Name: Vojtech's review of Animal Farm by George Orwell
Item: Animal Farm
Rating: 5
Author: Vojtech

George Orwell

A satire on totalitarianism in which farm animals overthrow their human owner and set up their own government

A Fairy Story

Animal Farm

n.  littéraire

"The only good human being is a dead one." 

tanaz

And the behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal- times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. But she always made such excellent excuses, and purred so affectionately, that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions.

I disagree she’s got her priorities straight 😔✊🏻

The stupidest questions of al were asked by Mollie, the white mare. 

The very first question she asked Snowball was: "Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion? 

"No said Snowball firmly. "We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have all the oats and hay you want." 

"And shall I stil be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?" asked Mollie. 

"Comrade," said Snowball, "those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery.Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons? 

Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.

And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All the habits of Man are evil. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal.

Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and the worst tempered. He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark for instance, he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies. Alone among the animals on the farm he never laughed. If asked why, he would say that he saw nothing to laugh at.

Sashi

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.

After much choking, during which his various chins turned purple, he managed to get it out: If you have your lower animals to contend with, he said, ‘we have our lower classes!'

This shows how ruling class would willingly bend the rules to achieve their own interests.

They had thought that the Fifth Commandment was 'No animal shall drink alcohol’, but there were two words that they had forgotten. Actually the Commandment read: 'No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.'

Instead – she did not know why – they had come toa time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.

This is very interesting, seeing how the more ‘clever’ animals naturally took the more important roles and how the others, more ‘unintelligent’ ones just follow along because they don’t know any better.

It was always the pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions of their own.

Interesting analogy. This is how oppressors usually look at the oppressed.

They had never seen animals behave like this before, and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose, frightened them almost out of their wits.

Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings.

Luca Stromann

No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?

Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.

Gabi🌸🌷

Sve su životinje jednake, ali neke su životinje jednakije od drugih.

Dvanaest glasova bijesno je vikalo , i svi su bili jednaki. Sada je bilo jasno što se promijenilo u izgledu svinja. Pogled životinja koje su vani stajale klizio je od svinje do čovjeka, od čovjeka do svinje, ali već je bilo nemoguće raspoznati tko je svinja, a tko čovjek.

Lukas

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing

Several of them would have protested if they could have found the right arguments.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless elite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control.

Kathi

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others

raia – inactive

The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word-Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. 

Selina 

Hunger, hardship, and disappointment being, so he said, the unalterable law of life.

When you don't look closely at what is right in front of you. This part always breaks my heart.

Elizabeth Park

"Fools! Fools!" shouted Benjamin, prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. "Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that van?"

Vojtech

Nastenka

Animal Farm is an allegorical and dystopian novel by George Orwell. Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, summons the animals on the farm together for a meeting, during which he refers to humans as parasites and teaches the animals a revolutionary song called Beasts of England. When Major dies, two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and consider it a duty to prepare for the Rebellion. The animals revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible farmer Mr. Jones from the farm, renaming it "Animal Farm". They adopt Seven Commandments of Animalism, the most important of which is, "All animals are equal." Years pass, and the pigs start to resemble humans, as they walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are abridged to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

wow this was a nice quicker read - in a way it's all the ideas and themes that Orwell explored in 1984 - but in their earlier stages. the use of animals is very interesting, and even though I knew that was not the point i still desperately wished only the best for the poor animals taken advantage of... Boxer deserved so much better, but this is really is teh perfect metaphor for the people that work the hardest under the systems that will never really reward them for it

Entailed a society that faced a fascist, ultranationalist ideology, and revisionism after a rebellion to overthrow their human owner. “Animals are all equal “ to “ Animals are all equal, but some are more equal than others.”  i suddenly want to eat bacon.  

This novel carried a lot of social dilemma that  mirrors the reality we live in. 👏 George Orwell is a genius for using a farm to articulate a message of how a government can control the society. 

Entailed a society that faced a fascist, ultranationalist ideology, and revisionism after a rebellion to overthrow their human owner. “Animals are all equal “ to “ Animals are all equal, but some are more equal than others.”  i suddenly want to eat bacon.  

