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  • Brave New World

Brave New World Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Aldous Huxley (Author), Michael York (Narrator), Blackstone Audio, Inc. (Publisher)
4.4 out of 5 stars (46,976)
Teachers' pick
Brave New World is a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932. Set in London in the year AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"After Ford"—in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that combine profoundly to change society. Huxley answered this book with a reassessment in an essay, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with Island (1962), his final novel. In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for The Observer included Brave New World chronologically at number 53 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 87 on the BBC's survey The Big Read. What if the future was a tyranny, but one cleverly person intended to keep the mass of society unaware of this? The people would be provided with several distractions, daily life would be ruled by sex and drugs, and pervasive mass media would suppress the possibility of any original thought: in such a society the ruling elite would not need to fear any kind of rebellion. If you think that Huxley's vision seems to be the way things are in fact turning out, you're not the only one!
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  1. Listening Length
    8 hours
  2. Author
    Aldous Huxley
  3. Narrator
    Michael York
  4. Publication date
    January 16, 2008
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  7. ASIN
    B0012QED5Y
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 8 hours
Author Aldous Huxley
Narrator Michael York
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date January 16, 2008
Publisher Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0012QED5Y
Best Sellers Rank

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
46,976 global ratings

Customers say

Customers consider this dystopian novel a classic work of literature that provides new insights with each reading, exploring human values and society. Moreover, the book offers interesting ideas that stir the imagination, and customers find it a quick and entertaining read. However, the plot receives mixed reactions, with some finding it superb while others find it predictable, and the writing quality is also mixed, with some praising its unexpected imagery while others find it unimpressive. Additionally, the book contains numerous typos that make it difficult to read.
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850 customers mention content, 676 positive, 174 negative
Customers find this book to be a fun and interesting read, particularly praising it as one of the best dystopian novels.
This is a great book! Two Stars is for the Kindle version. It has so many spelling mistakes that kind of destroyed my joy of reading....Read more
It's a good book if you like future based books also if you are taking high school level English teachers will use this book as an assignment.Read more
Amazing book. Very thought provoking, full of irony - a humorous commentary on human social progress....Read more
...are half-way there - which for the record I find it catastrophic and a great corruption of the human spirit....Read more
501 customers mention readability, 386 positive, 115 negative
Customers find the book highly readable and entertaining, describing it as a classic that everyone should read and a quick read.
...VERY weird and unrealistic ending. Overall, a great read. Will have you turning the pages until early in the morning.Read more
Very entertaining and thought provoking. Good read which makes you think what happens when too much control is given to experts....Read more
Must read!! Not going to write a book review here but please read this classic at some point in your life, you won't regret it.Read more
...It ends up becoming hard to follow most of the time, disjointed, and difficult to get into....Read more
212 customers mention thought-provoking, 186 positive, 26 negative
Customers find the book thought-provoking, providing good insights into society and philosophical questions, with one customer noting it's more engaging than George Orwell's 1984.
This is truly a classic. I did find it disturbing as well as thought provoking. I would recommend this book to anyone from adolescence upward.Read more
...It is definitely thought-provoking and helps you examine what you think is important in life.Read more
One of the best books I have ever read. Prescient. Beautifully written. Timeless and one of the few books that I would read again!Read more
Haunting, prophetic and vivid. A book that every needs to read. Scathing commentary on eugenics, stability and comfort in society....Read more
184 customers mention classic, 168 positive, 16 negative
Customers appreciate this book as a classic, describing it as timeless and modern.
Now I understand why this book is a classic. Excellent story with vivid imagery. One of my favorites. Arrived swiftly and in mint condition.Read more
A classic. Great re-read as a reminderRead more
A classic book, I bought this because my son needed for a class. Once he was done with it, the rest of the family enjoyed reading it as well....Read more
This is a great classic that I highly recommend re-reading....Read more
70 customers mention concept, 69 positive, 1 negative
Customers find the book's concept engaging and thought-provoking, with well-developed ideas that stir the imagination.
...Very creative and imaginative. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Would have also liked to know what had happened to the other two men.Read more
...This book makes you think and you can not just take it for face value, you need to read inbetween the lines!Read more
Interesting concepts but in the end there is not a lot to this book....Read more
...Such an interesting concept, and great characters.Read more
219 customers mention plot, 132 positive, 87 negative
Customers have mixed opinions about the plot of the book, with some finding it superb while others say it's not great and very predictable.
Great story, awful edition. The typesetting is bizarrely bad and it's full of typos. I deleted it and ordered the paperback.Read more
Amazing book. The ending was melancholy but perfect way to end a novel.Read more
It was a good story for sure, but i felt at times there needed to be more descriptions. It was a complex story. But a great story nonetheless.Read more
...it's age this book remains very relative and futuristic with a great plot and character development.Read more
119 customers mention writing quality, 81 positive, 38 negative
Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some finding it amazing and noting its unexpected imaginative imagery, while others find it unimpressive and say it drags.
...While it is well written (after all this is Aldous Huxley) the subject is depressing. Some of what is described is already happening..Read more
Very well written, of course. There's depth in this book that I'm pretty sure I'm missing....Read more
...has many unfavorable reviews claiming the writing is sterile and poorly written....Read more
Engaging and well-written. I would have given it 5 stars but the ending was abrupt and confusing.Read more
76 customers mention typos, 5 positive, 71 negative
Customers report numerous typos and punctuation errors throughout the book, making it difficult to read.
...Bad sign. There are so many typos and misspellings and punctuation errors in this kindle version averaging at least one per kindle page that it...Read more
Kindle version of this book has many typos and character encoding issues....Read more
...there are numerous spelling errors (including the authors name), and I think what is labeled...Read more
...There were so many spelling mistakes that it was distracting. The book itself is great. I reread from aa reputable publisher....Read more
Came in good
5 out of 5 stars
Came in good
Came in right one time and in good condition . Only thing is it has some like spot marks on it ? But I don’t really care as long as I can read it lol.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Brian M
    5.0 out of 5 stars Utopia and Shakespeare and Soma
    Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Would a future totalitarian society be all that bad if every single person - from the day they were born - was truly happy with their lot in life? That is the question Brave New World asks, and Aldous Huxley leaves it up to the reader to decide the answer.

