Brave New World

Brave New World is a bitterly funny and humorously tragic dystopian novel in which Aldous Huxley satirizes modern civilization’s obsession with consumerism, sensual pleasure, popular culture entertainment, mass production, and eugenics. His far future world limits individual freedom in exchange for communal happiness via mass culture arts like “feelies” (movies with sensual immersion), the state-produced feel-good drug soma, sex-hormone gum, popular sports like “obstacle golf,” and the assembly line chemical manipulation of ova and fetuses so as to decant from their bottles babies perfectly suited for their destined castes and jobs, babies who are then mentally conditioned to become satisfied workers and consumers who believe that everyone belongs to everyone. In a way it’s more horrible than the more obviously brutal and violent repression of individuals by totalitarian systems in dystopias like George Orwell’s 1984, because Huxley’s novel implies that people are happy being mindless cogs in the wheels of economic production as long as they get their entertainments and new goods.

Michael York does a great job reading the novel, his voice oozing satire for the long opening tour of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, and then modifying in timbre and dialect for the various characters, among them the self-centered brooder Bernard Marx, the budding intellectual poet Helmholtz Howard, the sexy, sensitive, and increasingly confused Lenina Crowne, the spookily understanding Resident World Controller of Western Europe Mustapha Mond, and especially the good-natured, sad, and conflicted Shakespearean quoting “savage” John.

I had never read this classic of dystopian science fiction, so I’m glad to have listened to this excellent audiobook, because it is entertaining and devastating in its depiction of human nature and modern civilization, especially timely in our own brave new Facebook world.

When I first read Brave New World it gave me nightmares. I was hooked. It might be strange to say that a book that gave me bad dreams is a good thing, but I was intrigued that a story could worm its way so powerfully into my psyche. It was really my first encounter with dystopian speculative fiction and I ultimately credit Huxley with sending me on my recent nosedive into YA lit. He probably wouldn’t appreciate this association, or the one I’m about to make, which is that I think this book is one of the most powerful and accessible works of dystopia ever created, and can be seen as a forebear to much of today’s hottest literature.

Sometimes when I’m not sure what I want to listen to next I’ll return to a book that I loved fervently in print and check it out in audio, and that’s what I did with Brave New World. I’m so glad that I did. Michael York is an excellent narrator and he captures the different characters admirably. But what I found most impressive is how he handles dialogue. Brave New World is more than dystopian sci-fi; it’s a novel of ideas and discussion. There’s a lengthy rapid-fire debate that takes place between John the Savage and Mustapha Mond near the end of the book that is generously peppered with obscure Shakespearian references. When reading you can gloss over anything you do not get immediately because you understand the merit of their discussion: is it better to be happy and controlled, or is the freedom to be unhappy the greatest of human liberties? But I found while listening that Michael York carried me along through their debate and the individual Shakespearian references sang clearly. Just as seeing a play acted out on stage is easier than reading it, I really feel that listening to this book was a heightened experience, and an improvement on the print version. Now when I recommend Brave New World to people I suggest they listen to it first.

And I’m going to recommend it again now: There’s a reason this is a classic, and read by most freshman English students. If somehow you’ve missed it, now is the time to pick this one up.

i found "brave new world" to be...interesting, interesting in a "make your skin crawl at the reality of how close to home this story hits" kind of way. a disturbing tale, written many years ago, it's tempting to dismiss the possibilites for a future like this as unthinkable, impossible, improbable...an alarmist's view of the future from so far in the past as to be almost laughable. in truth, laughing will be the last thing on the listener's mind. "brave new world" is presented in such a way as to make the listener think long and hard about our own current events and where they could potentially go in the not so distant future. a bit of a stuffy read at times, it may be a bit hard for many to understand due to both the english accent and the multisyllabic words used nearly constantly. find yourself a dictionary and settle in, just don't be surprised at the disturbing bent your dreams may take. use it as an entertaining listen, but be certain to take away the startling glimpses of what could so easily be our own "brave new world" in the not so distant future.

There are some books which, sooner or later, one must read. Here is one of them. Although quite famous, most of its worth lies in its insight than in its uneven prose. In fact, there are times when Huxley cannot write his way out of a paper bag, contrasted with other moments when, for some reason, he does better. He is best when describing objects and surroundings rather than conversation and human interactions. In any event, his writing is mediocre rather than great. Ideas and images buoy the text up: human embryos raised in bottles, then "decanted" (as the book's society calls it) into faux placentas until birth; humans given all the sexual thrills they can handle from childhood, and all the emotion-draining hallucinogenic drugs they want, in order to maintain social order. Michael York as narrator is superior, with my only complaint being that his voice gets strident at times.

After only a few chapters into Brave New World, you will be so shocked and appalled that you may feel inclined to emphatically put it down and disconnect yourself from it for the fear that someone else will overhear the spill of your headphones. I challenge you to keep reading; although it never explains itself in a way that eases our consciences, it categorically forces you to reconsider every quantum of morality and ethics you possess. Once done, you will certainly not agree with the hypothetical future set forth by Aldous Huxley, but you will understand why not, and thus have a far more solid foundation for why you believe what you believe.

To be honest, I had never heard of the book before in my life. With my interest in dystopian worlds and lives, this book seemed like a good on to read. And it was. The narrator's performance was good and the storyline, as eccentric as it turned out to be, was very strong. This is no run-of-the-mill story, you will need to immerse yourself in the world and the style that it is written in, but when you do, be prepared for a mind-bending dystopia!

How did I not read this before? Michael York is great! The book is a little dated (some cringe-inducing racial slurs & oh the rampant sexism) but really is a hoot. (Where are our
personal helicopters, anyway?!? Isn't it about time?}

It did bother me how messed up John Savage is. That point of Huxley's I honestly don't understand.

But I now know what soma means.

as a matter of fact, i couldn't even finish the book. having read the book in my youth, i was looking forward to experiencing it again, but the manner in which the book was read grated on me. as much as i tried to look past the annoying presentation, i found myself becoming more and more annoyed. to say he least, it was an utter disappointment.

Michael York does an excellent job of reading. I highly recommend this audio. Better than a half-gram of soma :-)

This CD could put you right off this fundamental book.
Personalized accents, hysterical shoutings, whinings, singings, supposedly used to bring life, don't bring anything, just make the book unbearable after a few minutes.
Advice : (1) if you want to avoid irritation and reach the end, you should plan short listening sequences ; (2) never buy an audiobook without prior listening and comparing.