Book Review #8: Animal Farm

“A Literature Classic of 20^th Century” was the phrase that tempted me to pick it up the shelf. Weary and rustic cover illustration of pigs strata, not a pleasing cover though interesting enough. It’s been a long time I tried to look up for this book. Little that I anticipate to come across this frail copy in our very own MSU library.

It is an allegorical or satire piece of literature penned by George Orwell symbolize events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. Surprisingly, I said to myself “Hey! We got one here in Malaysia in a form of SHIT wrote by Shahnon Ahmad” though I had no chance to get my hand on it because it was banned. It only fair that during that era (1940s), book publishing was observed by censorship to control propaganda dispersal.

Time Magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005); it also places at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is also included in the Great Books of the Western World.

There is valid reason why this book triumphed over time. It’s simple straight-forward story (in non-Virginia Woolf kind of crypic-twisted selection of words) that make reading a pleasure. Selection of farm animals as main characters in the story is far more digestible than to depict real human in comparison.

The story of Farm Animals’ rebellion against human in a false hope of new animal-governed farm when everyone are equal. Lead by pigs Napoleon, Snowball and the Squealer (minister of propaganda) and joined by other animals such as dogs, horses, donkey, chickens, cows etc. We learned over time that pigs being the smartest animal in the farm upon entrusted with governing power slowly becoming manipulator. From anti-human basic statement "Four legs good, two legs bad!" (that wings count as legs as they are objects of propulsion rather than manipulation), the pigs slowly depicting human. Thus these pigs gradually change the Seven Commandment and boiled it down to new basic statement “Four legs good, two legs better!" as the pigs learned to walk on their rear legs.

It just came to my understanding of the real story behind the phrase “You are pig!”

Themes of Animalism, rebellion, revolution, manipulation, and devotion interchanged all through the story.

RATING: 4 stars

Below are versions of Animal Farm book cover.