"I won't read again to this writer", that was my first impression to "ANIMAL FARM".
George Orwell was recommend to me by his two most famous books:"ANIMAL FARM" and "1984", and I had started reading "ANIMAL FARM" first by chance.
Then I though that Orwell, almost, hadn't have something to talk about in his other book; because he "has summarized up all what is happening in the occupied revolutions".
Later, I knew that "1984" was about Dystopian world that occurs after ANIMAL FARM's world. and Overall, the book was full of simple comprehensive metaphors, and reminded me of Bolshevik traitors comrades like Trotsky and Kautsky, LOL.

لن أقرأ لهذا الكاتب ثانية". كان هذا أول ما تبادر إلى ذهني عندما انتهيت من هذا الكتاب"
تم ترشيح جورج أورويل لي من خلال كتابيه الأشهر "مزرعة الحيوانات" و"1984"، وبدأت بمزرعة الحيوانات لا لشيء سوى الصدفة
"وارتأيت بعدها أن أورويل، على الأغلب، لم يعد لديه ما يقوله لي في كتابه الثاني، فأرويل قد "لخص كل اللي بيحصل في الثورات الفاشلة

***
مازلتم تريدون سماع المزيد عن الرواية؟ أرشح لكم مراجعة "فهد" التي تحكي الطريق الذي خاضه أورويل لكتابتها، مع بعض التحليل اللطيف، وتنتهي في الفقرة الأخيرة بملخص بسيط عن القصة فيه شيء من حرق الأحداث.
وهذه المراجعة منتقاة من بحر من المراجعات السيئة ذات التقييم العالي.

this was so weird and so good at the same time holy shit.

CW/TW: physical violence

"Man serves the interests of no creature except himself."

Animal Farm, England (1910s–1940s)¹ — At the hands of the neglectful and alcoholic farmer, Mr. Jones, the badly managed Manor Farm near Willingdon, England has its animal populace ready to rebel. One day, the prize-winning boar Old Major invited the animals for a conference in the big barn where he shared his ideas on overthrowing humans and taught the animals a revolutionary song describing his dream vision called Beasts of England. Sharing the same sentiments on their fate in the farm, the animals were enthused to support the ideas forwarded by the boar.

Three days after the meeting, Old Major dies and the three younger pigs Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer transform Major's vision into a formal ideology called Animalism. When Mr. Jones comes back drunk at the farm one late evening, Snowball and Napoleon had the animals ready for revolt, successfully driving the farmer away from the place. Following this triumph, the animals then renamed the property Animal Farm and took control over its management. All their ideals are set, with even the Seven Commandments of Animalism adopted by the animal community. But one thing is uncertain: Will the Animal Farm fulfill Major's dream vision or would it be the same as before, maybe even worse?

Hailed by Medium as "easily the most famous work of political allegory ever written," George Orwell's Animal Farm yields an easily digestible yet creatively impactful scrutiny of the Russian Revolution of 1917 leading up to the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, with an ironic twist that highlights Orwell's astute criticism of supreme power, oppression of the working class, animal cruelty, greed, and totalitarianism.

Drawing parallels from the historical developments of communism in Russia and the revolution that transpired, Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a political satire jabbed at totalitarianism in all of its forms: communist, fascist, and capitalist. These parallels are apparent with the similarities the characters from the novella Snowball and Napoleon share with real-life leaders Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin, alongside the events in the book mirroring real political events that Orwell openly criticized. Committing himself on his goal to make the book fit for "wider application" in terms of relevance and the pursuit of truth, Orwell most noticeably uses simple and straightforward prose in Farm, while ensuring that his narrator speaks without deceiving political jargon.

Through his exceptional linguistic command in writing an allegory, Orwell proves how language is powerful enough to promote political subversion—a theme also prominent in Animal Farm's successor, Nineteen Eighty-Four². The author carefully addresses this by depicting irony where political language is used to subvert the audience's logic and convert their beliefs. Manifested early on when Old Major explains the concept of animal cruelty and justifies the reasons why they must seek an egalitarian society, his speech captivated the other animals prompting them to give their assent to Animalism:

n  “Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty. No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

[...]

