Book Review - 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. -Thanks Andrew!

A book I have just been reading called 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell is written as a fairy book but deals with politics. This means the book could be enjoyed by children as well as adults too.


The book is timeless and is set in the countryside of England. In 'Manor Farm', an elderly pig, Major, has a dream about the future where the world is an equal place. He tells this to his fellow 'comrades' just before he passes away. Major is meant to represent Karl Marx who had a dream about a world of communism; this idea then failed the same as Major's will.

The farmer - Mr Jones - then is brutally forced out of his home and onto the streets by the farm animals. The animals all do this because they think it is unfair the way he had been treating them, like making them work hard or killing them for meat. Once he has gone the animals look forward to a life of equality.

Two pigs - Napoleon and Snowball - lead the group of animals because they are the most intelligent animals. The two leaders and the rest of the pigs teach the other animals how to read and write. napoleon soon overthrows Snowball and becomes the main leader. After this things become much worse: animals are slaughtered, some die from hunger and some from exhaustion, including Boxer the powerful workhorse who doesn't stop at anything to get work done.

In the end, the pigs betray what's left of the other comrades and treat themselves like humans: the pigs stuff themselves with food while they starve the others, they sleep in proper beds, drink alcohol, wear clothes, gamble, and even associate with humans who are meant to be the animals' enemies! Finally, the pigs start walking about on their hind legs and the others can't tell the different between human and pig.

I found this novel really good and could not put it down. It shows that you can talk about the most serious topic and have it written as a fairy story!