Animal Farm (beginning)

For my classic novel, I have chosen to read Animal Farm by George Orwell.  I have never read this book before, but I know many people who have, and they all said it was pretty good.  Now, I have tempered my expectations because it is an old book (although I thoroughly enjoyed the Catcher in the Rye even though I expected to be bored with it) and they are generally not appealing to me.  My mom told me that she does remember details about reading Animal Farm, but she remembers enjoying it.  She mentioned something about the book being a metaphor for communism.  On the back cover of the book, it states, "When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target" so I think that communism is definitely going to be a theme in the novel.  I truly do not know what to expect from the book in terms of the literal meaning.  Obviously it is placed on a farm, but besides that I am not entirely sure.  I do not know if the animals actually come to life and talk to humans, or if they only do it at night (a la Toy Story).  Hopefully there is some action involved to keep my attention, but then again, the major themes seem to be interesting enough.  I am expecting this book to be include very deep meanings with pointless literal meanings. I think my opinion of the book will correspond with how interesting Orwell makes the writing.  I hope it will be a fun book to read.