I was never required to read this at any point, so I kind of... avoided reading it until I realised I probably should (which was around the time that I learned that TS Eliot rejected it because the pigs were too Trotskyite (and that they should be more public-spirited).

It was quite enjoyable, but it's so easy to see exactly where it developed from. It definitely is incredibly well-crafted, but I don't think it's meant for those who've not had much of an education in WWII and Stalin. For those people, it'd be confusing to not really have the background necessary; this is often the problem that I have with some of the literature teachers I've met who toss it in their syllabus (and then forget they need to discuss these elements in order for their students to appropriately understand it, as if the history can be neglected -- these people do exist, by the way).