Is there an audiobook of Animal Farm?

Yes. Animal Farm has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Ralph Cosham.

How long is the Animal Farm audiobook?

The Animal Farm audiobook runs 3 hr 11 min.

Our review

Animal Farm

Name: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell

George Orwell

4.8/ 5 · Incredible

George Orwell's Animal Farm is a short satirical fable about the animals of Manor Farm, who drive out their human master and then watch their revolution curdle under the pigs. It reads in a day or two, works as a first Orwell or a classroom classic, and stays with you long after the last page.

Narrated by Ralph Cosham

Audiobook · 3 hr 11 min

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How the narration holds up

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The Review

Our take

Animal Farm is the rare book you can finish in a sitting or two that will bother you for a week. On the surface it is a barnyard story: the animals of Manor Farm, spurred on by the death of Old Major, throw out Mr. Jones and take the place over themselves. Snowball and Napoleon, two pigs, steer the new order, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism go up on the wall. The talking animals are so easy to picture that the first pages feel almost cozy. That is the trap, and Orwell sets it on purpose.

What holds the book together is how slowly it goes wrong. The pigs start out sincere, with a genuine wish to end the animals' misery, and Orwell watches them trade that sincerity away in small, reasonable-sounding steps. No single compromise looks like a betrayal. Added up, they leave the leaders as the very thing the revolution was meant to get rid of. Readers who know the Russian Revolution will hear the history underneath, and the book answers Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany alike. But a reader with no history at all can follow the machinery of broken promises and rewritten rules just as easily, which is a large part of why it keeps getting handed to young people.

For me, the heart of it is Boxer. He is the loyal workhorse, strong and tireless and unable to doubt the cause he gives everything to, and his story is where the fable stops being clever and starts to hurt. Readers keep naming him as the one who stays with them, and I understand why. The pigs are what the book is about, but Boxer is who it is for.

Why you should read

Short classics you can finish in a day or two
Political fables about how power corrupts
Students reading Orwell for the first time
Satire that reads as plain storytelling

What to expect

A fable with talking animals and a dark turn
Clean, direct prose with no wasted scenes
A very short read, about 55 pages here
An emotional hit from the workhorse Boxer's storyline

The prose is clean and unfussy, and that is a strength. Orwell never raises his voice or stops to lecture, so the satire gets past your defenses before you notice how hard it landed. At 55 pages in this edition there is nowhere to hide: every scene carries weight and nothing is padded. A student coming to it cold may want a little context on the Russian Revolution to catch what is being aimed at, but the fable works as a warning that doesn't depend on any one country or decade. The plainness is what lets it last.

Reviewed by Avery · How our reviews are written

Our verdict

4.8/ 5

Incredible

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Where to read or listen

Is there an audiobook of Animal Farm?: Yes. Animal Farm has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Ralph Cosham.
Listen free with Audible
We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.
How long is the Animal Farm audiobook?: The Animal Farm audiobook runs 3 hr 11 min.

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Common questions

What is Animal Farm about?: Animal Farm is the rare book you can finish in a sitting or two that will bother you for a week. On the surface it is a barnyard story: the animals of Manor Farm, spurred on by the death of Old Major, throw out Mr. Jones and take the place over themselves. Snowball and Napoleon, two pigs, steer…
Is Animal Farm worth reading?: We scored Animal Farm 4.8 out of 5. George Orwell's Animal Farm is a short satirical fable about the animals of Manor Farm, who drive out their human master and then watch their revolution curdle under the pigs. It reads in a day or two, works as a first Orwell or a classroom classic, and stays with you long…

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