ATIKA ASSESS Animal Farm by George Orwell

Why is it that George Orwell’s Animal Farm still intrigues people in 2024? Because it is brilliant. That’s why. It’s simple. The whole book is simple. Take some vital and ancient philosophical ideas and preset them in a way that is easy to read, succinct and provokes your to form your own response. Be honest, I won’t tell. Would you rather read Animal Farm or Plato’s Republic? 

This book has been promoted by a wide spectrum of political thought. The CIA funded a movie for use in schools whilst Trotskyites loved the overt caricatures of Soviet top brass.

I gave it to my son to read when he was, maybe, 11 years old. I think that so far it's the only decent book he's ever read in one sitting. Point is, he got it. Defo got enough of it to make it worth while. That's good writing because I’m dead old and still, like with all great art, get something new each time I pick it up. 

In 1984 Orwell  alludes to a process of reduction in common intelligence by reducing language. The premise being that if we think in language then our IQ can be lowered using language. Double bad. Anyway, maybe he’s aware of that to a certain extent in Animal Farm because he writes, as the CIA movie describes it, a fable. A fable is base in its structure, flexible in language and is accessible to all. A story of benefit, to be passed around and down.  

So in Animal Farm he has simplified his own language, but only to a level where it is accessible to the widest amount of people. Lessons from his journalistic background. 

What do I personally take from Animal Farm? “Donkeys live a very long time”. 

This review was written by John Howlin, the senior commercial manager here at ATIKA London.