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A review by arianappstrg
Animal Farm by George Orwell
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
3,75: Animal Farm might have been all the rage when it was first published but isn't it a teensy bit boring or raw for the 21st-century reader? Warning, this is a biased review (as are most of my reviews, more or less).
It might be a personal opinion or a matter of preference or I might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed but Orwell didn't convince me or captivate me as much as I expected. Aminal Farm is a classic and surely, a masterpiece, especially if you think about the socio-political circumstances of 1945 (countries fresh out of warfare and the like), the year of its publication. And yet, as I was reading, it felt like the ideas were there and they were terrifying, dark, and contemporary but the execution was poor. By execution, I mean the writing technique. Orwell's points were perfectly structured and mediated through the gradually anthropomorphic pigs and their self-serving decisions concerning the running of the farm. But the writing seemed to be very blunt and journalistic. At times, it read like an article or a literal journal entry (nothing wrong with either of these) and I'm not too sure it served the purpose of the story well. I can't help but think that perhaps a different style would have fleshed out the ideas and the strong social messages even more. Apart from that though, I was really intrigued to see what would happen next on the farm. I had this nagging question at the back of my head 'I must know more, what happens next? Keep reading' but it was only my own curiosity about the sequence of events that kept me going, not the writing.
On the same note, the ending threw me off completely. On the one hand, it read half-done and as if there could have been at least another five pages of plot and exploration of climax. If Orwell left the story at a cliff-hanger, it didn't have the desired effect. Unfortunately, for me, it was a lot of hype and no payoff. I didn't feel the least bit curious to sit and ponder over what the animals did about so and so situation they witnessed. It didn't get me thinking further though I wanted it to. Instead, I simply put the book down and that was that. On the other hand, perhaps that was the desired effect after all. A sense of boredom, of stagnation, of nothing ever happening to improve the living and working conditions of the animals, of everything being a vicious circle of greed and corruption (as tends to happen in human politics ;) ). According to this interpretation, it makes sense why there is no big climax, no great resolution. It makes the book more of a social/political commentary/fable than a story in the classical sense.
Mixed feelings, overall. I recognize its literary importance and can identify the reasons why it is read to this day but perhaps it wasn't my cup of tea.
It might be a personal opinion or a matter of preference or I might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed but Orwell didn't convince me or captivate me as much as I expected. Aminal Farm is a classic and surely, a masterpiece, especially if you think about the socio-political circumstances of 1945 (countries fresh out of warfare and the like), the year of its publication. And yet, as I was reading, it felt like the ideas were there and they were terrifying, dark, and contemporary but the execution was poor. By execution, I mean the writing technique. Orwell's points were perfectly structured and mediated through the gradually anthropomorphic pigs and their self-serving decisions concerning the running of the farm. But the writing seemed to be very blunt and journalistic. At times, it read like an article or a literal journal entry (nothing wrong with either of these) and I'm not too sure it served the purpose of the story well. I can't help but think that perhaps a different style would have fleshed out the ideas and the strong social messages even more. Apart from that though, I was really intrigued to see what would happen next on the farm. I had this nagging question at the back of my head 'I must know more, what happens next? Keep reading' but it was only my own curiosity about the sequence of events that kept me going, not the writing.
On the same note, the ending threw me off completely. On the one hand, it read half-done and as if there could have been at least another five pages of plot and exploration of climax. If Orwell left the story at a cliff-hanger, it didn't have the desired effect. Unfortunately, for me, it was a lot of hype and no payoff. I didn't feel the least bit curious to sit and ponder over what the animals did about so and so situation they witnessed. It didn't get me thinking further though I wanted it to. Instead, I simply put the book down and that was that. On the other hand, perhaps that was the desired effect after all. A sense of boredom, of stagnation, of nothing ever happening to improve the living and working conditions of the animals, of everything being a vicious circle of greed and corruption (as tends to happen in human politics ;) ). According to this interpretation, it makes sense why there is no big climax, no great resolution. It makes the book more of a social/political commentary/fable than a story in the classical sense.
Mixed feelings, overall. I recognize its literary importance and can identify the reasons why it is read to this day but perhaps it wasn't my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Physical abuse
There are a few references to the mistreatment of animals and a few descriptions of physical violence and violence against animals but nothing overly graphic.