Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell and I think it is fascinating, if not unexpected. It's a short book, so if you want to add another classic to your list, it won't take you very long. The story follows a now predictable pattern of a society, a farm, of animals who rise up against the human-imposed enslavement and what happens afterward.

This book is a classic and it is another one that is less renown for itself and more so for its commentary and effect on the world upon which it was framed. Don't get me wrong; the book drives the point home with simple and accurate precision, but it is not a work that I would want to, nor have to, read again.

I am not sure how this will come across, but I sometimes lament reading classic books. Because the book has had such influence, I either go into it knowing exactly what to expect, or so familiar with a theme or style copied by so many others that I find myself feeling blasé by the original. This is unfortunate, as it takes a little away from the quality of a work, but thankfully, I have enough of an appreciation of history as to recognize and respect the importance of such a work.

There isn't much more that can be said about this book, despite the introduction and appendices tacked on to my addition by some other literary or political expert. Which, by the way, is another thing I dislike: Put the thoughts of others, about the book, about the significance of it, at the END of the book. I don't want to read about the book before I've read it, even if I know exactly what happens in said work.

All in all, it is a book that questions power, questions the ability of a society to live with a shared and equal prosperity, questions the incorruptibility of individuals and, if you're really lazy, the entire point of the book can be summed up by reading its last line.