I read George Orwell's Animal farm yesterday and I believe its a fantastic novel. He got in trouble for writing that novel because there is a hidden meaning behind it which is obvious, but you really have to do some research about the novel to really understand that hidden meaning. It discusses socialism and all that jazz. My grandmother just passed out on the bed and I've never heard a sound like that. Shes okay though. I love Orwell's writing style. I believe he is a brilliant man and a brilliant writer. Not all brilliant men are brilliant writers. You need style and talent and in Orwell's case guts. I know Wikipedia has a lot of information about the novel and it talks about all the different characters and who they are in real life. I'm not a history buff and I'm not very interested in that though I should be. I could pretend I was, but then I would be fake and a fake is on the same level as a rat.
It is similar to 1984 in a few ways. Its controversial and honest. I enjoyed it very much and I hope you will too. If not there are very many novels out there so don't get your hopes up. Sometimes you have to dig through a lot of trash to find the gems, but once you find them, they stick with you.