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Island
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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The Perennial Philosophy
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
With great wit and stunning intellect - drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam - Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My all time favorite non fiction book!
- By drew cunningham on 2022-05-09
Written by: Aldous Huxley
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The Doors of Perception
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Rudolph Schirmer
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
The critically acclaimed novelist and social critic Aldous Huxley, describes his personal experimentation with the drug mescaline and explores the nature of visionary experience. The title of this classic comes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."
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5 out of 5 stars
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compelling and profoundly interesting
- By Anonymous User on 2020-05-30
Written by: Aldous Huxley
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In the First Circle
- Written by: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harry T. Willets - translator
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 31 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Moscow, Christmas Eve, 1949. The Soviet secret police intercept a call made to the American embassy by a Russian diplomat who promises to deliver secrets about the nascent Soviet Atomic Bomb program. On that same day, a brilliant mathematician is locked away inside a Moscow prison that houses the country's brightest minds. He and his fellow prisoners are charged with using their abilities to sleuth out the caller's identity, and they must choose whether to aid Joseph Stalin's repressive state - or refuse and accept transfer to the Siberian Gulag camps, and almost certain death.
-
4 out of 5 stars
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Chilling. "Democratic Socialists" Need to Read
- By Langer on 2020-02-02
Written by: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and others
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Brave New World
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 876
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 761
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 759
When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.
Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
great book narrator not
- By Jackson T. on 2019-09-30
Written by: Aldous Huxley
-
War and Peace (AmazonClassics Edition)
- Written by: Leo Tolstoy, Louise Maude - translator, Aylmer Maude - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 55 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
In early nineteenth-century Russia, the threat of Napoleon’s invasion looms, and the lives of millions are about to be changed forever. This includes Pierre Bezúkhov, illegitimate son of an aristocrat; Andrew Bolkónski, ambitious military scion; and Natásha Rostóva, compassionate daughter of a nobleman. All of them are unprepared for what lies ahead. Alongside their fellow compatriots - a catalog of enduring literary characters - Pierre, Andrew, and Natásha will be irrevocably torn between fate and free will.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tolstoy does not disappoint
- By Author, THE SHAME GAME: A DAVID DUMARESQ NOVEL, Internet Marketer on 2020-12-27
Written by: Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
The Origins and History of Consciousness
- Bollingen Series
- Written by: Erich Neumann, R. F. C. Hull - translator, Carl Jung - foreword
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 7
The Origins and History of Consciousness draws on a full range of world mythology to show how individual consciousness undergoes the same archetypal stages of development as human consciousness as a whole. Erich Neumann was one of C. G. Jung's most creative students and a renowned practitioner of analytical psychology in his own right. In this influential book, Neumann shows how the stages begin and end with the symbol of the Uroboros, the tail-eating serpent.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Not an easy read
- By Andre on 2020-11-24
Written by: Erich Neumann, and others
-
The Perennial Philosophy
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
With great wit and stunning intellect - drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam - Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My all time favorite non fiction book!
- By drew cunningham on 2022-05-09
Written by: Aldous Huxley
-
The Doors of Perception
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Rudolph Schirmer
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
The critically acclaimed novelist and social critic Aldous Huxley, describes his personal experimentation with the drug mescaline and explores the nature of visionary experience. The title of this classic comes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
compelling and profoundly interesting
- By Anonymous User on 2020-05-30
Written by: Aldous Huxley
-
In the First Circle
- Written by: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harry T. Willets - translator
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 31 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Moscow, Christmas Eve, 1949. The Soviet secret police intercept a call made to the American embassy by a Russian diplomat who promises to deliver secrets about the nascent Soviet Atomic Bomb program. On that same day, a brilliant mathematician is locked away inside a Moscow prison that houses the country's brightest minds. He and his fellow prisoners are charged with using their abilities to sleuth out the caller's identity, and they must choose whether to aid Joseph Stalin's repressive state - or refuse and accept transfer to the Siberian Gulag camps, and almost certain death.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Chilling. "Democratic Socialists" Need to Read
- By Langer on 2020-02-02
Written by: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and others
-
Brave New World
- Written by: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 876
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 761
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 759
When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.
Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great book narrator not
- By Jackson T. on 2019-09-30
Written by: Aldous Huxley
-
War and Peace (AmazonClassics Edition)
- Written by: Leo Tolstoy, Louise Maude - translator, Aylmer Maude - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 55 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
In early nineteenth-century Russia, the threat of Napoleon’s invasion looms, and the lives of millions are about to be changed forever. This includes Pierre Bezúkhov, illegitimate son of an aristocrat; Andrew Bolkónski, ambitious military scion; and Natásha Rostóva, compassionate daughter of a nobleman. All of them are unprepared for what lies ahead. Alongside their fellow compatriots - a catalog of enduring literary characters - Pierre, Andrew, and Natásha will be irrevocably torn between fate and free will.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tolstoy does not disappoint
- By Author, THE SHAME GAME: A DAVID DUMARESQ NOVEL, Internet Marketer on 2020-12-27
Written by: Leo Tolstoy, and others
-
The Origins and History of Consciousness
- Bollingen Series
- Written by: Erich Neumann, R. F. C. Hull - translator, Carl Jung - foreword
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 7
The Origins and History of Consciousness draws on a full range of world mythology to show how individual consciousness undergoes the same archetypal stages of development as human consciousness as a whole. Erich Neumann was one of C. G. Jung's most creative students and a renowned practitioner of analytical psychology in his own right. In this influential book, Neumann shows how the stages begin and end with the symbol of the Uroboros, the tail-eating serpent.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not an easy read
- By Andre on 2020-11-24
Written by: Erich Neumann, and others
Publisher's Summary
In his final novel - which he considered his most important - Aldous Huxley transports us to the remote Pacific island of Pala, where an ideal society has flourished for 120 years.
Inevitably, this island of bliss attracts the envy and enmity of the surrounding world. A conspiracy is underway to take over Pala, and events are set in motion when an agent of the conspirators, a newspaperman named Faranby, is shipwrecked there. What Faranby doesn't expect is how his time with the people of Pala will revolutionize all his values and - to his amazement - give him hope.
What the critics say
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What listeners say about Island
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roy Pat
- 2019-08-18
Excellent Writing & Voice Acting
A brilliant counterpart to Brave New World and a beautifully written narrative. The voice acting was fantastic - Simon switches between characters and can somehow put on convincing British and British-tinged south Asian accents on with male and female characters with ease.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-03-14
Could not wait for it to end
One of the most tedious audio I have finished. Maybe the most tedious of approximately 200 Audible titles. There are so many better books available-go elsewhere.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-11-10
Utopian Manifesto Lightly Shrouded in Narrative
I’ve been curious to read this for a while and was very glad to finally get around to it. Shockingly modern in many concepts and still (mostly) holds up as a philosophical text. Was hoping for a little more of a narrative (ie. any kind of plot vs. just the conversational indulgences that give voice to Huxley’s own ruminations), but it feels wrong to judge it for that since it’s clearly not trying to be a novel so much as a utopian manifesto.
If you like Brave New World and want to read the utopian counterpart presented as straightforward philosophy, definitely give it a listen. If you’re looking for something entertaining, perhaps it’s not for you. Still happy to have crossed this off my list though.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2021-08-09
Beautiful
really great performance, I could feel the emotions of each character through the narration. Highly recommend, even if you have already read the book!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dawn
- 2020-07-27
Lecture Style
I appreciated the amount of thought that went into this message of the book, but I didn’t enjoy the lecture style of the writing as it felt like the author had an agenda to dismiss western ideals in favour of eastern mysticism. Interesting ideas were presented, but it was hard continuing to keep listening because the story was boring.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- DB@Canada
- 2020-02-23
Oddly prescient story from the 1960s
Psychedelia, mindfulness, environment vs oil exploitation. This tale has this all and more. This is a parable about a perfect environment where man lives in harmony with man and nature but ‘progress’ is lurking in the wings to invade. Written in glorious and ponderous prose, it has wonderful classical 1960s British private school education at its heart.
