'Orwell's powerfully unnerving and enduring allegory of oppression and rebellion, brought to life for a new age of readers in a stunning dyslexia-friendly edition. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others ..." When the lazy and drunken Mr Jones of Manor Farm forgets to feed his livestock the down-trodden and over-worked animals unite to take back their freedom. Led by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball they imagine this rebellion as the start of a life of prosperity and plenty. But as a cunning, brutal, hidden elite begins to take control, something new and unexpected emerges ...'
Animal Farm has always been one of those books that I've meant to try and find the time to read but never managed to. There's always been something new that I've had to read, so the classics tend to keep getting pushed to the back of the pile, with me thinking 'I'll get round to it some day'. As such, I was really happy to see that Barrington Stoke were producing a Super-Readable edition of the book, and one that looks absolutely gorgeous too.
I don't know what I can really say about Animal Farm that hasn't been said a thousand times before by different people, but I enjoyed the book. It was a story that had a strong central message about how power can corrupt, and how blind obedience to a leader can be a bad thing, and these lessons were given over in a very understandable way thanks the Orwell choosing to tell the tale through animals rather than people. It made it so that narrative felt more accessible, so that anyone from any walk of life could pick it up, recognise that these are animals on a farm, and just take it in, rather than being worried about where and when it's set, or who these people are.
The book felt very timeless, and other than a few points in the book that made it clear that it was written in a time passed, it could easily be seen to be happening in any time or place. It certainly felt like one of the few classics I've read where it doesn't feel tied to the time it was written in, and that people could pick it up in any decade and get a lot out of it and not feel like they're stepping backwards in time.
This edition is even more accessible, thanks to the team at Barrington Stoke. Every part of the book has been designed to make it easier to read, and to be more inclusive. The book is printed in a very large, clear font, one that has been designed to be easier for people with dyslexia, it's also been printed in a yellow toned paper, to help reduce the contrast between the text and the page so that visual stress will be eliminated.
The book also has thick paper stock, which eliminates bleed through of text printed on the other pages. Thanks to this the book feels a lot bigger and weightier than other editions of the book I've seen, and it physically feels more like a novel than a novella. Now, this might at first glance put people off slightly thanks to the sheer size of the book, but most people will find themselves breezing through it quite quickly, and pages will start flying by.
Whilst the book is designed to be super-readable for those who have difficulties with books it's not just designed for that one demographic, and anyone can pick this up and enjoy it. There's no sense that things have been simplified in any way, and this means that its accessible to so many people without you feeling like you're missing out on anything. Whether you're someone who has difficulty with reading or not, this book would be perfect for you if you've never read Animal Farm before, and its larger text and longer page count would make it the perfect edition to pick up if you find yourself or anyone you know studying it in school, as there's a lot more room to break down the content and annotate the book.
I love what Barrington Stoke have done with this edition, and would love to see this done with more of the smaller classic books. There are so many stories that I'd love to read that are shorter in length, that either come as small and flimsy books or packed into big collections to bulk them out. If I had a chance to have more of them like this, given room to feel like a book worth noticing all on their own, with gorgeous cover artwork, and having been made accessible to more people, I'd certainly snap them up.
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