rich. As a young man, he went to serve the British Army in Burma and he also did not enjoy it because Burmese people hated British people as they were the colonizers. During WWII, Russia was an ally of Great Britain so the British government banned this book as it was seen as ridiculing the Soviet Union. In short, it seems to me that since being a boy until the time that was struggling as a novelist, Orwell must have felt disliked or unloved.

In 1943, working in a left-leaning Socialist newspaper, his mother died. He resigned from work and started writing The Animal Farm. In 1945, his wife died and he decided to published this novel.

I may be wrong on this but this book was originally written as propaganda against Communism and the Western World liked this because it served their agenda. Had it been opposed to the democratic form of government, would it be as successful as this?

Maybe yes. Reason: the story is written very very well. Even if you read the story as-is, meaning without knowledge of Orwell’s personal loneliness or political agenda, it can give Lewis Carol’s Alice in the Wonderland or even A. Milne’s Winnie-The-Pooh a run for their money. The plot is thick and well-executed. The characters are solid and well-developed. There is a clear villain Napoleon and heroes Snowball and Boxer. It elicits appropriate emotions. The lessons are well-entrenched and the climax heightened the story and the denouement or conclusion, though it has a sad ending, is appropriate for the message that it wanted to impart: excessive power can be evil.

Maybe no. Reason: English language dominates world literature. English is the most popular language and it was Orwell’s native tongue. Had he been born as Chinese, would this be included in best novels lists? Time 100? Modern Library 100? Metalist? Guardian? My guess is that this would have been buried in obscurity. Again, I may be wrong on this as I am just an Asian reader, with English not my first language, who took a vow a couple of years back to read all books included in the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die I have not encountered any Chinese or Russian books yet that are opposed to Democratic process so I cannot really say. Philippines follows a democratic form of government and I support it wholeheartedly. I abide by the laws stated in our constitution. However, still my point is: there is no perfect form of government and we can’t say for sure that democracy is white and communism is black.

Had I read this when I was a lot younger, I have no doubt that this could have earned from me, 4 or even 5 perfectly-shining stars. It’s just that if I consider the many books that I’ve read so far, taking everything into consideration, I just didn’t find this truly amazing to deserve either of those ratings.
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Jan 07, 2012 mai ahmd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: روايات

من أعظم الروايات التي كتبت بلغة الرمز ... الرمز الذي يدعوك للإبتسام لسببين شدة الإجادة وشعور بالرضا لأن مثل هذه الرواية تقدم قضايا باقية بقاء الإنسان
ذلك الوضع الذي يتكرر في كل زمان ومكان
أغلب شخصيات الرواية من الحيوانات ستجد بسهولة لها مثيلا في الواقع فهناك المنافق , السارق , اللامبالي , المناضل بدون قضية !
وآخرين
عظمة هذه الرواية كانت سببا في أن تدرس في المدارس والجامعات

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Aug 20, 2014 Nicole~ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fable, revolution, stalinism

Once upon a time on a farm, animals revolted against the unfair treatment they suffered at the hands of humans. They shouted in the fields: "Man serves the interests of no creature except himself. And among us animals let there be perfect unity, perfect comradeship in the struggle. All men are enemies. All animals are comrades." And so, a new order formed - initially with good intent - and all the animals, even the illiterate ones, agreed to abide by its newly written commandments:

Then one terri

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Apr 02, 2008 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: Everyone

I felt like this was one of the best books I have ever read. I was left with a crazy feeling in my stomach of sadness and awe, because I believe Orwell has wrote a masterpiece. At first, before reading it, I was nervous I would not see the satire and I would not connect it to Communism. Yet it was blantantly obvious and while pulling the readers to sympathize with animals like Boxer and Benjamin, one could dare to predict what would happen next and come to hate the pigs and Napoleon. At first, i...more I felt like this was one of the best books I have ever read. I was left with a crazy feeling in my stomach of sadness and awe, because I believe Orwell has wrote a masterpiece. At first, before reading it, I was nervous I would not see the satire and I would not connect it to Communism. Yet it was blantantly obvious and while pulling the readers to sympathize with animals like Boxer and Benjamin, one could dare to predict what would happen next and come to hate the pigs and Napoleon. At first, it almost showed how Communism COULD work, in a perfect, selfless world. I was confused a bit and was thinking that it was not that bad. But then, I realized all the issues and from every problem, like changing the commandments and bartering with humans, and I saw the terrors Commmunism can bring. I really enjoyed reading the book (even though the ending was sad and I was very upset when Boxer died) and I have already recommended to it to several friends. It was an easy read, but made me think a lot after. That last sentance was really a well-deserved slap in the face to humankind and it left me with chills. I loved the book!

