Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Animal Farm cover art

Animal Farm

By: George Orwell
Narrated by: Simon Callow
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £16.00

Buy Now for £16.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Old Man and the Sea cover art
Fahrenheit 451 cover art
Refugee Boy cover art
Romeo and Juliet cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
One Man's Meat cover art
A Croft in the Hills cover art
Orwell: The Essays cover art
Animal Farm Guide for GCSE English Literature cover art
On Angel Mountain cover art
The Serpent and the Pearl cover art
Dracula [Audible Edition] cover art
Rural Rides cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
Don Quixote cover art
Tipperary cover art

Summary

Just as relevant today as it was when it was first published, this classic work of fiction is given a new lease of life through Simon Callow's imaginative narration. First-time listeners and Orwell veterans alike will delight in this audiobook version.

Animal Farm is George Orwell's great socio-political allegory set in a farmyard, where the animals decide to seize the farmer's land and create a co-operative that reaps the benefits of their combined labours.

However, as with all great political plans, some animals see a bigger share of the rewards than others, and the animals start to question their supposed utopia. They decide that working for humans is doing them no favours, so under the leadership of Napoleon, the only Berkshire Boar on the farm, and the other pigs, they drive out the farmer and his cohorts and set about structuring their own society.

Based on a list of supposedly animal-friendly rules such as "four legs good, two legs baaaaad", the animals work together to harvest their own food and run their own farm. However, little by little, the rules begin to mysteriously change, and the pigs seem to gain power little by little, making the animals question what society they were striving for in the first place and whether their new-found freedom is as liberating as they might have hoped.

With direct allusions to political figures such as Lenin, Marx, Trotsky, Stalin, and Molitov, to name but a few, Animal Farm is one of the greatest socio-political works of all time, and this UNABRIDGED audio does it absolute justice.

©1945 George Orwell Estate (P)2009 CSA Word

What listeners say about Animal Farm

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,459
  • 4 Stars
    1,224
  • 3 Stars
    245
  • 2 Stars
    29
  • 1 Stars
    18
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,089
  • 4 Stars
    790
  • 3 Stars
    139
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,820
  • 4 Stars
    936
  • 3 Stars
    225
  • 2 Stars
    32
  • 1 Stars
    16

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant classic, superbly read by Simon Callow

Great to be entertained by Simon Callow's performance while revisiting Orwell's classic, Animal Farm. I read this decades ago while still at school - and while dated in some respects it remains a classic and can be re-read now as a commentary on trust and government, on slogans rhetoric and spin, and on totalitarianism, democracy and accountability.

The plot is well known - animals on a farm (Manor Farm) overthrow the owner and rename it as Animal Farm. They institute a new governance system initially based on freedom, equity and rights, but it is not long before the self-proclaimed leaders (the pigs) use their power (including the ability to read) to enrich themselves, suppress others, twist and reinterpret values, and rewrite history.

The famous slogan "Four legs good, Two legs bad" plus other political promises and principles of "Animalism" are revised, rewritten, and brutally corrupted as time goes on. Core values are rewritten as a single slogan "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" and the pig leaders become indistinguishable from the humans whose earlier exploitation of animals on the farm had led them to revolt.

In fewer than four hours this (not so) tall tale presents a recognisable dystopian future.

Lots to enjoy and think about... despite it being depressingly applicable to so many different contexts, both near and far...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

More relevant now than ever!

If you could sum up Animal Farm in three words, what would they be?

It's politics today!

What did you like best about this story?

The humour

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Every scene was enjoyable, but I wanted to kill those bladdy sheep!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it in one afternoon.

Any additional comments?

I have never liked Simon Callow, but he has won me around with this. His reading of this classic is just brilliant.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

I preferred this to 1984

This was the second of the books I listened to from George Orwell and I definitely preferred it to 1984.

It was mildly amusing and I did like it's hidden meanings and references to socialism, communism and collectives.

I kept thinking to myself that these animals must be stupid and that the pigs really were clever for dominating the rest of the animals.

This for me was just as thought provoking as 1984 and in a way made me think how lucky i am to have been born in to the western world rather than the eastern block.

Certainly worth a read if you haven't done so already.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully read - adds to the enjoyment

I've not read this since school so this was a splendid listen. Simon Callow was a great choice as doesn't disappoint - he brings the characters to life brilliantly to this wonderful tale.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A classic

I first read this when I was at school. It is well worth 're-visiting this story which has a message that we could take away today.

It is well read and I really enjoyed the characters of the animals building and changing over time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not to be missed

I've always wanted to read this book and had a vague idea what to expect. The reader is outstanding and has immense skill in bringing the story to life, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it really reminded me in many ways of a place I used to work! (all employees were equal there too, till it came to holidays, perks, breaks, sick leave, pay.... Let's leave it there, that's another ( far less interesting) story)
Callow is a warm, creative narrator and the brief musical interludes really work well, enjoy .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

hilarious

A hilarious book with excellent narration - exactly how I had pictured it in my head when reading the print version.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A brilliant reading of a classic work

Simon Callow's reading of Animal Farm is absolutely brilliant. Each of the characters get a unique, distinctive voice. He never overdoes it, every line is read with absolutely perfect control and dramatic flair. It's also an excellent book, which should be read by everyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Gave me shivers

The reading is a work of theatre far from being flatly read, the book was read with different voices and intonation to show each character.
The parallels with reality revolt me from my very guts.
A classic, for a reason.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • W
  • 28-05-15

...some narrators are more equal than others

Animal Farm is the classic allegorical novel that I can't believe I hadn't read before! It's a fascinating listen, but all the same a pretty negative reflection on humanity. There is humour and warmth, but there are several shocking scenes and I felt tearful at a couple of points in the story. Simon Callow's narration is absolutely brilliant - I believed in every character.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful