Title
Animal Farm

Author
'Animal Farm' is written by George Orwell. Orwell was born in Motihari, India, in 1903 and died in 1950. His real name is Eric Blair. He was educated at Eton. From 1922 to 1928 he served in the 'Indian Imperial Police' in Burma, an experience that later found expression in the novel 'Burmese days'. For the next two years he lived in Paris, and then came to England as school teacher. Later Orwell worked in a book shop. In 1937 he went to Spain to fight for the Republicans and was wounded. During World War II he was a member of the Home Guard and he worked for the BBC.
In 1943 he joined the staff of 'Tribune', contributing a regular page of political and literary commentary. Later Orwell became a regular contributor of 'The Observer', for which he worked as a special correspondent to France and Germany.
Orwell was a socialist but detested extreme political view-points. His most successful publications 'Animal Farm' and '1948' are meant to be warnings against totalitarian regimes and dictatorship. The pair of novels brought him his first fame and almost his only remuneration as a writer.
Orwell's reputation rests not only on his political shrewdness and his sharp satires but also on his marvellously clear style and on his superb essays, which rank with the best ever written: 'Politics And The English Language'.

Story
'Animal Farm' was first published in 1945 by Secker And Warburg. The copyright is by Eric Blair. It contains 120 pages. The story takes place on Manor Farm in Southern England in the forties. The story is told chronologically.
The book is a parable of the utopian roots of the Russian Revolution and the totalitarian state that followed.

Characters
There are 4 main characters in 'Animal Farm'. #Napoleon: He is a 'smart' pig. He takes the leadership amongst with the other pigs. He is very mean. He only does things when he gets better by it.

#Boxer: He is a 'hard-working' horse. When things are going bad on Animal Farm, Boxer only works harder. He doesn't see that Napoleon is terrorising the whole farm.

#Squealer: He is a 'fat' pig and helper of Napoleon. He does everything that Napoleon tells him to do. Squealer is also very mean toward the other animals.

#Snowball: He is a 'cleaver' pig. There is always a difference of opinion between Napoleon and him about their projects.

Summary
Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, is always drunk and treats his animals badly. Major, an 'old' pig, tells the other animals to start a rebellion. It is the only way to change their miserable life. He teaches them the words of the song 'Beasts Of England', a song about the time when England will belong to the animals.
One evening all the animals come together to discuss how they could overtake the farm. Together they make a plan, that was implemented in due time. Then they take over Manor Farm and rename it in Animal Farm. The animals try to learn reading but only the smartest animals actually learn it. The pigs, who could read and write the best, propose seven rules which all animals should obey to:

• whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy
• whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend
• no animal shall wear clothes
• no animal shall sleep in a bed
• no animal shall drink alcohol
• no animal shall kill any other animal
• all animals are equal

These rules are summarised by the statement 'Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad'. However , gradually things change. The pigs and dogs create a new rank. They make themselves the leaders of animal farm. Sometimes their behaviour must defended by adapting several rules of the above seven commandments. Their criticism is consequently respond by the remark: 'but it was always so, don't you remember?'
There is also a struggle for leadership between the two pigs Napoleon and Snowball. Snowball can make brilliant speeches and has good ideas. But Napoleon has most support from the sheep. When Snowball presents a plan for the building of a windmill, he is chased away by a group of dogs.
Now Napoleon is the ultimate leader. Every idea Snowball had is proposed again by Napoleon. When things go wrong, Snowball gets the blame. Napoleon behaves more and more like a human-being (sleeping in bed, wearing clothes and walking on two legs).
The horse Boxer is the best worker of all. He works harder and harder each time things go bad. Then he falls ill.
In the end the pigs invite their human neighbours to a feast of reconciliation, leading the other animals to realise that they have merely exchanged one tyranny for another.

Reading experience
I found the book on my bookshelf and it was recommended to me by my mother. I decided to read it because I also saw the movie and that was a cool film. I expected a good book, because the movie was great. My expectation came true, 'Animal Farm' has some very humoristic parts. The book is realistic, because the situation has happened before in the Soviet Union. It describes the history that starts good with genuine purposes. But in the end nothing has actually been changed. All the parts in the book impressed me, because I was very excited about them. All the aspects of the book are successful.
I would advise others to read the book, because it is easy and funny.