comment part 2- While the book was a blatant example of Communism, Orwell also seemed to mean it as society as a whole. Socialist, Communist, whatever, any nation could have been taken advantage of like the farm was. Any nation could develop unfair classes, and it almost reminded me of the French Revolution - 3 Classes they had, and once you were the lower class, you could never be higher. Also, it seems once you're the lower class you don't really realize you are the lower class, you instead blindly follow. That was greatly shown by Boxer's quote, "Napoleon is always right." With an attitude like that, no one could even stand up. Another way it reminded me of the French Revolution was when there were blind executions and forced confessions and everyone wanted to put everyone to death by guillotine (dogs?). In addition, any nation could have a constitution of some sort and have it altered, yet the animals were so blind they either didn't notice or couldn't do anything about it. It was kind of a downer about society, or perhaps just a warning.

I thought it was on the list. :((less)

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Jan 13, 2011 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Keep your Melville, with his dense, Scripture-based allusions. Stow your Dostoevsky, with his endless psychological babbling. Retain your Hawthorne, with all his thee-and-thou-studded dialogue. Instead, give me George Orwell, a writer of classics that are as easy to understand as any book by Ricahrd Scarry or Stan & Jan Berenstain.

Oh, to be sure, there is something to be said of the struggle and the rewards of some of classic literature's heftier entries. This is especially true if you can...more

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Mar 03, 2013 MJ Nicholls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novellas, penguin-classics, sassysassenachs

It is almost as if George dislikes Stalin and his cronies! I mean who among us has never set up a group on the basis of democratic voting and then decided strong autocratic leadership is better, plus more comfy and lovely, for us? I mean who can honestly say we inhabit a nation where equality, at any time in history, ever existed or ever worked for less than a delusional four weeks? Equality is one of those concepts— like the Bogey Man or Bill Withers—that sounds nice in principle but doesn’t qu...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-through-history, 2012

Let's get this out of the way immediately: Animal Farm is not a satire of socialism as a concept. It's clearly not. That it was ever taken as such (as I was taught in middle school) is an example of exactly what it and 1984 warned against: the dissemination of an outright lie for political purposes, believed by sheep. Because this is the same book 1984 is: it warns against totalitarianism, the corruption of the democratic socialist ideal that George Orwell fervently believed in. It's a critique...more

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Oct 04, 2010 NG added it · review of another edition

هي رواية رائعة بلا شك، استمتعت بها كثيرا.. أورويل عنده مقدرة عبقرية على نسج الأحداث، وسرده ممتاز..
ولكن استرعى انتباهي تصنيفها "من أعظم الأعمال"، فهي إسقاط مباشر جدا، سرد لتاريخ قيام الاتحاد السوفيتي، مع إبدال أسماء الشخصيات بأسماء حيوانات.. وأرجح أن سبب الشهرة العظيمة التي حازت عليها، هو مهاجتها للفكر الشيوعي وتصويرها للشيوعيين كخنازير ومعتنقي هذا الفكر كبهائم، وهو ما كان كفيلاً بإنجاح أي رواية تكتب في الغرب في الفترة من 1945 وحتى انهيار الدولة الشيوعية.

أورويل كاتب ممتاز، أسلوبه سلسل، وكذلك تسل...more

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Oct 04, 2014 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-authors-m-p, classics, sf-speculative, animals, favourites

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

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Sep 24, 2014 Florencia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Once upon a time, there was a little farm, with little animals that got tired of serving a man, so they formed their own society and most of them ended up being exploited by their animal leaders.

