Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Many of you may have read this book in high school or it may be on the curriculum for the future, but either way, you must have heard of this classic, or at least its author. George Orwell wrote many political allegories, or stories whose character or events are symbolic. Animal Farm is only one of them.

    I wasn't even expecting to read this, as my teacher did not have it on the syllabus, so this was quite the surprise. The edtion that I read had similar and related short stories in one volume, pictured to the left. In this edition the story is
    97 pages
  10 chapters
Orwell wrote this book to poke fun at the conept of Communism. The animals at The Manor Farm overthrow their human master and make their own rules, governing themselves and becoming self-sufficient for a time. But some of the animals are never content, causing trouble. This book shows how a dictatorship can go wrong but convince the community nothing is changing.
   I loved this book, it shows you how silly human actions are through the government of a group of farm animals. I can promise I will never see farm animals the same way again. I would classify this as young adult . Mostly because of the fact that without some high school global history class knowledge, you won't understand the symbolism behind the book and therefore might appreciate it less. Also, there is some violence and mature thinking is required to view this book as more than a story, but a connection between history and literature.
     The writing throughout this book isn't lyrical. It's actually very cut-and-dry, telling the story in a very simple way until the whole thing becomes more complex. Much of the book is an exposition, getting to know each character, but with each the story builds from an almost bedtime story-esque to a more complicated rendering. Overall, it really conveys how people act through the actions of some rebellious animals. It's as relevant now as it was when it was first released.
Rating: 4 out of 5