"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll,

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
by Lewis Carroll,
read by Michael York
Produced by Blackstone Audio, 2005
Approx 3 hours


Every once in a while you just have to read a classic. In my adult life, I've gone back and read, "Moby Dick," "Catcher in the Rye," "A Brave New World," and a few others and each time I find something new I didn't catch before or enjoyed something new that I knew was there but didn't have the life experience to fully appreciate. This time around I got the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." I had re-read this to my son a few years ago and we had a blast with all the absurdities and adventures. This time I could have the book read to me, and what a treat it was.

One of the nice things about this version was that it is read by Michael York. I've listened to audiobooks by Michael York before and am considering myself a fan of his voicework. His British accent is nice for this Yank to hear and he has the vocal range and talent to create some great character studies. This book is filled with some very interesting and strange creatures/characters and York does a superb job of making each character not only stand out but the voice fits what the character should sound like. York makes the White Rabbit not only sound in a hurry but through his voicework makes the rabbit come to life. All the characters come to life with the expertise of Michael York.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" has been analyzed through and through over the years but in my humble opinion it's just one of those books that should be enjoyed. During the 60s the book got a revisit due to the possible drug use mentioned, even Jefferson Airplane based a song on the book, "White Rabbit." Sure there may be some psychedelia to the book, but I feel that's just due to the book's absurdities.

One of the best sections I found this time around is Chapter 3 "A Caucus Race and a Long Tale." The play on words in this section definitely made me chuckle as did the chapter featuring the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. In reading the book to my son, we had a version with the original drawings, we got the entertainment from the pictures as I read. This time around I had no pictures by Michael York made up for that by delivering the descriptions and absurdities with ease.

I'm not sure what classic I'll be visiting next, but I can tell you, it'll be hard to capture the fun I just heard in this presentation.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Read by Michael York
Produced by BBC Audiobooks America
approx 9 hours


Every so often I go back and read one of those books that you HAD to read in school. Whether high school or college, if they were on the reading/study list they had to be boring. Many of these books I found interesting but with the added feature of having to analyze and dissect these books it seemed to take away the enjoyment of just reading a good book. I went back to the shelves a couple of years ago and re-read "Moby Dick" and actually enjoyed that book.

This time around I decided on going back and re-reading "A Brave New World." At the time I decided to do that I found an audiobook version read by Michael York, and decided to give that a try. After all, It's the guy from "Logan's Run" reading it...I know some of you say the guy from the Austin Powers movies, but I enjoyed "Logan's Run" more and I like to show my age.

So after years of intense study & dissecting of this book in High School and in Freshman English @ SIU, I won't be overanalyzing this book. Been there, done that, even got a t-shirt. Instead let's talk about this book in generalities and for enjoyment purposes.

"A Brave New World" is one of those dystopian society books that warns us as humans what we may be headed for. (Oops starting to analyze here.) In this future society people are not born but are decanted from bottles in large factories. In these factories they separate the different castes of humans by slight chemical additions or deletions from the bottles on the assembly line. Through years of study scientists discovered that not everyone can be the super-smart Alpha plus plus, who would do the grunt work? So Epsilons are developed to do said grunt work. The other castes are Betas, Gammas and Deltas with varying degrees in each, signified by a plus or minus in their cast.

Also in this future history is ignored, for it is the past and the past is gone. The center of worship is not God but Ford (as in Henry, the man that perfected the assembly line) and Freud. At times the two are referred to as the same.

The society is kept at bay by doses of a drug called Soma. Soma the effects of Alcohol & Christianity without all the guilt.

The story centers around Bernard Marx who, rumor has it, accidentally had alcohol added to his bottle which stunted his growth and as an Alpha plus he's not as beautiful as the other Alphas. Bernard is a psychologist (specializing in hypnopædia). Hypnopædia is the sleep therapy that conditions infants and children to develop into loving society. Bernard decides to take his annual holiday to the savage (non-modernized) lands in New Mexico, USA.

Short and sweet he brings back a savage that is the son of a member of modern society that got lost in the savage lands and spent a number of years raising her son in the savage lands. In this future the concept of a Mother is similar to pornography and highly detested.

The savage in short revolts against the non-self-thinking society after the death of his mother. As a result Bernard and a colleague of his are exiled to islands of self-thinkers. The savage tries to isolate himself but the "natives" of London bring their Soma and celebrate the visual image of the savage with Soma induced orgies.

Interesting science-fiction and social commentary all rolled into one in this book. Michael York delivers this book with ease and grace. Being that London is the center of society in this book Mr. York's accent adds believability and his voicework keeps the characters separated and unique. So do yourself a favor and just read this book for fun. I found that reading it just for fun I actually was able to absorb the social commentary a little easier and could actually analyze the book with more ease.