A review by ambivia
Animal Farm by George Orwell

4.0

I enjoyed Animal Farm more than 1984, but both were really interesting. I thought I'd be thinking more about them having finished them, especially 1984, but perhaps because I knew what they were both about, and Orwell's dystopian vision of the future has become the bedrock of so much of modern dystopian storytelling, it was sort of like seeing the ingredients for a dish I've already eaten?

The ending for 1984 affected me a lot more than I expected it to. What a gut punch. Actually, I could say the same for Animal Farm; because I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen, having even studied this period of history, and yet when we last see Boxer, I was really upset for him!

All in all, I can see why we're still obsessed with Orwell. For books that were written decades ago, his ideas still feel shockingly and perhaps frighteningly modern.