    I've re-read this book several times and each time I'm glad I did. That is because it is an enjoyable story, first and foremost. The characters have sufficient depth, the locales are peculiar and attention-grabbing, and the underlying message is enough to make you stop and think.

    Brave New World revolves around three main characters. First, there's Bernard Marx, an elite "Alpha Plus" who is uncertain about how he fits into society. Then, there is Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe, a man who reads The Holy Bible and Shakespeare, despite his society's ban on these "pornographic books". Finally, we have John (named John Savage when he visits Bernard's world), the son of two World State citizens raised in the remote hostility of a Savage Reservation. The interactions and thoughts of these three characters forms the skeleton of the book, and it is through their eyes that we view the World State of the future. The reader learns about how babies are "decanted" in the future, how they are bred and conditioned for their role in society, how entertainment plays a role in keeping them happy, and how unhappiness can be quickly whisked away by a gramme of Soma, a powerful drug that has no debilitating side-effects. Of course, it would be easy for the author to jab his finger at you from the pages and scream "SEE?!? SEE?!?! See what a society without freedom looks like? Isn't it horrible?", but he doesn't. In fact, the world of Year of Our Ford 632 doesn't seem so bad at all when you consider disease, war, and unhappiness have all been snuffed out of existence.

    But at what cost?

    Midway through the book, we meet John. Biologically, a son of the World State, but philosophically a student of the old religions and old literature of the old world. But don't misunderstand. John is not necessarily the book's "everyman". Many of his emotions and actions (like self-flagellation) are still foreign to a modern reader. Bernard - who has at this point accepted that he is "different" compared to his fellow World State-ers - brings John to his home to show him off to his peers. Naturally, many aspects of the World State are appalling to John, and this conflict continues all the way to the book's conclusion.

    Something I found remarkable is that the author, Huxley, gives us plenty of chances to sympathize with many of the various characters. Bernard Marx is not the "good guy" nor the "bad guy". In another story, the World Controller Mond might have been the evil villain trying to destroy any freedom, and John Savage might have been the passionate hero who wins the pretty girl and ultimately brings that freedom to society. But none of this occurs. The characters in Brave New World are just people, thrust into a world of perfect happiness and perfect harmony, and they each react in their own way. Sure, it's cute to see how the author envisioned the future, and perhaps a bit scary to see some of his "predictions" coming true, but that isn't what makes this book great. What makes it great is that it allows the reader to come to his/her own conclusions. To you, perhaps the World State seems terrifying, or maybe it seems like a nice place to live. To you, perhaps John Savage is the hero, or perhaps the logic and compassion in Mustapha Mond's final words and final actions resonate with you more. Maybe you can relate best to Bernard Marx's flawed personality. I suppose the choice is really yours, because Huxley doesn't make that choice for you.

