Review: 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, narrated by Stephen Fry (Part of the 'Orwell Collection')

I read 1984 only in 2020, which felt way too late and yet was the perfect time for me. I think that had I read it earlier I would not have understood it to the same extent. And now, on its 76th anniversary, I have finally listened to Animal Farm. While it didn't strike me in the same way as 1984, I nonetheless understand why it is essential reading.

Original Pub. Date: 8/17/1945
Audible Pub. Date: 1/12/2021
Audible Publisher: Audible Studios

One of the most influential works of the 20th century. A socio-political allegory that reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Set in a farmyard, where the animals decide to seize the farmer's land and create a co-operative that reaps the benefits of their combined labours. Four legs good, two legs bad....

I understand, to a certain extent, the history of controversy around Animal Farm. When Orwell wrote this in 1943-44, the USSR was a war ally of the United Kingdom and its leader Stalin considered an impressive friend, thus criticism of either was not welcome. However, with the emergence of the Cold War, however, Animal Farm suddenly became massively popular as a tale warning of the dangers of communism. Since then, like its sibling 1984, the novel has been banned on various sides, heralded as a warning, and put aside as a confusing mess. While it has often been called a satire and while it fits many of the aspects of satire, it doesn't feel like the right label for Animal Farm to me. Perhaps this is because, these days, I associate satire more directly with a mocking, laughing kind of critique. I also don't know if Animal Farm is entirely negative about Communism. I myself am quite the socialist and the idea of a more egalitarian society is something I fully support. While the pigs are mercilessly skewered (metaphorically) in Animal Farm, the animals' belief in a fairer society, a just one in which they can rest and be without oppression, is not mocked. It is shown to be slightly naïve and easily taken advantage of, but the hope and belief in and of itself is not wrong. I think Animal Farm is the kind of story, similarly to 1984, that changes based on your own perceptions and ideas. It is why the adjective 'Orwellian' is applied to almost everything slightly dystopian these days. You can use Animal Farm to confirm your own negative opinions of Communism/Socialism, or you can use it to argue that the revolution against the upper classes needs to be more thorough.

This confusion has made me hesitant to read the latter, but it is the original subtitle, 'A Fairy Story' that finally intrigued me. Why did Orwell call this a fairy tale? And why was that subtitle subsequently removed and replaced with 'satire'? I don't think the fairy story element was purely in reference to its talking animals, since then 'fable' would have been more accurate. While there is some overlap between fables and fairy tales, I suspect perhaps there was an element of the "folk tale" that Orwell wanted to capture, of speaking for the lower classes. Orwell mentions in his diaries and letters that with Animal Farm he hoped to combine politics and art. The below is from his well-known essay 'Why I Write':

"What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art. My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. ... But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience. Anyone who cares to examine my work will see that even when it is downright propaganda it contains much that a full-time politician would consider irrelevant."

I think it is that idea of a sense of injustice, of taking part in the suffering of others that lends itself to the fairy tale-element of Animal Farm. We are joining those that struggle and suffer and strive, not the pigs. We never really get to see their perspective in Animal Farm, they are already at a remove from us. Also, like a fairy tale there is a lightness to the novel, which allows horrid things to occur and also pass. The moral is, although clear, not as heavy as it is in other fables. It is not spelled out, even though it is there for the finding. 

Whether Animal Farm needs a summary, I do not know. But at the surface it is a story of a farm of animals that take control, that decide to rule themselves and no longer slave as labourers for mankind. But quickly their egalitarian and socialist dream turns into a dystopian oppression in which pigs rule and all others are subjugated. What it really is, of course, is a large, extended metaphor or analogy, which attempts to explain Orwell's fears in regards to Communism. While not the most subtle of metaphors, it remains incredibly effective. If you look online you will easily find explanations for the various analogies, of which pig represents who in history, etc. I find this less interesting than looking at the story itself, at the effect it has on you, the reader. Sure, the pig Snowball is like Trotsky, but what does it do to read how he is blamed and how he is exiled? How does it feel to see the old horse Boxer work himself to the bone, every faithful but never rewarded? The story is not just meant to work on an intellectual level, I believe. It is not a veneer hiding a deeper truth. It is a story, a deceptively simple one, which doesn't hide but employs bigger thoughts and emotions. Perhaps that is where the fairy tale element is.

Animal Farm is significantly shorter than 1984, clocking in at roughly a fifth of its pages. Orwell's writing here is, as mentioned above, light and clear. It could be read by children without them being overly perplexed. This makes the more horrid aspects of Animal Farm stand out, since they are described in the same smooth and cool tone as everything else. I would recommend reading Animal Farm before 1948, since the latter is much more complex and expansive, which might make switching to the more dreamlike Animal Farm an odd experience. I chose to listen to this novel, rather than read it, since I felt that its conceit may hinder me from getting into it. What I mean by that is that I am not the biggest fan of fables and moral tales, although I am a major fan of fairy tales. I worried that I wouldn't be as gripped by it, or find it simple. I don't think I need have worried about this, but Stephen Fry brings his usual charm and ability to the reading of Animal Farm. 

I give this novel...

4 Universes!

Animal Farm is a fascinating read from a variety of stand points. Politically it provides a certain idea or argument. From a literary point of view it is a fascinating example of what literature can do.