This novel carried a lot of social dilemma that  mirrors the reality we live in. 👏 George Orwell is a genius for using a farm to articulate a message of how a government can control the society. 

Folwark Zwierzecy

I initially consider this the mini version of 1984. But I was wrong, this is a completely different book that tackles something that 1984 was lacking—a comprehensive journey on how power rise to the top.

catto fishu

“Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs”

Animal Farm (Signet Classics)

Jaw dropped. This book is amazing. Best first classic literature that I have ever read and I love George Orwell’s writing. It was annoying to see Napoleon continuously manipulate the other animals. It is easy to apply the now “Manor Farm” to the real world and how we process and are ran. 1110000000/10 

All my feelings while I read:😊🤯🥳😱🤬😵‍💫😲🥴🫨🔪🐖

Karina Ramos-Sotelo

Jaw dropped. This book is amazing. Best first classic literature that I have ever read and I love George Orwell’s writing. It was annoying to see Napoleon continuously manipulate the other animals. It is easy to apply the now “Manor Farm” to the real world and how we process and are ran. 1110000000/10 

All my feelings while I read:😊🤯🥳😱🤬😵‍💫😲🥴🫨🔪🐖

Sorprendentemente, nunca había escuchado sobre este libro hasta que me lo mencionaron mientras tomábamos once. No sabía que es un clásico, solo reconocí el nombre del autor. Más allá de eso no tenía expectativa alguna sobre lo que estaba a punto de leer. 

No quiero darle la lata a nadie, así que solo queda escribir aquí sobre las cosas que pensé leyendo La Granja de los Animales. No tengo mucho que decir, pero sí necesito sacarlo de mi cabeza pronto.

Pensé muy clara la razón por la que en tantos colegios- aunque no en el mío- se incluye este libro dentro de las lecturas obligatorias. Es una ilustración muy amable y divertida de lo que fue la historia de la Unión Soviética. Incluso sin tener los conocimientos históricos en los que se basa esta alegoría, sigue siendo una clara representación de la realidad, que hasta un niño que no tiene interés en la política podría entender. 

Me parece un relato muy simple, liviano y plano, en el mejor de los sentidos. Yo me sentí como el niño que no tiene interés en la política, pero que disfruta el relato de todas formas. 

Al principio me pareció aburrido el trato tan simplístico, pero cuando acepté la livianidad del relato pude disfrutarlo mucho más. ¡No todo tiene que ser tan serio! Es probable que yo misma sea ese ciudadano tan simple, sin memoria ni cuestionamientos propios, y por eso me haya molestado esa representación. No lo sé.

Me gustó mucho leerlo sin saber de qué se trataba ni en qué estaba basado (no me di cuenta de inmediato), aunque lamentablemente la portada de la edición que leí era suficiente para que decifrara prontamente lo que iba a pasar (era un retrato de un cerdo vestido con elegantes ropas y fumando puro). 

Cabe mencionar la razón por la que lo leí. Durante una discusión sobre política dije algo más o menos así:

"¡Pretenden ser enemigos! al frente del pueblo y frente a las cámaras se odian, pero a la hora de la cena se invitan a sus hogares millonarios a compartir, ¡como buenos amigos que en realidad son!"

Ahí fue cuando me preguntaron si estaba haciendo referencia a La Granja Animal. No tenía idea de qué era, pero creo que el hecho de que haya sido así de textual evidencia que es parte de la realidad política hasta la actualidad. O por lo menos, eso creo yo. 

fabi ✩࿐  

Sorprendentemente, nunca había escuchado sobre este libro hasta que me lo mencionaron mientras tomábamos once. No sabía que es un clásico, solo reconocí el nombre del autor. Más allá de eso no tenía expectativa alguna sobre lo que estaba a punto de leer. 

No quiero darle la lata a nadie, así que solo queda escribir aquí sobre las cosas que pensé leyendo La Granja de los Animales. No tengo mucho que decir, pero sí necesito sacarlo de mi cabeza pronto.