    A lot of people say that the story is about entertainment media taking over our society, or about drugs, or about a controlling government, or about morality. I don't think Huxley intended the book to be exclusively about any one of those things, although of course the book makes a statement about them all. As stated above, Brave New World lets you draw your own conclusions about the World State instead of trying to grab you by the collar while screaming "SEE?!? SEE?!? See how horrible a world full of drugs and genetic manipulation would be?"

    Now, I rate this book a full 5 stars, but here is the "but..." of the review. For the majority of the book, we are treated to a fascinating romp through future science, future sociology, and future beliefs. However, toward the end of the book, John and Mustapha Mond engage in a very lengthy conversation about society and morals and God. To me, I really enjoyed this part. It was a great answer to my lingering question of "Why did society become this way?". To others, it might come off as a preachy, show-offy exposition from Huxley's own heart. Mustapha makes a point about human psychology, and John counters with Shakespeare. Mustapah points to the World State's "happiness", and John counters with God. Mustapha talks about bliss, and John talks about struggling for joy. I enjoyed it, but you might not, especially since it breaks away from the overall pace and feel of the rest of the book.

    Nevertheless, this book is well worth reading. It can be finished by a diligent reader in a weekend, and it contains a lot of thought-provoking ideas that will stick with you long after the final page.
    122 people found this helpful
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  • Ashutosh S. Jogalekar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fine-tuning the future
    Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Before there was ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Bladerunner’, before there was even ‘1984’, there was 'Brave New World'. It is astonishing that Aldous Huxley wrote this tale of technological dystopia in 1932. The social elements from the story are similar to those in Orwell and Kafka and others, namely a society of obedient sheep run by the state and benevolent dictators through brainwashing and groupthink. But what’s striking about the novel is how it so astutely anticipates a society taken over by benevolent technocrats rather than politicians, a scenario that appears increasingly likely in the age of AI and genetic engineering.

    Huxley came from an illustrious scientific family with social connections. His grandfather was Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin’s close friend, publicist and “bulldog”, whose famous smackdown of Bishop Samuel Wilberforce has been relished by rationalists fighting against religious faith ever since. His brother was Julian Huxley, a famous biologist who among other accomplishments wrote a marvelous tome on everything that was then known about biology with H. G. Wells. Steeped in scientific as well as social discourse, possessing a deep knowledge of medical and other scientific research, Aldous was in an ideal position to write a far-reaching novel.

    This he duly did. The basic premise of the novel sounds eerily prescient. Sometime in the near future, society has been regimented into a caste system where people are genetically engineered by the state in large state-run reproductive farms. Anticipating ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, only a select few women and men are capable of providing fertile eggs and sperm for this careful social engineering. The higher castes are strong, intelligent and charismatic. The lower castes are turgid, obedient and physically weak. They don’t begrudge those from the upper castes because their genetic engineering has largely removed their propensity toward jealousy and violence. Most notably, because reproduction is now the responsibility of the state, there is no longer a concept of a family, of a father or mother. There is knowledge of these concepts, but it’s regarded as archaic history from a past era and is met with revulsion.

    How is this population kept under control? Not shockingly at all, through sex, drugs and rock and roll. Promiscuity is encouraged from childhood onwards and is simply a way of life, and everyone sleeps with everyone else, again without feeling jealousy or resentment (it was this depiction of promiscuity that led the book to be banned in India in the 60s). They flood their bodies with a drug called soma whenever they feel any kind of negative emotion welling up inside and party like there’s no end. They are brainwashed into believing the virtues of these and other interventions by the state through subliminal messages played when they are sleeping; such unconscious brainwashing goes all the way back to their birth. People do die, but out of sight, and when they are still looking young and attractive. Death is little more than a nuisance, a slight distraction from youth, beauty and fun.

    Like Neo from ‘The Matrix’, one particular citizen of this society named Bernard Marx starts feeling that there is more to the world than would be apparent from this state of induced bliss. On a tryst with a particularly attractive member of his caste in an Indian reservation in New Mexico, he comes across a man referred to as the savage. The savage is the product of an illegitimate encounter (back when there were parents) between a member of a lower caste and the Director of Hatcheries who oversees all the controlled reproduction. He has grown up without any of the enlightened instruments of the New World, but his mother has kept a copy of Shakespeare with her so he knows all of Shakespeare by heart and frequently quotes it. Marx brings the savage back to his society. The rest of the book describes the savage’s reaction to this supposed utopia and its ultimately tragic consequences. Ultimately he concludes that it’s better to have free will and feel occasionally unhappy, resentful and angry than live in a society where free will is squelched and the population is kept bathed in an induced state of artificial happiness.

