"We are all what our pasts have made us, the accumulation of thousands of daily choices. We can change ourselves, but never erase what we've been"
― Catarina Loss ―

“Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.” — Animal Farm —

Hello there! We are back again with the Author's Works Fave off Series where i compare two different works of one author and find who's the winner in my heart at the end. This time we are going to talked about George Orwell, an author who's no longer living in this world ( which is rare for me because i usually read book with author who's still alive. It sounds weird, thanks to John Green who once said he divides his shelf with the death author and the alive author) anyway, let's get into it already! 

Which should i read first?

By the publishing date, it's suppose to be Animal Farm first then 1984, but i found in internet to read 1984 first then animal farm (which the one i did) and to be honest i think you should read Animal Farm first then 1984 if you are new for this kind of genre, book with lots of political intrigue.

What's it all about and Comparison

1984

I've done the full review of 1984 so just in case you missed it, just click the picture below.

To sum it up it's about a totalitarian world set in 1984 where the author see in the possibility of how future could be like (since George last breath was in 1950) and how he see the totalitarian country could be so scary.

Animal Farm 

The core of the story concentrate in politic, coup d'état, revolution, corruptions, well you got the vibe. But the story just more easier to read than 1984 because of the writing style and the theme suppose to be "fairytale" in the beginning tho not every copy that published included that "fairytale" word in the cover. 

In Comparison 

I think i would keep it simple, 1984 is thicker than Animal Farm because Animal Farm counted as an allegorical novella instead of book, but nonetheless i still found myself hard to pick up the book and read it. Although i can say 1984 is a lot grimmer than Animal Farm.

Plot

Both 1984 and Animal Farm is talking about political issues, tho 1984 is more complex with adding a love story in it, while Animal Farm is more pure, that i think it's more suitable for younger reader if i have to compare it with 1984 because 1984 is more vocal about sex and seriously scary in the last few chapters of it. I would definitely suggest you to read animal farm first, if you like it then continue the next step to 1984 so you can really enjoy the reading, since i think not anybody gonna like this kind of plot. 

Both has same pace for me, although 1984 is a lot slower but again like i said before, animal farm also didn't has that charm for me to read it fast enough. Both has same grim ending the plot twist that shocking enough although at some point we can see it coming but can't really believe it ends like that.

Character Development

I can't really say much about character development in 1984 because it goes slow, and weird, from hating to love then to happy to rebel, then in the end betray, i see no deep character development in this book, also i'm not really sure i like the ending because of lots of unanswered questions after i finish the book. 

In Animal Farm tho, we got lots of different characters that we can see them as the mirror of mostly people, the pig, the smart one, who can lead, the persuasive one, who can change people memories by altered it, the horse, the hard working one but fool, the donkey, the one who knows the truth but keep themselves silent. 

Both also made the figure that become the main of the government, the one that unites people but in different way, In 1984 we got the big brother, the one that the people love, the leader. In Animal Farm they got the Human, the one that animals agree that they hate and don't need in the farm, the reason why they unite in the farm to work together. But both of the figures are just the diversion in the end, because the core is not the big brother and not the human, but the people inside of the party (in case of 1984) and Pigs who lead the farm (in animal farm).

Overall

I keep repeating myself that they both has the grim vibes while reading it, with plot twist  in the end of course (again) always  shocking that how the story turns out by the end of the story. We can see how politic has big role in governance, and who behind it is the one can control it. Of course we can still relate it to the real world since it's the same anyway when we are talking about politic. 

My Verdict

I would say Animal Farm win this game for me. I think the plot is easier to understand, it's less explicit about love and sex and tyranny, in comparison with 1984 which super scary in last few chapters. 

Read previous chapter 

“But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.”
— The House of Hades —