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Title details for Animal Farm by George Orwell - Available

Animal Farm

by George Orwell
Full Cast
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Animal Farm - the history of a revolution that went wrong - is George Orwell's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges... This thought-provoking drama was first broadcast as part of BBC Radio's The Real George Orwell season - a Radio 4 journey that explored the disjuncture between the man who was Eric Blair and the writer who was George Orwell.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    February 4, 2013

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781445897554
      • File size: 41725 KB
      • Duration: 01:26:55

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 1370
    • Text Difficulty: 11-12

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      George Orwell's classic satirical fable, first published in 1945, likens the Russian Revolution to events on a British farm. Led by pigs resembling Stalin and Trotsky, the animals overthrow their farmer overlord and seek to transform the farm into a collective for their mutual benefit. This is one of the key literary masterpieces in English indicting Russian communism--including THE LIGHT THAT FAILED, DARKNESS AT NOON, and Orwell's chilling 1984--that appeared before the end of the Cold War and are still worth reading today. Richard Matthews delivers the narrative in formal BBC-style tones and fully voices the characters. Perhaps because of this approach, there is nothing fabulous about the fable as he reads it. Otherwise, his is a serviceable, if undistinguished, reading. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      One of Orwell's best-known works, taking on the guise of an anthropomorphic fable, warns against totalitarianism. Reader Richard Brown's stern, didactic rendering of narrative passages successfully captures Orwell's hard-bitten cynicism. Unfortunately, Brown is less successful interpreting dialogue. He falls back too readily on stock voices: breathy heroines, smarmy villains, squealing children. Such characterizations detract markedly from the brooding tone so carefully set by the narration and break the listener's suspension of disbelief. Though Orwell's tales are allegorical, they're also deadly serious. Though his characters are bloated and distorted, they should never be played for laughs. S.J.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      This is a delightful audio presentation! Acclaimed British actor Timothy West brings to life this well-known tale of revolution on a British farm by the animals, a satire of the former communist regime in the former Soviet Union. Orwell's text is at times tiresome, but the audio presentation never drags. West's presentation of the various characters is great--pigs, horses, mules, chickens--even bleating lambs. West also sings, in his best revolutionary voice, "Beasts of England." The only drawback to the audio presention is that there can be no footnotes; Orwell's Britishisms and the various references to communism go by unexplained. Despite this drawback, the meaning of the tale is clear. M.L.C. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      A gifted mimic and clever narrator, Rupert Degas brings this classic satire vividly to life. His pacing and cadence expertly serve this audiobook. What stays with the listener is his ability to endow its animal characters with their own distinct sounds and accents. Their individuality elevates the narration. The dictator, Napoleon, sounds like a self-satisfied Aussie; Squealer, a stereotypical American urban sleaze, and Boxer, the hardworking horse, a working-class Englishman. Old Major, the aged boar whose speech initiates the proceedings, has a wise, gravelly tone that suits his revolutionary message. This witty and engaging send-up of authoritarianism's perils comes at an opportune time. These days Orwell's anti-Stalinist fable rings true, and this audiobook satisfies on every level. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 8, 2019
      In this painterly adaptation of the slim volume read by most Americans in middle school, Odyr’s expressive watercolor palette strikes a visceral note that matches the intensity of Orwell’s original text. An intelligent pig, named Old Major, inspires the other animals on an English farm to revolt against their cruel human masters, sparking a revolution. While all of the animals were considered to be free and equal, pigs Napoleon and Snowball wind up running the farm, earning extra luxuries as a result. An ideological disagreement between the pigs leads to Snowball’s brutal ouster and Napoleon rising up as a dictator harsher than their original human master. The novel was about the failure of the Russian Revolution and the betrayal of its ideals, but it stands as a general example of the desire for power overtaking idealism. This graphic novel version picks up on symbolic visuals, such as the animals’ hoof and horn flag resembling the hammer and sickle. Odyr skillfully plays to these stark elements while evoking the mood of the countryside and the plot’s shocking violence; the atmosphere and emotions are spot-on. But, while an effective illustration of the text, Odyr proves faithful to the original to a fault, not taking the opportunity to create a new, hybrid work of art. Still, the fidelity to Orwell’s vision makes it ideal for younger readers, in particular, and Orwell’s message is sustained. Agent: Bill Hamilton, A.M. Heath

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1370
  • Text Difficulty:11-12

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