This may sound like a simple story, but there is a bit more; it is not hard to see. An honest idea that later brings power to certain animals and after being corrupted by that power, they betray the supposedly “lower” beings. Ringing any bells? Can you compare that apparently simple book with our realit...more Once upon a time, there was a little farm, with little animals that got tired of serving a man, so they formed their own society and most of them ended up being exploited by their animal leaders.

This may sound like a simple story, but there is a bit more; it is not hard to see. An honest idea that later brings power to certain animals and after being corrupted by that power, they betray the supposedly “lower” beings. Ringing any bells? Can you compare that apparently simple book with our reality? Huh? Can you?! It was written as a critique of another social context, but it does apply to our days.
Anyway, I loved this book. You don't need a difficult, complicated story to deliver a message that can change your point of view on different things. Orwell shows that fact with this outstanding work, a major symbolic challenge. Since the beginning of time, people saw other people being corrupted and taking advantage of other people without education (most of the times, a well-planned lack of education) or economical resources; and of educated people wrapped in elaborated lies said by experts in eloquence (or brainwashing, a big characteristic of totalitarian regimes).
A lot of "people" in this paragraph...

Politics are great in theory, it just takes a remarkably honest person to execute those ideas without being overwhelmed by power; that is all... You might still be able to have good intentions, but your acts won't benefit the people if they're guided by power. And you may not even notice it, because that is the tricky thing about power, it blinds you and, at the same time, it makes you want to have more. I have read a lot about it, and I see it now.
Besides the blindness issue, elected politicians suffer from selective amnesia. You know, during their campaign or the first days of their government, for instance, they say something like “no one can drink alcohol”, and later, they seem to forget that idea and make you forget it for real, and add “to excess” at the end of that rule, changing its whole purpose. It happens.

So, in times of elections, when you see all politicians in the streets with a shovel and a smile, bringing you fliers with their pictures and two promises written somewhere; or sticking those fliers all over your window because you don't want to go out because you're in your pajamas and prefer going back to sleep than contemplate the face of hypocrisy, right there; or when they're calling at your house at 10.30pm, scaring the hell out of you because you know phone calls at night always means bad news (like you're dying in 7 days or whatever), and... Well. So. …
I got lost in my own babbling. My point was: when you see all that, remember this book if you had the fortune of reading it; or read it, if you still haven't. It may help you think for yourself and distinguish men from pigs. Do not waste time. Let's face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short.

(With that quote, I just made your day look a lot brighter, didn't I?)(less)

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Feb 07, 2009 HaNaDy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite, own

روعة روعة بجد جسد حقيقه موجوده فى عصور كتير بداية من رغبة الأفراد فى التخلص من الاستعمار لقيام الثورة وشعور الأفراد فى حاله انتصارهم وحب الزعامه ومايتم استبداله من أهداف قامت عليها الثورة إلى أهداف شخصية نزاجية وتوضح شىء هام جدا انقلاب النعمه إلى نقمه فى حالة أن ينسى الفرد أهدافه الأصليه ويسير مع أهواءه الشخصيه من هنا تحدث المتاعب

كمان فى حاجة مهمه أخدت بالى منها فى القصه بتحصل فى الواقع الزعيم أو الشخص الثائر بمجرد أنه يقعد على كرسى السلطة بيتغير تماماً

وأكتر حاجة كانت مضيقانى سلبية الحيوانات وخ...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Fahad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

مزرعة الحيوان

ربما هو شعور طفولي مدفون، ذلك الذي يجعلنا نستمتع دائماً بالقصص الرمزية، ربما هي فرحة الطفل بلعبة توصيل الخطوط ما بين الأشياء، أو ربما هي شهوة النميمة التي تجعلنا نتحرق ونحن نقرأ قصة رمزية إلى معرفة المقصود بها.

