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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780151072552
Edition: 2nd Print
ISBN: 0151072558
Label: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: November 20, 1990
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Studio: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong has rivaled Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea as the Shortest Serious Novel It's OK to Write a Book Report About. (The latter is three pages longer and less fun to read.) Fueled 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
Product Description:
George Orwell’s famous satire of the Soviet Union, in which “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Manor Farm is taken over by the resident farm animals in a revolution. The farmer is ousted off the property. From the initial communal society, a tyrant ruling class arises (the pigs).
Very insightful and more than a little distressing. A fitting allegory to Russian dictatorships or (I'm sad to say) even the US congress or white house in many regards (which has evolved from servant to ruler status).
Orwell's book seems like a concept and idea which should have been thought of and written by other authors in even earlier times. It remains timeless.
Not as good as "1984", but important and worth the quick read.
Rating: -
'Animal Farm'...is like a bootleg '1984'.
Seriously. (lol)
I read the book when I was 16. I liked it well enough. The thing is: I read 'Animal Farm' AFTER '1984', so the themes were somewhat repetitious to me.
I didn't read these books as part of a school reading project, mind you. I was just really into dystopian-style books. Actually, my English teacher sparked my obsession with 'Brave New World' which was a welcome and much-appreciated change from the 'Bronte' sisters!
I can say with total honesty that 'Jane Eyre' is the only book that has ever put me to sleep! You have to understand the significance of that statement. I mean, this is coming from someone who took Acctg I & II. And anyone taking accounting courses (even intro) know dry material when they see it. 'Jane Eyre' is simply not my style, I suppose. But all in all, it's still one tough and boring read.
LOL
BIG anyway, don't get me wrong -- I 'got' the message (of animal farm). Still doesn't make a difference. Just wasn't that blown away by it. It wasn't that deep for me.
Still, it's an engaging story. Funny. I'd rec this book to anyone.
I lost the book some time ago...and had to reorder. I'm happy to have this in my collection.
Rating:  -
Entertaining and very insightful. Quick read and will keep you hooked right up till the end.
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This was a school book requirement that I found cheaper on amazon than purchasing at the local book store.
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This book is excellent characterization of the differences of democracy and capitalism. The animals are used to help us picture humans in different types of societies. A very engrossing book although hard to get into at first.
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