    The vision of technological control in the novel is sweeping and frighteningly prescient. There is the brainwashing and complacent submission to the status quo that everyone undergoes which is similar to the messages provided in modern times by TV, social media and the 24-hour news cycle. There are the chemical and genetic interventions made by the state right in the embryonic stage to make sure that the embryos grow up with desired physical or mental advantages or deficiencies. These kinds of interventions are the exact kind feared by those wary of CRISPR and other genetic editing technologies. Finally, keeping the population preoccupied, entertained and away from critical thinking through sex and promiscuity is a particularly potent form of societal control that has been appreciated well by Victoria’s Secret, and that will not end with developments in virtual reality.

    In some sense, Huxley completely anticipates the social problems engendered by the technological takeover of human jobs by robots and AI. Once human beings are left with nothing to do, how does the state ensure that they are prevented from becoming bored and restless and causing all kinds of trouble? In his book “Homo Deus”, Yuval Harari asks the same questions and concludes that a technocratic society will come up with distractions like virtual reality video games, new psychoactive drugs and novel forms of sexual entertainment that will keep the vast majority of unemployed from becoming bored and potentially hostile. I do not know whether Harari read Huxley, but I do feel more frightened by Huxley than by Harari. One reason I feel more frightened is because of what he leaves out; the book was published in 1932, so it omits any discussion of nuclear weapons which were invented ten years later. The combination of nuclear weapons with limitless societal control through technology makes for a particularly combustible mix.

    The biggest prediction of Huxley’s dystopia, and one distinctly different from that made by Orwell or Kafka, is that instead of a socialist state, people’s minds are much more likely to be controlled in the near future by the leaders of technology companies like Google and Facebook who have formed an unholy nexus with the government. With their social media alerts and Fitbits and maps, the tech companies are increasingly telling us how to live our lives and distracting us from free thinking. Instead of communist regimes like the Soviet Union forcibly trampling on individual choice and liberty, we are already gently but willingly ceding our choices, privacy and liberties to machines and algorithms developed by these companies. And just like the state in Huxley and Orwell’s works, the leaders of these corporations will tell us why it’s in our best interests to let technology control our lives and freedom, when all the while it would really be in their best interests to tell us this. Our capitulation to their inventions will look helpful and voluntary and will feel pleasurable and even noble, but it will be no less complete than the capitulation of every individual in “Brave New World” or “1984”. The only question is, will there be any savages left among us to tell us how foolishly we are behaving?
    1,052 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Dom
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good contents of the book, but no mention of the dust jacket
    Reviewed in Poland on November 26, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Pros: A classic that holds up, font and text is clearly readable, the introduction is brief an concise.

    Cons: From the pictures on Amazon page you cannot clearly tell that the illustration on the hard cover is not engraved into the book itself but just a dusk jacket. I have not found anything in description on the Amazon page that specifies otherwise . For a 90th Anniversary Edition I expected a more premium care/build of the book.
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  • Jailma Santos
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfeito!
    Reviewed in Brazil on August 29, 2025
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    Perfeito!
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  • Julio
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente Libro
    Reviewed in Mexico on December 21, 2025
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Estupendo libro, leanlo
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  • Szymon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Książka
    Reviewed in Poland on September 19, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Bardzo fajne wydanie.
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  • Fnug
    5.0 out of 5 stars When Freedom Is Inconvenient
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on January 27, 2026
    Verified Purchase
    Huxley imagines a future where control doesn’t come from fear, but from comfort. No Big Brother screaming at you—just endless pleasure, distraction, consumption, and chemically engineered happiness. No books to burn, because no one wants to read. No repression, because desire itself has been redesigned. It’s chilling in the quietest possible way. Huxley’s warning isn’t about losing freedom violently, but about trading it away willingly, in exchange for comfort and stability.

    Re-reading it now feels less like revisiting a classic and more like holding up a mirror. Orwell warned us about power that hurts. Huxley warned us about power that seduces.

    And yes—small but important detail—the hardcover edition is nice. Clean design, compact and pleasant in the hands.
    A lovely object that contains a deeply uncomfortable idea.
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