Animal Farm by George Orwell is a fairy tale for adults. It is about a farm, Manor Farm, to be exact. An old pig tells the animals on Manor Farm of a song he heard when he was a small pig, Beasts of England. Hearing this song arises a spirit of rebellion in the animals on Manor Farm. The animals eventually rebel and expel Jones (owner of Manor Farm) and his employees. The animals rename the farm Animal Farm and make it a place of equality. The pigs on Animal Farm, the smartest of all animals, lead the Rebellion, come up with "The Seven Commandments of Animalism". Animal Farm works in perfect order with only one battle of the humans trying to take the farm back. This works until Snowball (one of the pigs) proposes the idea of a windmill which will do much of the animals work for them. But then, Napoleon sets hounds he has trained from birth on Snowball and drives him out of Animal Farm. Napoleon then takes over Animal Farm and slowly turns the farm back to the tyranny it used to be. But this change happens so gradually that none of the animals notice enough to change it before it is too late.
I really enjoyed this book, but honestly, some parts after Napoleon takes over Animal Farm, I honestly want to kinda punch that two-faced swine in the face (two notes on that, A, I mean swine in the insulting sense, you know, "You miserable swine!", and B, I really do mean that, I don't care if it's a book or if the PETA and the ASPCA start knocking on my door, they should knock on Napoleon's). This book was technically excellent and a great study on the effects of tyranny, rebellion and the effects thereafter. This book reminded me of an e-mail I got from a Filipino friend (a chain e-mail), about a leader or something in the Philippines who said he had humble beginnings but the e-mail showed his house and how he was using all of his power to provide an overly extravagant life for himself. Whenever I think of Napoleon and post-Snowball Animal Farm, I think of that e-mail, and I think it provides a really good parallel for the book. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a thought provoking read.
4 7/8 (1/8 taken off because I didn't like it as much as other books I've read.)
Taryn.
