I read this surprisingly short book with very little knowledge about Stalin and the Soviet Union. So I tried reading this book the way it is, except it's hard to when you kept hearing about how it's a political satire before you even opened a page. So there I was, imagining not farm animals, but Hitler-like farm animals.

I got emotionally invested in the book. I was enraged when the pigs kept greater rations for themselves because they're pigs and they need to power their brains or else Jones will come back. And the other animals (or at least majority of them) are gullible enough that they'd just nod and accept the bullshit.

I especially hated Squealer. Napoleon is evil, but Squealer is a whole 'nother level of evil. My blood boiled every time Squealer had a dialogue.

And poor, poor Boxer. :(

The grim ending certainly didn't make anything better. This was a dark but enlightening book. I'm glad I wasn't forced to read this in school. I would've hated it. I have a great appreciation for this masterpiece, and I can't believe I put off reading this for years.