Has been a while, but IMO the animals work well because they abstract the history lesson away from any specific people. It shows how universal these patterns are. I didn't like Animal Farm because it was so well written or had such an intriguing story arc. I liked it because draws a picture of behavior in societies and holds up a mirror to us humans.
this post was submitted on 08 May 2026
29 points (91.4% liked)
Books
8299 readers
109 users here now
A community for all things related to Books.
Rules
- Be Nice. No personal attacks or hate speech.
- No spam. All posts should be related to discussion or reviews related to books. (Please avoid posts that are just a link to the book and a generic summary)
- No self promotion.
Official Bingo Posts:
Related Communities
- !books@piefed.world (Piefed Sibling Community)
- !comicbooks@lemmy.world
- !fantasy@lemmy.ml
Community icon by IconsBox (from freepik.com)
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I can get behind that explaination. Well, I do think I had a more "artistic" expectation from the book given how many people recommend it, instead got something that was very raw and direct about it's message.
Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I read 1984 before Animal Farm, and it also didn't turn out how I expected (still good though). So I was more open about what to expect for Animal Farm I think.
All political allegories are alright but some are more alright than others.
What did you not enjoy? The content or style it was written? I didn’t get that part.
To me animal farm is still among the absolutely best books I have ever set my eyes on. Not for the reason it was written: communism, power. No, the very picture that it paints using animals: they are used and then discarded.
Looking at it at face value, this is happening in both communism and capitalism. It is a feature of how we organize our societies.
For me the book has never been a criticism of communism. But an eye opener how we use and abuse the world around us for our own benefit, no matter in which ideology we fall.
It's was a critique of authoritarianism, using example of communist ideologies, in my opinion.
I didn't like the style, like in history textbooks, how they gloss over minute details? That's what I felt about animal farm. Like, it felt like most of the animal farm was written by a distant observer, not someone who lives on the farm. Most notably the book lacked first person dialogues. It was almost entirely written in indirect speech, except for a few moments.
I think that's kinda the point of allegories - they are timeless and open to interpretation. People read animal farm and can apply it to various parts of society, politics, philosophy. If it was too detailed and specific it would be MORE like a history book and just about the Russian Revolution. Which would likely not have had such a wide reach as it continues to have.
I feel it is more about the human tendendcy toward authoritarianism. Like initially after throwing off the humans there are many improvements but they get slowly degraded. Actually maybe kinda about nationalism and such. Some see the issues and others blindly following the movement.
For me it wasn't a strong book. But one with a clear message which was aimed at the people from that time period. Some elements aged too good. Some are boring. I get it.
Still an interesting read, especially since it is short.
I’d argue Animal Farm, and Orwell in general, isn’t necessarily there for the enjoyment of the story so much as they’re an exercise in political perspectivism. The theming choices and what not were just artistic choices to tell what is essentially a real life cautionary tale in the setting of a story. I feel like he was trying to teach history and politics the same way you sneak vegetables into a kid’s food, he understood what he was trying to say wasn’t palatable but was nourishing.
However thin the allegory was for you, you still live in a country where most people do not understand it.
How do you know where I live?
How many Indian people do understand Animal Farm?
I was surprised you know I am an Indian. Yeah true almost no one understands it, but also almost no one has read it. I don't think our education system has the guts to teach animal farm, cause Orwell is warning against exactly what our government is doing. Also I don't think it's hard to understand, Orwell is pretty direct in warning against authoritarianism
It is a warning against whatever governments do worldwide. It is not limited to India, and the worst cases are the big three: China, the US, and Russia. Basically kleptocraties with only fig leaf democracy.
Its not something I would choose for myself to read for entertainment but relative to most school fair I would rank it pretty high.
Not trying to be bellicose at all but, to my taste, Orwell's best fiction is in his early books. And I find "Animal Farm" and "1884" rather unsophisticated when compared to other dystopian novels like "We" or "Brave New World".