I feel so cynical when I'm reading dystopias. Animal Farm was no exception. This short novel provides a heady dose of reality's perversions. It is the story of a revolution that begins, succeeds, and quickly decends back into the evils that spurred it on the in the first place. As a reader I found myself in the frustratingly real position of watching the pigs, the farms ingenious leaders, use rhetoric to make the animals more submissive, more trusting, and more productive, while considering themselves free. I like to think the parallels between the conditions on the farm and our own world as self-evident, at least for whoever is reading this site. Which I seem to think is just Andrew and I. And so I really don't have much more to say on it. It's one of those books you put into the "classics to read" pile and read for its quick and dirty account of how terribly selfish power can make people. Thankfully, I find myself preferring the comradery of the "lower" animals. But beyond that, it wasn't one of my favourites. I found 1984 more enjoyable, and I wouldn't read Animal Farm again, and yet I'd recommend it to anyone with an hour to spare to read it. 7 of 10.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
I feel so cynical when I'm reading dystopias. Animal Farm was no exception. This short novel provides a heady dose of reality's perversions. It is the story of a revolution that begins, succeeds, and quickly decends back into the evils that spurred it on the in the first place. As a reader I found myself in the frustratingly real position of watching the pigs, the farms ingenious leaders, use rhetoric to make the animals more submissive, more trusting, and more productive, while considering themselves free. I like to think the parallels between the conditions on the farm and our own world as self-evident, at least for whoever is reading this site. Which I seem to think is just Andrew and I. And so I really don't have much more to say on it. It's one of those books you put into the "classics to read" pile and read for its quick and dirty account of how terribly selfish power can make people. Thankfully, I find myself preferring the comradery of the "lower" animals. But beyond that, it wasn't one of my favourites. I found 1984 more enjoyable, and I wouldn't read Animal Farm again, and yet I'd recommend it to anyone with an hour to spare to read it. 7 of 10.
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i was always told that i had to read it, but when i did i was kind of bored by it. i got the same out of it as i did from just learning the history of the russian revolution. it would be ok if it were a replacement for learning the history but i don't think you'd understand what was going on if you didn't know the background.
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