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)

Visionary for a 1932 Ideology, disappointing plot

The era described can be a literal projection to what is happening currently in our world metaphorically.
The human production, controlling and fixing their deficiencies. Hypnotizing the crowd and feeding them what the government desire from a population, neglecting themselves as individuals.
Huxley is pretty good at describing the physical surroundings than human feelings and how the new world affected them. I've expected more psychology projections in such a futuristic environment.
Overall it is a good read, and not a waste of time.
The narration of York made it difficult to stay in harmony with the book or the events, his over voice-acting was awful, extremely loud at parts, while mumbling at others, it just felt out of place.

We Want The Whip

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

WE, Although Huxley claims that book was not a source of inspiration, 1984 and other dystopian novels. I don't think it is as good as 1984 but once I took into consideration the year it was written, 1931, it ranks higher on my list. It is certainly a must read for the genre and brings a lot to the table.

Any additional comments?

Huxley made a lot of good predictions about a possible future with Bravo New World. I'm not sure I agree with a some of what was written and I didn't care about the main character or his ideas but the last half of the book was a good read and by the end I felt I gained some new perspective. I'd recommend this if you were looking for top Dystopian novels.

An Amazing Voice for an Amazing Book

Would you consider the audio edition of Brave New World to be better than the print version?

Michael York adds wonderful inflections to the voices of the characters that I never could have done on my own. Being English, his pronunciation was probably as close to Huxley's own.

What about Michael York’s performance did you like?

The personalities and inflections he gave to all of the characters - even the female ones.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It definitely made me look at the world in a different way.

"Listen" to a classic? Of course!

Must admit, I grabbed this one: 1) because for some reason I'd never read it in high school or college and thought I "should," and 2) the classics were a two-for-one sale. But, I was skeptical about listening to a classic. Is that even allowed? Is it appropriate? Should it be done?! Well, duh! Of course. Excellent decision on my part!

So the story? Wonderfully entertaining, of course. Also, creepily pertinent to today's world of "take a pill" to cure what ails you and the potential for science and good intentions to run amok.

The narrator? He was fabulous! I loved, loved, LOVED his characters. He did a stuffy British bureaucrat so well, it had me laughing. He was what a good narrator should be -- he didn't interfere, he just disappeared into the story.

I recommend this classic, and anything else by this narrator.

Needs a different narrator

Narrator shouts all dialog and whispers all narrative, it is difficult to find an enjoyable volume to listen to the story because i use headphones while working. Took me out of the story.

Incredible

This is by far my favorite book of all time. The narrator really makes the story and the characters memorable.

Like all dystopian novels, this book makes you take a critical look at the way we are living, but be sure to read it with an open mind.

I cannot recommend a better book, especially audio book.

seemed a unique view on possible future

very one dimensional characters. conditioned to be less dementional i guess but it left something to be desired

I'll take the soma

Interesting take on the human need to suffer. I'll pass. It got irritating at time listening to the reader smack his lips and swallow between sentences.

Better after a second thought

When I first listened to this reading of A Brave New World -- not having read it in 20 or 30 years -- I was actually very disappointed. Later, I stumbled upon some comparisons of ABNW and 1984 and was confused a bit by the possibility that some people consider the former the "better" book. So, I tried again and I realized that it was totally the preformance of the book that put me off. The narration of this edition comes across as too much Monty Python for my tastes and I wanted a darker more ominous delivery.

I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with the narration, many reviewers have raves for Michael York. It just isn't what I imagine in my own mind and it bothered me and threw me off for most of the book. So I came away thinking ABNW was a really bad book but it isn't, it is a great book, just delivered here with, to my mind, a grating style.

The interesting take away for me is understanding the impact a narrator has on the quality and feel of a book, kind of obvious really. The difference for me is that the quality of the narration is good but it just does't suit the book -- if that makes sense. Maybe I'm just a dummy for having to listen to 800 books before realizing that :D

Still, I highly recommend this wonderful book with its "interesting" choice of narration.

Great Story

A great story well ahead of it's time. Well worth the credit. I give it four stars