Book Review : Animal Farm by George Orwell

 

BOOK REVIEW : ANIMAL FARM

 

There is no doubt that George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm will divide opinions depending on what side of the political spectrum that you stand on, and your understanding of late imperial and early soviet Russian history.

I tried to put the historical reflection to the back of my mind while reading this book, and as a historian it was rather difficult. Some of the analogies were downright wrong, many were open to interpretation, and some were fair.

What I gathered about the author from this read was that he was a diehard Trotskyist, eulogising the assassinated liberal-left ideologist in the form of Snowball the pig, and Communist leader Vladimir Lenin in the form of Major the pig; while vilifying Josef Stalin in his depiction as tyrant pig Napoleon. While the pigs represent Soviet leadership, the dogs represent the Soviet Army and Police, and the other animals the general workers of the USSR.

I would argue that more time is spent vilifying the Soviet establishment under Stalin, than the Imperialist and Fascist humans; but again this is the authors political viewpoint, which is telling when he cannot even bring himself to acknowledge the role that the Stalin administration played in the downfall of the Third Reich.

Having some idea of the author’s politics going into this book made it easier to read, so I found anyway. I knew what to expect, even when I didn’t agree with some of the portrayals and how they seriously lacked context and objectivity.

While I didn’t necessarily agree with much of the rhetoric, I decided to form my own viewpoint in an attempt to enjoy this book. I viewed it more of an analogy of corrupt politicians in general, rather than a biased review of the early USSR. Napoleon the pig, who promised to create a farm where all of the animals were equal, and followed the teachings of Old Major, slowly eroded the principles of equality until eventually the pigs morphed into humans and became the new overlords.

It may in fact have been before its time; as it would be a more accurate depiction of how the USSR collapsed, and the Russian Federation was formed, a federation that does deal with humans (capitalist countries).

Again, this is all about perspective, and when the book is entirely based on perspective, it leaves little common ground for readers. The book is rather short, and lacks literary merit, other than the author’s political views. There is no story, no character development, and an absence of creativity. I imagine that Orwell jotted down a timeline of events in Russia from the first half of the twentieth century, and simply replaced the historical figures with animals and humans, while imposing his own political beliefs on the reader.

Now there’s nothing wrong with writing your own political beliefs in a political novel (I’ve done so myself), but there has to be some originality in the story. It read more like a creative article in some Trotskyist newspaper, rather than a work of creative fiction.

Still, I did enjoy the book though. It acted as a stimulant for critiquing the viewpoint of the author. It is an easy read, with little complexities and a limited number shallow characters, it was at my leisure. But the laziness was telling throughout, and at times felt like Orwell was overcome by his disdain for the Stalin-era USSR to a point where he was spouting propaganda rather than telling a story.

A disappointing Two-Stars, but a book that I would recommend reading for the fact that it’s short, simple, and shows how many felt at the time about the Stalin administration in the USSR. However, if you do have the time, I would recommend that you purchase an actual history book about the early days of the Soviet Union.