ANTIC HAY

This is billed as a “novel of ideas,” as opposed to characters, and that poses a special challenge to narrator Robert Whitfield. With no real action to describe, he's forced to use his British accent to keep us interested. He succeeds admirably. Whitfield, like Huxley, doesn’t create memorable characters, but we remember them for the ideas they explore. Whitfield’s voice is fun to listen to, and he uses that playfulness to complement Huxley’s biting, satiric prose. He reads marvelously, pacing the story well and using his firm, deep voice to capture the irony and hypocrisy within the book. This is not one of Huxley’s better-known novels, but Whitfield makes it notable. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]