"That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion! I do not know when that Rebellion will come, it might be in a week or in a hundred years, but I know, as surely as I see this straw beneath my feet, that sooner or later justice will be done. Fix your eyes on that, comrades, throughout the short remainder of your lives! And above all, pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious."n

However, when juxtaposed to how language is then used for manipulation and propaganda with the ulterior motive of deceiving the populace, Orwell's point about the power of language in politics is emphasized as he masterfully uses verbal irony to differentiate such scenes:

n  “Bravery is not enough,” said Squealer. “Loyalty and obedience are more important. And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that [redacted]’s part in it was much exaggerated. Discipline, comrades, iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?”n

Orwell's reminder about supreme power being the catalyst of a leader's corruption comes as another significant theme of the novel. Orwell imparts this by warning the readers that even the most idealist people can turn into ruthless, self-serving, and power-hungry dictators when given the ability to manipulate and oppress others. Such scenes even occur in our time where leaders change laws to favor them, as reflected by this excerpt:

n  “Muriel,” she said, “read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?”

With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.

“It says, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,'” she announced finally.

Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so. . . .n

If there is a single thing to emphasize amidst the many things Orwell got right and one which still occurs similarly today, it would be the society's tendency to commit political fanaticism. Contemporary society still is drawn to use patriotic rhetoric directed to support a leader, rather than to pledge allegiance and loyalty to the nation the leader serves. This is manifested in the poem recited by the animals to praise their ruler:

n  Friend of fatherless!
Fountain of happiness!
Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh, how my soul is on
Fire when I gaze at thy
Calm and commanding eye,
Like the sun in the sky,
Comrade [redacted]n

George Orwell's Animal Farm comes as a keen, septuagenarian warning about the old evils that continue to demonize our species which, when neglected, renders us indistinguishable from the villains we're supposed to vanquish.

Personal Enjoyment: 4.5 stars
Quality of the Book: 4.7 stars
- Use of Language: ⭐⭐⭐⭐+
- Plot and Narrative Arc: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Integrity: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Message: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

AVG: 4.6 stars | RAVE

- - -
Notes:
[1] The novel takes place during an undisclosed time but is inspired by the events during the major period of Russian political upheaval from 1917 to 1945 which it satirizes.
[2] You can find my review for Nineteen Eighty-Four here.

- - -
[Some comments in this review are for the pre-review I posted which contained highlighted reactions from my status updates. You may check the actual status updates through the links below to understand the context behind the comments.]

Status Updates:
START | i know how this is about to go down | Stalin has arrived | the cycle of supreme power | we still say the same shit 75 years after | END

Wow. Everything about this was so clever. I think my mind just exploded.

Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
8. A classic with less than 200 pages

i'm sure this book was very good when it came out in 19whatever (i could check this but warning - i am going to spend this review being as annoying as possible to a certain group), but it's way, way better now.

in whatever time of the 20th century this came out during, this was thought to be written in opposition to stalinist russia. that's fine. whatever. not exactly a hot take for a white guy from the western world to be anti-USSR.

but now...now it's abundantly clear.

if it weren't already obvious that this book is written about how bad totalitarianism is (as opposed to being specifically about communism), take a look at the world around us, then check it against orwell's political views, then come back to me.

a certain political faction (of evil morons) in my certain country i live in (take a wild guess) likes to call certain things (the ones that are against them) "orwellian."

nonwhite people entering your country? orwellian. having to be nice to others and not call them slurs? orwellian. the idea of people not appreciating your opinions and thereby being "anti-free speech" (even though that is not what free speech is)? orwellian.

ignoring the fact that the very idea of their using the word orwellian to serve their purposes is far more, well, orwellian, i'll just come out and say it: because people on the right don't know how to read, they haven't ever actually really thought about or analyzed either this or 1984. so they assume that george orwell is on their side - the pro-rich getting richer and anti-poor not being poor side.

but, my dear conservative friends, orwell was an outspoken democratic socialist from top to bottom.

so maybe pick one of the copious number of far-right classic authors to support your dumbass point.

oh? there aren't really any to be found?

bummer. maybe next millennium.

part of a series i'm doing in which i review books i read a long time ago and either make myself or others angry

_ولی بلخره یه روزی تموم میشه سلطنت هر خوکی...

