Animal Farm, George Orwell
I know, I know, right?
There are only 10 books on the list and Orwell has two of them?
Well, . . . yes.
Sorry.
The thing about Animal Farm is
that it’s so simple a child can read it, and – better yet – understand it. And yet, it’s absolutely an “adult” book.
I can’t think of any other story that so clearly shows the
decay and bastardization of a good idea.
You see it coming, you know it’s going to go bad, and yet it still
surprises you. No other book has made me
actually want to call out and warn the characters of what’s happening, and the
fact that you can’t do anything to stop it is what stays with you long after
you put it down.
Animal Farm may
have been written to depict the Russian revolution and subsequent installation
of communism, but it just as easily applies to any and all governments today,
regardless of ideology. All books about
human nature are equal, but this one is more equal than others.
(also: Lord of the Flies)
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