# Animal Farm by George Orwell Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/animal-farm/ 17 people recommended Animal Farm by George Orwell in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 12 months, in 16 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended as a short, well written satire on power and propaganda that works as a story on its own. Critics find its parable form too heavy-handed. Summary written by Claude from 24 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 23 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Satire of power and propaganda (4 comments in the sample): "It's a broadbrush statement on the kind of people likely to seize power at every opportunity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45971228)) "I think a book that quickly illustrates this is Animal Farm." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46192946)) "It is terrifyingly easy for propaganda to replace reality." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46181490)) - Enjoyable and well written story (3 comments in the sample): "It's also a story, and quite an enjoyable and well written one at that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626097)) "it's a perfectly comprehensible story in its own right" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626143)) "I read Animal Farm when I was a kid and enjoyed it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626014)) - Accessible for young readers (2 comments in the sample): "Animal Farm served as a nice way of being introduced to the tale without getting bogged down by the specifics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626312)) "I have only had animal farm and 1984 hook me up to a book so much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47307479)) - Essential, profound reading (2 comments in the sample): "Of course 1984 and Animal Farm are the best" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47886086)) "it had a profound impact me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45970080)) ## What people warn about - Dislike of parable form (2 comments in the sample): "a lot of what I didn't like about Animal Farm could have been fixed in a different context" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49644198)) "which I didn't enjoy nearly as much because of a personal aversion to parables" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50039023)) - Seen as one-sided history (2 comments in the sample): "This book cannot prove anything, other than one person's opinion on history." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49625785)) "the flaws are so bad I can't take anyone seriously who cites it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49626360)) ## Other novellas people recommend - [The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://hackerapproved.com/p/little-prince/): 15 recommend, 3 mixed, 4 criticize - [Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/notes-from-underground/): 6 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize - [Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flatland/): 5 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize - [A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck](https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-short-stay-in-hell/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1784878987) - [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/book/9781784878986) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Animal Farm by George Orwell", https://hackerapproved.com/p/animal-farm/ (17 recommend, 4 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.