BRAVE NEW WORLD

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 [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]