Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a satirical allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England in August 1945.

Plot
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals, led by pigs Snowball and Napoleon, who rebel against their abusive human owner, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. However, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of Napoleon.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The book is actually an allegory of events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. For example:
 * 2) * Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, as he took over and made Russia almost as bad as it was before.
 * 3) * Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, who was Stalin's "partner" in the era.
 * 4) * Old Major represents Karl Marx, one of the creators of communism, and Vladimir Lenin, the communist leader of the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet nation.
 * 5) * Squealer represents Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's second-in-command.
 * 6) * Mr. Jones, their owner, represents Tsar Nicholas II.
 * 7) The plot is written well, which is very close to the actual events.
 * 8) Great descriptions for all the characters.
 * 9) Lots of memorable characters such as Snowball, Napoleon, Boxer the horse, and Benjamin the donkey.
 * 10) Every single thing is relevant to its main theme, hence constantly reminding us of the moral underlying the story.
 * 11) The book is very straightforward and economical. There isn't any trace of filler to be found and the way the farm is ran itself is a parallel to real life socialist systems.
 * 12) The book is narrated in the same manner as a fable.
 * 13) It's among the simplest you will ever find. The little sentences and the short chapters render it accessible to even a 9-year-old kid.
 * 14) Many sad deaths that leave a good impact on the reader, such as Boxer's (not helping that it originally seemed that he was being taken to be treated for his injuries sustained earlier in the book only to turn out that he had actually been sent to be killed due to being seen as worthless to the farm due to said injuries).

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) Napoleon and Mr. Jones can be unlikable.

Trivia

 * This book inspired the themes of Pink Floyd's tenth studio album, called "Animals", which deals with similar themes to the ones in this book.