Brave New World

By: Aldous Huxley

Narrated by: Michael York

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's summary

Originally published in 1932, this outstanding work of literature is more crucial and relevant today than ever before.

“One of the most prophetic dystopian works of the 20th century”—Wall Street Journal

Cloning, feel-good drugs, antiaging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media—has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller’s genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 AF (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.

A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, Brave New World is both a warning to be heeded and thought-provoking yet satisfying entertainment.

©1932 Aldous Huxley; 1998 BBC Audiobooks America (P)2003 BBC Audiobooks America

Critic reviews

"British actor Michael York's refined and dramatic reading captures both the tone and the spirit of Huxley's masterpiece." (AudioFile)

Great performance but not my favorite

I never read the book when I was in high school like you are supposed to so I thought I would give it another try. But I found that I had the same issue as before really grasping transitions and breaks in time due to the writing style. It was an ineresting story especially looking at it as a book written in the 30s and seeing what has changed since then.

Savage

Beautifully written but emotionally distressing. A story of contrasting extremes and a dark vision of what our world could be and what the future might hold. A must read!

Get Story But Poorly Written

While I will agree the story itself has allot of themes with what it means to be independent in a society that thrives on assimilation, among of themes. Writing itself is terrible, especially chapter 2 where Huxley is trying to do 4 different stories at the same time, you will need to pay extra attention in this chapter as sometimes parts a story will be a sentence or two and you may miss some parts of it. however, this is the only part of the book where he does this.

There is also another part of the book, where the poor writing hurts and it's in the last chapter . Which goes off the rails a little bit as Huxley does not accuracy descriptable what is going on in the scene.

Precient

What did you like best about Brave New World? What did you like least?

The concepts and premise were shocking when first written, Too much has already come true to be considered shocking, except that it is eye opening that Huxley was able to foresee so much.

What other book might you compare Brave New World to and why?

Animal Farm, etc

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Michael York was competent, but over acted at times.

Did Brave New World inspire you to do anything?

Reinforced my concerns with Liberalism.

Any additional comments?

Try another narrator.

This Classic is Brought Alive Via Its Narration

For many students Brave New World is confusing and filled with language they aren't familiar with which leads to them being incapable of actually seeing the entire storyline. The audio book solves these problems, particularly when used along with the ebook in the Kindle for phones app which allows you to have the audio playing while highlighting each word of the text as it is read.

The story itself is very thought providing and as scary as it might seem, I think that what Huxley wrote of may be the most effective method for a caste society to exist.

Practically perfect in every way

What made the experience of listening to Brave New World the most enjoyable?

Michael York is a commensurate actor and it showed with his wide range of styles and reading. it truly felt like a production rather than a reading.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Brave New World?

The very end, while describing the decent to madness that the new world drive the character to and his eventual suicide.

What does Michael York bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings life to the scenes. It wasn't just a slight change to an obvious voice. I frequently had to listen closely to be sure that it wasn't a fully cast reading. It was beautiful.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Comfort Through Stability.

Great narration

Having heard so much about this book I was genuinely impressed by Huxley's vision for a distant future. Michael York's voice is perfect for narrating, he made the story very easy to listen to.

Great Expectations

Where does Brave New World rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have only listened to 10 total audiobooks, so I do not know how much I would rely on my review of this, but I would rate this one 6th. Seems harsh, but considering that I listened to Roy Dotrice reading all of the current books in the Song of Ice and Fire series, 6 is not bad.

What other book might you compare Brave New World to and why?

not really sure at the moment

What about Michael York’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed listening to someone that I was familiar hearing before. I thought he did great characterizations, and his pace was good.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sometimes being civilized isn't necessarily the most civil way.

Just don't

Yes, this is a classic and the plot/meaning behind it all is pretty interesting but do yourself a favor and spend the 7hrs and $15 on something/anything else.

Classic

wonderful performance by Michael York. one person not narrating but really performing the dialogue. Amazing