وهذه قصة رمزية كتبها أورويل بهدف يحدده بنفسه عندما يقول "ما من شيء ساهم في إفساد المعنى الأصلي لمذهب الاشتراكية أكثر من الاعتقاد بأن روسيا بلد اشتراكي، وأن كل فعل يصدر عن القادة السوفيات ينبغي تبريره بل محاكاته، لهذا السبب أصبحت مقتنعاً في السنوات العشر الماضية بأن تدمير الأ...more مزرعة الحيوان

ربما هو شعور طفولي مدفون، ذلك الذي يجعلنا نستمتع دائماً بالقصص الرمزية، ربما هي فرحة الطفل بلعبة توصيل الخطوط ما بين الأشياء، أو ربما هي شهوة النميمة التي تجعلنا نتحرق ونحن نقرأ قصة رمزية إلى معرفة المقصود بها.

وهذه قصة رمزية كتبها أورويل بهدف يحدده بنفسه عندما يقول "ما من شيء ساهم في إفساد المعنى الأصلي لمذهب الاشتراكية أكثر من الاعتقاد بأن روسيا بلد اشتراكي، وأن كل فعل يصدر عن القادة السوفيات ينبغي تبريره بل محاكاته، لهذا السبب أصبحت مقتنعاً في السنوات العشر الماضية بأن تدمير الأسطورة السوفياتية من خلال كتابة قصة يسهل على الجميع فهمها كما يسهل ترجمتها إلى لغات عدة"، حتى نفهم هذا نحتاج إلى أن نتعرف على أورويل قليلاً.

ولد أورويل في الهند حيث كان والده يعمل هناك سنة 1903 م، وأورويل ليس إلا اسمه الأدبي، أما اسمه الحقيقي فهو ايريك آرثر بلير، عاد إلى إنجلترا وهو في الرابعة من عمره، حيث تلقى تعليمه هناك حتى تعين في الشرطة الإمبراطورية الهندية في بورما، حيث عمل هناك لخمسة أعوام.

نلاحظ أن أورويل في هذا كله كان يعيش حياة أي شاب بريطاني من طبقته في ذلك الوقت، الطبقة الوسطى، طبقة موظفي الإمبراطورية البريطانية، وكان يمكن لأورويل أن يستمر في هذه الحياة لولا أن هناك شيئين غيرا مسار حياته، الأول هو رغبته في أن يكون كاتباً، والأمر الآخر هو كرهه للإمبريالية التي كان يخدمها وهو في بورما، فلذا استقال من عمله سنة 1927 م وعاد إلى إنجلترا.

سأترك الآن سيرة أورويل قليلاً لأعبر عن فكرة جانبية صغيرة، فيما مضى عندما كنت اقرأ أي سيرة ذاتية لشخص ما، سياسي، مفكر أو كاتب، كنت أمر على مثل هذه الأحداث التي عاشها بطلنا مروراً سريعاً، وأظن أننا جميعاً نفعل هذا، مسيرة حياة الرجل الذي نقرأ عنه تبدو لنا حالة دائمة من التقدم، تحقيق الذات، وهذا هو الوهم الذي يتسلل إلينا من قراءة السير الذاتية، أورويل الذي نعرفه الآن من خلال كتبه (مزرعة الحيوان) و(1984) و(متشرداً في باريس ولندن)، لم يكن أورويل الذي استقال من عمله، حياة الإنسان ليست خطاً يمكننا رسمه من لحظة الولادة إلى لحظة الممات، ومن ثم تعيين نقاط عليه لنقول هذه النقاط التي حقق فيها ذاته، حياة الإنسان خط متقطع، متعرج، ملتوٍ على ذاته أحياناً، بحيث أننا في حالات كثيرة نكاد ننفي وجود خط من أساسه، ربما نحن نفعل هذا لأننا نظن أن سيرة الإنسان هي ما حدث له، بينما جزء من حياة الإنسان هو ما لم يحدث، في حالة الكتاب مثلاً، لماذا نادراً ما تذكر أعمال الكاتب المجهضة، غير المكتملة؟ أعماله التي مات وتركها في أدراجه؟ لأننا بكل بساطة نحاول أن نقدم سيراً ذاتية تجعل صاحبها يبدو وكأنه كان يعرف ما يفعله في كل لحظة، ويتجه إليه بلا تردد، وهذه سير تخنق قارئها، لأنها تقدم له الشكل النهائي، تقدم له النموذج، بحيث أن قارئها الشاب الذي بالتأكيد لا يدري أين سيأخذه مساره في الحياة، يشعر بالنقص، يشعر بأن من يقرأ عنهم مختلفون عنه تماماً، مكتملون نوعاً ما، وهو أبداً لن يكون كذلك.