Pensé muy clara la razón por la que en tantos colegios- aunque no en el mío- se incluye este libro dentro de las lecturas obligatorias. Es una ilustración muy amable y divertida de lo que fue la historia de la Unión Soviética. Incluso sin tener los conocimientos históricos en los que se basa esta alegoría, sigue siendo una clara representación de la realidad, que hasta un niño que no tiene interés en la política podría entender. 

Me parece un relato muy simple, liviano y plano, en el mejor de los sentidos. Yo me sentí como el niño que no tiene interés en la política, pero que disfruta el relato de todas formas. 

Al principio me pareció aburrido el trato tan simplístico, pero cuando acepté la livianidad del relato pude disfrutarlo mucho más. ¡No todo tiene que ser tan serio! Es probable que yo misma sea ese ciudadano tan simple, sin memoria ni cuestionamientos propios, y por eso me haya molestado esa representación. No lo sé.

Me gustó mucho leerlo sin saber de qué se trataba ni en qué estaba basado (no me di cuenta de inmediato), aunque lamentablemente la portada de la edición que leí era suficiente para que decifrara prontamente lo que iba a pasar (era un retrato de un cerdo vestido con elegantes ropas y fumando puro). 

Cabe mencionar la razón por la que lo leí. Durante una discusión sobre política dije algo más o menos así:

"¡Pretenden ser enemigos! al frente del pueblo y frente a las cámaras se odian, pero a la hora de la cena se invitan a sus hogares millonarios a compartir, ¡como buenos amigos que en realidad son!"

Ahí fue cuando me preguntaron si estaba haciendo referencia a La Granja Animal. No tenía idea de qué era, pero creo que el hecho de que haya sido así de textual evidencia que es parte de la realidad política hasta la actualidad. O por lo menos, eso creo yo. 

ok so boxer breaking his back for everyone just to get sent to the glue factory?? my sweet guy didn't deserve that. 💔😕 btw, shoutout to my colleague for giving me this book. he said it was "funny" but this actually hit me on deeper level. might need to pick up 1984 next, this was good.

This book was part of our English reading requirements when I was in high school. As much as I don't like to admit, I had fallen in love with the thrill of it all. Oh, how I hated the characters and wished for their good, amidst such exploitative conditions. A good allegory of society in the hands of those with power. 

Felt left out since EVERYONE read this for English at high school so snagged it for 89 cents on amazon chur kindle! 

ophelia ross 

'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.' Drunken Mr Jones of Manor Farm has neglected his livestock for too long. In a burst of insurgent fervour they rise up and he is deposed, with the pigs taking charge of the newly named Animal Farm. Everything runs smoothly, productivity soars, and all animals are well-fed and happy. But the further away the memory of the revolution, the more distant seem its ideals, and when Boxer the workhorse is betrayed, the horrifying extent of the pigs' corruption is revealed. Orwell's 'fairy story', a scathing satire of Soviet communism, is as potent now as it was in 1945. Animal Farm is one of literature's most electrifying examinations of power and corruption. George Orwell, born Eric Arthur Blair (1903 - 1950) was a teacher, novelist and journalist. He also served his country, including in the Home Guard during the Second World War. He later became the literary editor of the Tribune and wrote for the Observer and Manchester Evening News. The author of nine books, Orwell is best know for the allegorical Animal Farm (1945) and dystopian satire Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). They have gone on to become two of the most influential books of the twentieth century. 'A wise, compassionate, and illuminating fable.' New York Times 'There are no replacements for George Orwell, just as there are no replacements for a Bernard Shaw or a Mark Twain...he pricked, provoked and badgered lazy minds, delighted those who enjoyed watching an original intelligence at work.' Time 'A book for everyone and Everyman, its brightness undimmed after fifty years.' Ruth Rendell 'Timeless, even transcendent.' Christopher Hitchens 'Absolutely first rate.' New Yorker

Christina Rose Sullivan

Animal Farm: A Fairy Story (An Hbj Modern Classic)

