Animal Farm, George Orwell
Animal Farm, George Orwell
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Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Narrator: Daniel Natal

Unabridged: 2 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/25/2024


Synopsis

As timeless as it is timely, "Animal Farm" is a satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before.
According to Orwell, Animal Farm reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Barcelona May Days conflicts between the POUM and Stalinist forces during the Spanish Civil War. [a] In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin ("un conte satirique contre Staline"), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".

About George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Orwell's work continues to influence popular and political culture, and the term Orwellian - descriptive of totalitarian or authoritarian social practices - has entered the language together with many of his neologisms, including Big Brother, Thought Police, newspeak, doublethink, and thoughtcrime.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Shannon on November 16, 2008

This is a book I've been meaning to read for ages but never got around to - last week I not only read it but gave a lesson on the historical context for the grade 8 class, who will be reading this book and The Wave. As I found, out of the class of 24, about 20 of them had already read the book, and......more

Goodreads review by Anne on March 25, 2025

The only good pig is a dead pig. Yeah, yeah, everyone claims Orwell wrote this as about the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and the rise of Communism. Pshttt. Whatever. You know what I think he was really saying? Beware the Other White Meat! Ok, maybe not. Look, I know what you're thinking, That pig lo......more

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on August 11, 2024

Animal Farm is the story of a set of animals who overthrow their human-owner. Will the animals have better lives now that the humans are gone? Philip Pullman once said that, "A story will help us make sense of anything." In this case, George Orwell uses Animal Farm as an allegory of Russian history w......more

Goodreads review by Sidrah on November 10, 2018

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS ! In the start, I thought this book would be from the view point of animals; about how they are treated, how they expect to be treated and how man is cruel towards them. But but but; I am amazed at how Orwell criticizes the political maneuvers a......more

Goodreads review by Manny on November 20, 2008

A perfect book. People will still be reading this in a thousand years time, when communism is just a footnote.......more