من حسن الحظ أنني لا أكتب سيرة لأورويل، وإلا لكنت وضعت نفسي في موقف حرج بعد سطوري السابقة، لأنه كان عندها لازماً علي أن أتجاوز الهوة التي وصفتها، وأحاول نقل روح الكاتب وأفكاره بلا تدخل وملأ للفراغات الموجودة.

نعود إلى أورويل الذي عاد إلى إنجلترا، وبما أنه كان قد انفصل عن طبقته عندما رفض الوظيفة الحكومية، التي سيخدم من خلالها الإمبريالية، فلذا عاش متشرداً ما بين لندن وباريس، وهي التجربة التي سجلها في كتابه (متشرداً ما بين باريس ولندن)، هذه التجربة، هذا الاقتراب من الطبقات الدنيا في المجتمع البريطاني، جعلته يعي الظلم الواقع عليها، وهو ما جعله يتبنى الاشتراكية، ويقوم بنفسه بزيارة عمال المناجم في ويغان، حيث يعيش معهم ويسجل تجربتهم في كتابه (الطريق إلى رصيف ويغان)، وعندما قامت الحرب الأهلية الأسبانية، انتقل إلى هناك وشارك في الحرب، وسجل تجربته في كتابه (الحنين إلى كاتالونيا).

نأتي الآن إلى كتابه هذا الذي نشره في سنة 1945 م، قبل نهاية الحرب العالمية بأسابيع، في العبارة التي أوردناها في الأعلى، نفهم غرض أورويل من الكتاب، عندما نتذكر كل الأحلام والشعارات الاشتراكية، وكل الوعود بالعالم الذي سينتهي فيه صراع الطبقات، كل هذا ذرته الحقبة الستالينية في الهواء، إن أورويل من خلال هذه الرواية يحاول إنقاذ الاشتراكية من السوفيات الذين دمروا سمعتها تماماً، ومنحوا الرأسماليين بكل بساطة حجة لا تقهر على سوء الاشتراكية وفشلها.

ليفعل هذا يحكي لنا قصة مزرعة تثور الحيوانات فيها على صاحبها السكير الذي كان يستغلها لمصالحه من دون أن يعطيها حتى كفايتها من الطعام، هذه الثورة تأتي لتحقق نبوءة حكيم الحيوانات وهو خنزير اسمه (ميجر)، والذي تنبأ بالثورة ومات قبل أن يشهدها – شخصيته هي مزيج من ماركس ولينين -، يقود الثورة بعد هذا خنزيران أحدهما يدعى سنوبول – شخصيته مزيج من لينين وتروتسكي - والآخر نابليون – ستالين -، ويتم وضع سبعة قوانين لمذهب الحيوانية الذي ستسير الحياة في (مزرعة الحيوانات) على أساسه، تبدأ الحيوانات في العمل الشاق، وخاصة بناء طاحونة تهدف الحيوانات من بنائها إلى توفير الطاقة الكهربائية للمزرعة، تبدأ الخنازير التي تولت القيادة في تمييز نفسها عن الحيوانات الأخرى، وكسر بعض القوانين السبعة، بل إعادة كتابتها لتتناسب مع الوضع الجديد، يطرد نابليون سنوبول ويسيطر على المزرعة بقوة، محيطاً نفسه بخنازير محدودة، وبكلاب شرسة لا تدين بالولاء إلا له، مع الوقت تصبح حياة الحيوانات أسوأ مما كانت في ظل صاحبها الإنسان السابق، ولكن لا أحد يتذكر، والدعاية الدائمة التي يقدمها الحكام الجدد، تمجد الإنجازات التي قاموا بها، وويل لمن يشكك في هذا، في النهاية تكسر الخنازير آخر القوانين السبعة، وهو قانون غريب كانت الحيوانات أقرته، يفرق بين الحيوانات والإنسان وهو باعتبار أن من يمشي على قدمين عدو، ومن يمشي على أربع صديق، ولنلاحظ أن الخنازير لم تكن محتاجة إلى كسر هذا القانون، ولكنها تفعل، وتعلم نفسها المشي على قدمين، لتميز نفسها عن بقية الحيوانات، وهكذا تمحى القوانين السبعة التي ولدت مع الثورة، وتختم الرواية على مشهد الخنازير وهي تتبادل المصالح مع أصحاب المزارع المجاورة من البشر، بحيث لم تعد الحيوانات تفرق ما بين البشر والخنازير، وبحيث لم تعد المزرعة للحيوانات، وإنما تحول اسمها إلى (ضيعة الخنازير).