This book didn't read like a 'classic' at all for me. It was so easy to get into. The writing style is simple and amazing. It's short but the story is relevant and weaved in such a way the readers get lots to think and reflect about the working system in a society, especially the political system.

This small book made me think about the class division and the different caste systems that are still relevant today. The political system is seemingly complicated but this book gave me a glimpse of it in a way how it's being played.
The part which intrigued me the most was the way the common people being manipulated or played with false promises and a better future for them. And that the lives of the ones who rebel or do something different for their betterment ends up not appreciated.
This small book gives a very clear picture how the actual society works; a vivid description on how the heirarchical system works and will continue as long as the general public blindly keeps on believing that others are going to make their lives better by helping them reach and sit on thrones who will detect them on how to work harder so that such people can party better.

The part which hit me the most was when one character who worked their whole lives for everyone else ended up as being forgotten and left to their own devices when weak and old with nothing much left for them in the end.

This book represents well the society we are living in, gives us an idea how the political system works in real and how the rest of us play our roles in the system.

The best part of reading this book is that it makes me think about how I as a person play my role in the society, how important one vote of mine matters and plays a significant role, how I am ultimately responsible for my own efforts in making the surrounding around me improve and how ignorant I am regarding the ways of the society and the political system. It's just not enough to live. Who is going to stand up for us ultimately? It's not them but we ourselves. Let's start by thinking twice about how easily we believe in the words others promise us for our future. Is it them who we are lifting them making them stand on the tip of our heads or us who's going to actually decide for that?

***Highlight:
The animal characters accurately represent the real working system as is at present

What more can anyone add about this much read and appreciated modern classic? Every time I read this, despite knowing about the allegory and the real message being shared, I still find it hard to think of anything but the animals themselves - a mark of the authorship of Orwell, in keeping to the story and not writing animals as humans. There's only so many books that should be compulsory to read, but surely, this should be in everybody's top 100? 7 out of 12.

2005 read

Communism, theocracy, fascism, capitalism, neocolonialism, neoliberalism, always the same piggy style

Although it was mainly aimed at Russia and the Sowjet Union
Because they at least tried to establish a socialist communist workers' utopia just like China and other states in South East Asia and around the world. The fact that it always failed is something so multidimensional that it would blow the complexity of this review throughout the book cover. And I´m not qualified too. So let´s better say that each system has its flaws, and that coincidence, big history, and geopolitics influence the rise and fall of theism and totalitarianism.

All animals are the same but some are more equal
Especially apes love this idea to look at fur, gender, religion, political or economic ideology, skin color, tradition, clothes, etc. to find something that differentiates them from others as a legitimation and reason to exterminate them. Or at least first exclude, stigmatize, discriminate, enslave, and then commit genocides on them. Ironically some dictatorships like communism at least didn´t try to kill all black, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, etc. people, but just everyone who disobeyed, although I´m not sure if this really is an advantage in contrast to fascism. Communism could simply kill so many more people in Russia, China, etc. because they had much more time to do so. So judging by the numbers, one could say

That the kill count counts
But how should one know which numbers are correct, because often nobody counted or was killed for trying to do so
Colonialism under authoritarian dictatorships aka monarchy fused with theocracy torture terror killed an unknown number of people
Fascism killed at least something between 75 and 100 million people
Communism killed something between 125 and 250 million people
Capitalism, neoliberalism, and neocolonialism killed an unknown number of people in all exploited areas with billions of citizens by not helping them to develop and stabilize. And guess what, I would bet that each avoidable death within the last decades, now, and in the future could reach the levels above. Another Western derision after centuries of colonialism, now rebranded as neocolonialism under the neoliberal economic Nobel Price agenda. Nobody can say how many people are dying after unimaginable suffering each minute and, most disturbing, no media or politician cares or talks about it. It´s just too taboo to touch this connection with a pitchfork because of the implications and because of manufacturing consent crushing everyone who dares to speak out.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Evil intelligence
No matter which farm animal, ape, or human tribe, the clever and ruthless sociopathic males will always try to dominate for more power, resources, sexy ape girls, and influence. All of human history could be seen as a permanent struggle with the megalomania of superpowers which have at least been somewhat tamed by democracy and capitalism. But even there are huge differences between the libertarian free US market and eco social Europe.

