My Goodreads Review of Animal Farm by George Orwell

Today marks the 75th anniversary of this book's publication. I took my time getting to it, but Orwell's style of writing has always impressed me with its clarity and his ability to communicate ideas and images to you without any baggage.

Animal Farm by George Orwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"... for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the socialist movement. On my return from Spain [in 1937] I thought of exposing the Soviet myth in a story that could be easily understood by almost anyone and which could be easily translated into other languages." - Appendix 2 (The Ukrainian-language preface)

When I first joined Goodreads, the first book I added to my "to-read" shelf was this short novel. It is one of those books that are part of the "you must read this and be terrified" list. I pretty much knew the plot since high school (despite never reading it, or any Orwell, there). Because of pop-cultural familiarity, I had put off reading it. I felt there were more relevant dystopia to be read. So I spent seven years on this site adding and reviewing books, watching the cold-swing of the pendulum like Ol' Benjamin says in this book. But, then the history-nerd in me woke-up for a minute and I was reminded that this is the 100th year anniversary of the Russian Revolution: an event that changed everything outside of Russia, but not much in it (if you know that country's history). So, I finally had a reason to read this (I am one of the worst procrastinators I know).

I will not retell the plot because it basically is the first three decades of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, but I do want to quickly meditate on the use of the fairy-tale/children's story aspect of it. I feel that the motifs of the animal characteristics serve well here to match the historical counterparts. It also serves as archetypes of itself in the majority of successive revolutions that have taken place (this could have easily taken-place with more Asian-specific animals or tropical animals or sub tropical, etc.). I liked the way anthems and slogans were highlighted because it brings to mind Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language which everyone who writes reviews on this site should read. I am also happy to say this is the least dense prose I have read from Orwell at this point, and that is a big plus.

So, why is this a good book to me? Because it is the most basic explanation of totalitarianism, or on a more basic level, bullying that you can read. If you're trying to make people understand on an elementary level why liberty and equality are good this book can show you (provided you are good at discerning irony and do not fall victim to Poe's Law). As for this book's ability to scare me...it is not very effective now-a-days. This is not Orwell's fault, but my own background. One must understand, as an African-American I come from an ancestry which has more than an acquaintance with dystopian life. My grandmother's grandmother lived a life that was far worse than what the Soviet proletarians endured under Stalin: his victims were disposal humans, my near-ancestors were legally considered livestock. With that prospective, one is lucky to have one leg to stand on.

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