الرواية كما نرى هي القصة المؤلمة لتبدد الحلم الاشتراكي على يد السوفيات، أما المستقبل المرعب الذي كان أورويل يتوقعه لهذه التجربة فسنقرؤه في روايته التالية 1984.
(less)

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Oct 17, 2012 Sarah ( Paris ) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: كتاب_ورقي, favorites, fiction

في صغري ،
أهداني والدي نسخة من هذه الرواية ..
هذه الروية كانت بوابتي إلى الأدب العالمي ..

ليس فقط ذلك ولكن الأدب الراقي ..

فـ الأحداث على أرض مزرعة الحيوان جميلة ومصاغة بروعة ..

الثورة .. الحاكم المستبد ..
وكيفية صناعة الدكتاتور ..

الشمولية ..

أمور أبدع جورج أورويل بالكتابة عنها في هذه الرواية ..

رواية عظيمة ..

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Jul 01, 2013 Melki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fiction, banned-books

The following message was found near the base of the windmill shortly after the Final Rebellion:

Still hiding in haymow to avoid Squealer and dog patrol.

We were promised so much if we helped in the overthrow of the humans. But now, the pigs drink all the milk and I get none. Idiots! Snowball can climb a ladder and paint words on the side of the barn but do you think one of them can figure out how to open a tin of tuna for me? I am left with nothing but field mice and the occasional sparrow.

Poor F...more

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Jun 06, 2007 Douglas Teixeira rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: nobody

The book "Animal Farm" I hated so much. I have never read a book that bored me as much as this one. I only read this because I was required to as a class. This book made me want to sleep after every single word. But to not be so harsh I believe I disliked this book so much because it was something I would normally never read. Its one of those books that teaches you lessons as you go along reading others. One lesson i learned from the book was if I know something and i'm not planning to help any...more The book "Animal Farm" I hated so much. I have never read a book that bored me as much as this one. I only read this because I was required to as a class. This book made me want to sleep after every single word. But to not be so harsh I believe I disliked this book so much because it was something I would normally never read. Its one of those books that teaches you lessons as you go along reading others. One lesson i learned from the book was if I know something and i'm not planning to help anyone then there is no point in learning it. I personally would not recommend it because i didn't like it. But if you like these types go for it. This book is based on a true event that happened in this world but the strange things are is the characters are all animals. This book talks about how the animals are tired of being overworked and underappreciated. So they rebel against their leader and create their own type of ruling. But things take a turn for the worse when 2 out 3 characters begin to get greedy with the powers that they are given. They begin to use their intelect and wity conversation skills to either brainwash the other animals or enforce their will on the animals. One scene that I remember is when the 2 pigs that b egan to get greedy run the only good pig out of the farm. They consfiscated a couple puppies at a young age from their mother in order to train them to become bodyguards for both the two pigs. After the puppies grow Napolean, one of the greedy pigs. uses them to run the only decent pig out of the farm. After this everything begins to go downhill. The animals unwitingly believe things will sort themselves out by themselves but they come to a horid conclusion. The farm goes back to being the way it was when they had there human owner but know with animals. Napolean ends up treating the animals worse than they were treated before. Anyone opposes him would be executed. So the animals begin to regret what they have done but its too late for them to do anything about it. (less)

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About George Orwell

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.

Between 1941 and 1943, Orwell worked on propaganda for the BBC. In 1943, he became literary ed...more

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“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” — 2715 likes

“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.” — 1313 likes

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