Orwell simply later modified the same concept for 1984 or, one could assume, wrote a prequel
1984 is the same with fascism and humans instead of pigs and communism and, of course, also the more famous one because it showed the direct consequences that are normal everyday life for many people around the world.

No need to enter misantropic mode
There have been incredible improvements in the last 100 years and social evolution has become a peaceful revolution in many states, especially Scandinavia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_... , my all time favorite example of a perfect balance of state and economy, of eco social politics and a controlled market. On the other hand, there are of course also states backlashing and thereby failing in Africa, South America, South East Asia, and the Southern US, but with the never ending hope for enlightenment, education, and distributional justice one can imagine a brighter future for them.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

a satire about enemies of freedom

There is both humor and pathos as the farm animals are led down the primrose path by the pigs, obvious stand-ins for communists of all nationalities. It is a mystery to me that anyone who has even a nodding acquaintance with world history can, after reading this book, still believe that communism is a good idea. It has always gone wrong and will continue to go wrong. Some animals will always be more equal than others. Freedom requires individual liberty, not group think. I admit that it, or something like it, could prove to be an ideal form of government - After Jesus returns and human nature is transformed. But even then, as I understand it, Jesus will rule, not the proliteriat.

Addendum 1/30/24: Amazon has removed this review.

Amazon's very Orwellian involvement with this book at the end. If Amazon ever partnered Facebook they'd own us.

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 pigs Napoleon and Snowball, Stalin and Trotsky respectively) so this essay is giving me a lot to think about. So far, nothing more so than this quote (below).

(Background to the quote): A group of Ukrainian and Polish refugees in a displaced persons' camp had discovered sympathetic parallels with their own plight in Orwell's parable and had begged him for permission to translate his almost-totally unknown book. But...

The emotions of the American military authorities in Europe were not so easily touched. They rounded up all the copies of Animal Farm they could find and turned them over to the Red Army to be burned. The alliance between the farmers and the pigs so hauntingly described in the final pages of the novel were still in force.

The book is banned in Cuba, North Korea, Burma, Iran, Kenya and most Arab countries. It is banned in the UAE not because of it's content but because it has anthropomorphic talking pigs which are unIslamic (is this not Orwellian in itself?). It is still censored in Vietnam. These nations wouldn't want ordinary people reading the book and looking at their own ruling porcine elites and seeing any parallels now would they? Who knows what kind of thoughts and actions that might lead to?

Amazon and Animal Farm
On 17 July 2009, Amazon.com withdrew certain Amazon Kindle titles, including Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, from sale, refunded buyers, and remotely deleted items from purchasers' devices after discovering that the publisher lacked rights to publish the titles in question. Notes and annotations for the books made by users on their devices were also deleted. After the move prompted outcry and comparisons to Nineteen Eighty-Four itself, Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener stated that the company is "changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers' devices in these circumstances." However, Amazon does not seem to a guarantee in its ToS that they won't don't this again and I understand that authors have the ability to edit (read 'change') parts of their books. This is because you can't buy a Kindle book, only rent one and Amazon can update (read 'change') them. Wikipedia and other sources

Next step: Fahrenheit 451. Get the firemen out to burn the books, only ebooks allowed where content can be controlled.

Original review 30 Oct 2011, updated several times.

Toate animalele sunt egale. În principiu.



Excepțional simț sarcastic al autorului, care amintește de clasicele fabule cu animale (Esop, La Fontaine). Aceste fabule sunt, după cum se știe, din vechi timpuri, un pretext pentru evidențierea defectelor (sau calităților) umane.

Doar că în povestea lui Orwell animalele aproape că se transformă (fizic) înaintea noastră în oameni, iar cititorii reușesc să perceapă această transformare (deși nu e niciodată menționată direct) și să o raporteze imediat la ei înșiși. Porcii, noi stăpâni ai fermei, se ridică și merg pe două picioare, în frunte cu Napoleon, conducătorul lor.

O mare temă de reflecție ne propune aici Orwell: unic modul său de a ne-o prezenta. Faptul că această carte este și astăzi în topul celor mai citite vorbește de la sine.