Product Description

A fantasy of the future that sheds a blazing critical light on the present--considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.

"Mr. Huxley is eloquent in his declaration of an artist's faith in man, and it is his eloquence, bitter in attack, noble in defense, that, when one has closed the book, one remembers."
--Saturday Review of Literature

"A Fantastic racy narrative, full of much excellent satire and literary horseplay."
--Forum

"It is as sparkling, provocative, as brilliant, in the appropriate sense, as impressive ads the day it was published. This is in part because its prophetic voice has remained surprisingly contemporary, both in its particular forecasts and in its general tone of semiserious alarm. But it is much more because the book succeeds as a work of art...This is surely Huxley's best book."
--Martin Green

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8645 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come.

From Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a classic science fiction work that continues to be a significant warning to our society today. Tony Britton, the reader, does an excellent job of portraying clinical detachment as the true nature of the human incubators is revealed. The tone lightens during the vacation to the wilderness and the contrast is even more striking. Each character is given a separate personality by Britton's voices. As the story moves from clinical detachment to the human interest of Bernard, the nonconformist, and John, the "Savage," listeners are drawn more deeply into the plot. Finally, the reasoned tones of the Controller explain away all of John's arguments against the civilization, leading to John's death as he cannot reconcile his beliefs to theirs.The abridgement is very well done, and the overall message of the novel is clearly presented. The advanced vocabulary and complex themes lend themselves to class discussion and further research. There is sure to be demand for this classic in schools and public libraries.
Pat Griffith, Schlow Memorial Library, State College, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
When some books are abridged for audio, they lose in the "translation." Unfortunately, this version of Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD leaves most of its substance on the editor's desk. BRAVE NEW WORLD is the 1932 fable about life in the seventh century, when society is controlled by human geneticists, who breed different classes of people for differing needs. The original novel runs about 270 pages, while this abridgment is three hours. (Audio Partners sells an unabridged recording that runs eight hours). This performance demonstrates what happens when a work is abridged too much. The holes in the story are huge and leave too much to the imagination. In addition, Tony Britton's reading seems to change pace at times for no reason, and the pauses between chapters/sections are sometimes too short and confuse the listener even more. In short, this BRAVE NEW WORLD is definitely not a classic. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Dystopia, i long for thee
I purchased Brave New World after reading 1984, and while I must confess that I enjoyed Orwell's book just a little bit more, Huxley's work was still an immediately compelling read. I think what I liked best was just how "british" this future was, by which I mean, everything seemed so very posh and hip and how we Americans would tend to see the British, as opposed to (sorry to keep drawing comparisons) 1984, whose depictions of England were much more how they might be viewed by say, South Africa.

Another thing I liked about the story was that I didn't particularly care for any of the characters that much. I actually enjoyed the disappointment of having each character let me down just when I thought their basic goodness would shine through. Initial protagonist Bernard Marx is far from the jaded idealist that one wants to believe he is, instead vying for vapid acceptance in the shallow society that he is ostracized from; Lenina Crowne does not become enlightened to Marx or the Savage's wyas of living and remains blissfully baffled by each of them, and wistfully goes on enjoying the meaningless sex and soma holidays; even John the Savage becomes unrelatable, turning into something of a zealous monk who becomes so averse to any feelings of personal satisfaction that he... well, read the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Brave New World and will in all likelihood pick up Brave New World Revisited in the near future.

Good Book
An excellent book with an excellent plot and perfect examples of external and internal conflicts among the characters and the society in which the characters live in.

A very confusing and incomprehensable book.
The moment you read the first page of this book, you know you are in trouble. There is no clear explaining done about any of the super natural things going on in this utopian society the book tells about. The author seems to just assume that everyone will just imagine the same thoughts that popped into his own head as he was writing this book.
The book seems to have no point either. First you have a weird society in the future. Then a man who was actually born from a former member of that society makes his way there. He doesn't adapt, and after his mother dies, he becomes a hermit and at the very end hangs himself.
I will give credit for the author's imagination, given that the book was written in 1932. He talks about television and helicopters and jet planes as if they were an everyday thing.