Mike M

Orwell's animal farm is a novel with the simplicity easy for a child to understand. It follows a farm of animals whose wise boar tells them it's time to uproar against the tyranny of man, sounds good right? Wrong. The farm goes through a new tyranny of leadership, and are lied to, tricked, slaughtered and gaslight. It's the literal definition of life as of recently, only dumbified so it's easy for us, the brainwashed public, to understand and see.

surtified™

i know the book is a political allegory and i should talk about that but im sorry ive never been this FURIOUS with pigs before. i will definitely be eating bacon tn

cece

This book introduced me to the wonders of English literature, and also one of my favourite authors of all time! (GEORGE OREWELL SUPREMACY) 

Maja Ruzicic

Drew Nerbas

Love love love love this book, justice for snowball is all I have to say.

Ícaro Morbeck

Nunca tive uma experiência muito boa com livros políticos. Sempre achei que a maioria deles zombava do leitor por não entender todos os termos, ou cada mínimo aspecto do funcionamento da sociedade, alimentando ainda mais a ignorância política e a incredulidade para com os problemas sociais. este livro, no entanto, narra suas críticas sociais e morais políticas de forma muito didáticos, e isso não faz com que ela seja, nem por um segundo, menos eficiente. Muito pelo contrário. 

George Orwell mostra como não apenas tem opiniões fortíssimas sobre a hierarquia social, a desigualdade ou a manipulação política, mas também que possui um domínio exemplar da linguagem narrativa. Escrevendo seu livro quase que completamente baseado no subtexto. Diálogos escritos com uma maestria digna de aplausos, comunicando mensagens e sentimentos de forma muito sucinta e astuciosa. Sem perceber, já fomos seduzidos pelas palavras do escritor. 

[SPOILERS]
E pensar que, este tempo todo, tudo que os porcos queriam eram se tornar aquilo que seus antigos opressores eram. No fim, eles se tornaram ainda piores. Vemos a gradativa transformação na ideologia dos animais, e como a ilusão dos terrores antigos cegam todos os animais para com os terrores atuais, que são ainda piores. Para justificar a fome, as horas injustas de trabalho e os medos da população, os porcos os lembravam de que antigamente era muito pior, e isso parecia ser uma resposta suficiente. 

A verdade é que a ganância humana nunca vai permitir que a sociedade viva de forma igualitária, por isso que o comunismo não passa de uma ilusão. O mundo perfeito onde ninguém quer ter mais benefícios do que ninguém, a lei e ordem são seguidas cegamente, a inveja não existe e todos se importam tanto com o próximo quanto se importam consigo mesmos não passa uma utopia, um sonho irreal.

Wassim

I had read it like 4 times 
2 in Arabic 
2 in English 
it is good to explain the government system for me as 8 years old kid

As I read this, I couldn't help myself from thinking about my country's history. I didn't expect to cry while reading this, but, unfortunately, I did. 

Mirror

armoni mayes

i would rate this like 3.5 stars. i found it to be funny and fast-paced but overall the book was okay

gurlene 

I live on a farm, so I feel like this would be my worst nightmare if all the animals decided they didn't want humans around anymore. 

But I feel like this story is a great example of how in any society, be it humans or animals, there is always an individual or a whole group of individuals who want to be on top. Sure there may be equality, in a sense, but certain groups are always going to be lower than others and that's just how the world works. Or certain groups feel like they should be the leaders and get power hungry in making the rules and comfortable in positions of power. So, yeah, be it humans or animals somebody is always going to knock somebody down to be at the top of the ladder.

Marisa

I live on a farm, so I feel like this would be my worst nightmare if all the animals decided they didn't want humans around anymore. 

But I feel like this story is a great example of how in any society, be it humans or animals, there is always an individual or a whole group of individuals who want to be on top. Sure there may be equality, in a sense, but certain groups are always going to be lower than others and that's just how the world works. Or certain groups feel like they should be the leaders and get power hungry in making the rules and comfortable in positions of power. So, yeah, be it humans or animals somebody is always going to knock somebody down to be at the top of the ladder.

A. D. Knapp

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. A warning from history that we chose to ignore and look where we are now.

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Animal Farm by George Orwell

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