Animal Farm
by George Orwell · first published 1945
26% recommend71% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, plainly written allegory about how power corrupts revolutions, praised for being clear enough for anyone to read and still applicable to modern society. Good for young readers and a strong reread.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Animal Farm is a brilliant political satire and a powerful and affecting story of revolutions and idealism, power and corruption. 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are
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…one, George Orwell is everywhere these days. His seven-decade-old dystopian classic, 1984, recently made waves by topping a bunch of bestseller lists. Orwell’s earlier (and arguably greater) allegory, Animal Farm, is also getting its due. That both novels are suddenly on the radar of people who probably haven’t given Orwell a second thought in years is hardly surprising at a time when war refugees are painted…
on “I say, damn it, where are the beds? New books on Orwell” ↗…"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Adams (all of its sequels are also good) * "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and "Lila", Pirsig * Either "Watchmen", Moore and Gibbons; or "1984" or "Animal Farm", Orwell * "Neuromancer" or "Pattern Recognition", Gibson Be wary of anybody who recommends self-help, attitude improvement, psychology, business/management, or similar genres. Also, I notice that…
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗…example books to show people: The Hobbit http://prosecraft.io/library/j-r-r-tolkien/the-hobbit/ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows http://prosecraft.io/library/j-k-rowling/harry-potter-and-th... Animal Farm http://prosecraft.io/library/george-orwell/animal-farm/ I first encountered this method not through Vonnegut but through the "Hedonometer" project, at the University of Vermont Computational Story Lab.…
on “Kurt Vonnegut on 8 ‘shapes’ of stories” ↗Everyone should read Animal Farm and 1984. I read the family copy of Animal Farm 8th grade summer, and we regularly quoted Animal Farm back and forth growing up. I later read Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margerita and enjoyed it but…
on “Shooting an Elephant (1936)” ↗…Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" - Lewis Carroll "Dracula" - Bram Stoker "Frankenstein" - Mary Shelly "On Education" - Bertrand Russell "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" - Douglas Adams "Animal Farm" - George Orwell "1984" - George Orwell "Lord of The Flies" - William Golding "Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley "Gulliver's Travels" - Jonathan Swift "The Selfish Gene" - Richard Dawkins
on “Ask HN: What are some good books?” ↗It's a pity for most people this will be the only Orwell's book they will read, personally I find it one of his weaker ones, I liked "Animal farm", "Down and out in Paris and London" and his essays much more, and his biggest literary achievement is probably "Homage for Catalonia".
on “Sales of George Orwell’s ’1984′ up 69 percent on Amazon” ↗I always have copies of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" to give out. As I get older, I love seeing younger people flip out when they read it and see how applicable it is in modern life.
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗…But it does have some very interesting ideas. My issue with 1984 may have been prior exposure to it's best ideas elsewhere. Orwell is a great writer, highly recommend both "Homage to Catalonia" and "Animal Farm". Complex topics written in an accessible style.
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗…name" "No" "Ok fine, I'll have to find a new name. Have a nice day sir.". This story pretty much sounds like “All animals are equals but some are more equals than others”[1] to me. [1]Georges Orwell Animal Farm (his best book IMO)
on “Prince Harry and Meghan took my Instagram name” ↗…de-facto oligarchy led autocracit governments who need to cling to power using authoritarian bullying. I think anything that needs to be written as a summary of socialist reality was written by Orwell in Animal Farm. He was a fervent socialist - but became a quite strong critic of it's implementations as they stand. Orwells fondness for socialism was driven by his experiences as part of the civil service of the…
on “Marxism vs. Liberalism: An Interview Between J.V. Stalin and H.G. Wells (1934)” ↗…in my list of books that have influenced me. >All this in a book that is shorter than John Galt's speech. This is what happens when you don't have editors. I would like to add 1984 and Animal Farm. I think the time that Rand wrote Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead capitalism was already (or soon to become) the de facto economic system of the world. I think that it is a good book for the time…
on “Why Paul? Why Did You Change It? (About Hacker News)” ↗…books I've read many times over. I was not a huge fan of "Les Miserables" (Hugo) before I read it out loud with my wife about a year ago, and it really grew on me then. To Orwell's "1984" I would add "Animal Farm". "My Antonia" (Cather) has something great in it, though many probably would consider it slow. "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Lee) deserves a call-out on any list of classics, especially if you're American.…
on “Ask HN: classic literature recommendations?” ↗Don't think of Orwell as just the guy who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm, either. His other stuff is great, too.
on “1984” ↗His essays Shooting An Elephant and Politics and the English Language have always stuck with me. We have the 4 volume collection in the family. It's at an arm's distance right now. I read Animal Farm when I was 12 and 1984 a few years later. And I've re-read them a few times since. In college, I read Down and Out. Traveling through Europe I read Homage to Catalonia. Orwell is my favorite writer and…
on “I say, damn it, where are the beds? New books on Orwell” ↗…1908) "The Conquest of Happiness" (Bertrand Russell, 1930) "The Revolt of the Masses" (José Ortega y Gasset, 1930) "Brave New World" (Aldous Huxley, 1932) "Reason" (Isaac Asimov, 1941, short story) "Animal Farm" (George Orwell, 1945) "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (George Orwell, 1949) "Starship Troopers" (Robert A. Heinlein, 1959) "The Gods Themselves" (Isaac Asimov, 1972) "Time Enough for Love" (Robert A. Heinlein,…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