436. Animal Farm

Animal Farm
George Orwell
1945
Around 140 pages

This is one of those novels that nearly everybody has read. If you haven't you were probably one of those cool people in high school who didn't do their homework, and I have no idea what you are doing here. When I read this in tenth grade, I lamented how our capitalist society is constantly brainwashing us through the public school system. So if you are reading this Mrs. Burkett, I was on to you.

The animals of Manor Farm stage a revolt, with the pigs in the charge. This is already hitting a little close to home. Of course, absolute power corrupts absolutely. In Orwell's later essay, "Why I Write," he wrote that Animal Farm was his attempt to "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."

By now I am quite familiar with the formula of a political novel. Usually it involves a hot intellectual guy leading a union and our leading lady falling in love with him. Then we get long speeches where the author makes all the points he wants the novel to make. This is obviously a much more creative approach. 

Orwell is an amazing writer, I don't know many authors that could have pulled this off without pushing too hard. He is improving with every novel and clearly gearing up to pen his upcoming masterpiece 1984. A must read diss track to the Soviet Union.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005).

Orwell suggested the name Union des républiques socialistes animales for the French translation, which abbreviates to URSA, the Latin word for "bear", a symbol of Russia. Damn son.

The manuscript was initially rejected by a number of British and American publishers because of the countries' wartime alliance with the Soviet Union.

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