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Animal Farm (Signet Classics)
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780451526342
Edition: 50th Anniversary
ISBN: 0451526341
Label: Signet Classics
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 176
Publication Date: April 01, 1996
Publisher: Signet Classics
Release Date: January 06, 2004
Studio: Signet Classics
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Editorial 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
Orwell's brilliant 1946 satire, chronicling a revolution staged by the animals on Mr. Jones's farm.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Animal Farm Review
Once Upon A Time, there was a farm called the Manor Farm, and the animals on the farm are very mistreated. One day, the animals rise up against their human masters, and establish a near-utopian society. But promises of equality and plenty soon begin to be forgotten... until conditions are worse than they were under the humans.
A cautionary tale of the corrupting effects of power, George Orwell intended this to be a commentary on the depradations of the Soviet Union. A very facinating book.
Rating:  - Animals Gone Wild....
Animals Gone Wild...
By Lily Starbuck
George Orwell's fable, Animal Farm, tells the tale of frustrated animals who overthrow their master Mr. Jones, who owns the Manor Farm. Through many hard times and conflicts it comes down to who can survive the new farm life. New leaders, new problems, new jobs, everything is changing for the better. Or is it? Orwell is able to portray the idea "absolute power corrupts absolutely." Animal Farm is a quick read and has a loud and clear message, ... Read More
Rating: - Utopian Idealism Unmaksed
It is the rare political book that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Rarer still to be unforgettable and insightful and life-changing. Animal Farm, for me was all this.
The allegory is powerful and the use of farm animals both clever and entertaining, and helped makes the story all the more vivid and memorable. The story is well know, a group of farm animals eventually led by the boar Napoleon, overthrow the capitalist farmer and create an idealistic worker's paradise. Little ... Read More
Rating: - Think the thought to the end.
So Communism is bad because it becomes, in the end, like Capitalism. What destroyed Communism in Europe? Lech Walensa and the trade union Solidarity. Why won't Communism in China come to an end? Because capitalist companies like Walmart won't support unionization in China. Chinese communism survives in China because of support from American companies; alone it would tumble to despair. The rich brotherhood of Capitalism and the slavery of Communism are in alliance in China and it has put American Democracy ... Read More
Rating: - Animalism! Yes?
How did I not receive this book as required reading back in high school? Well now that I've picked it up, I realize that I would have enjoyed it then as much as I did now. This thinly veiled (perhaps obvious) critique on the government at the time in Russia provokes many questions on the legitimacy of any government and the inability for communism to operate effectively. The animals band together to overthrow the evil "human" to form their own government - animalism, where all animals are created equal. This ... Read More
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