It is remarkable how current thinking about mindfulness and CBT, with a liberal mix of magic mushrooms is presented with a voice from the past. Like Brave New Word, Huxley somehow manages to see things as they are now and were 60 years ago.
Having said that, this is not an adventure story and needs careful concentration to listen to.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Vicky J.
- 2020-02-10
Strange storyline
I couldn't piece together what was going on. Couldn't make it past the first chapter even.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- CHARLES DEMJEN
- 2020-02-10
Pretty good
Well this certainly was no Brave New World. But it starts getting interesting about half way through. Basically a critique of the sorry state of the world of international politics. Nice dose of Huxley for sure and well narrated too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AndrewL
- 2016-09-21
A great narration for a great book.
Simon Vance does a great job of narrating Aldous Huxley's lesser known great work, Island. If you were like me and left slightly depressed by the dystopian universe portrayed in Huxley's more famous work, A Brave New World, then I highly recommend Island. The world of Island is the antithesis of A Brave New World, and lays out what Huxley viewed as a more perfect modern society. I'll leave my review there as to not spoil anything for you, just know that it's a good book, and that the quality of the narration is top notch.
159 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Drew (@drewsant)
- 2018-03-21
Didn't like it
I wasn’t a big fan of this book. While the premise started off good enough the book soon changes from a story to a series of long speeches on society and values. As a result the plot doesn’t move much and there descriptions of the island of Pala are virtually non-existent much past the start. If you’re a philosophy student or into self-help, this book might peak your interest otherwise I would look elsewhere for entertainment.
23 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- spirit16
- 2017-06-29
Favorite Huxley work
Amazing book about self discovery, parallels to modern society, Utopianism, spiritualism and enlightenment. I highly recommend this book as a lighter more positive version of Huxley's Brave New World
55 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- R. Klein
- 2018-03-19
Certainly carries a message
The book started off so well for me. I was engaged by the story, and loved the narrator. But soon, it became so pedantic and doctrinaire that I kept wishing it would just end. Not that I disagree with the message - I just thought it was so heavy-handed.
I very much disliked the book "Atlas Shrugged" because I thought virtually all the characters were cardboard. So 2-dimensional. The virtuous capitalists whose only objective was to better mankind through their selfless (but expectantly and deservedly well-rewarded) efforts, but always thwarted by the proletariat parasites of the socialist American culture who insisted on stealing their talent and productivity for their lazy selves.
This book was the reflection on the opposite side of the mirror. Capitalism and progress was the enemy here. Will Farnaby, the protagonist, is a cynical journalist, shipwrecked on a utopian, and fictional island of Pala. The best of all worlds.
The technological advances of the west, without the materialism, greed competition, or militarism of the west. Once the story gets going, it seems like every question that the stranded protagonist (who has ulterior motives at heart, related to an oil deal that will upset and likely destroy the idyllic island's serenity), poses is solely intended to provide a platform or stage for the islanders to explain just how idyllic every aspect of their lives is - an outcome of their practical wisdom and eastern culture. After a while, it just became an eye-rolling exercise.
There is a story, but it's subordinate to the philosophy being put forth. The philosophy makes sense, and perhaps it's a plea by Huxley to avoid the dystopia described in his "Brave New World" .
I just thought it was way too heavy-handed, and after a while, got so tedious that I found it a real chore getting to the end of the book.
17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CicadasMantra
- 2016-10-08
Huxley shows complications of symbiotic society
A work even more pertinent today than when he first conceived it...a must read for anyone interested in creative solutions to societal ills...
16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Duncan
- 2017-03-13
Beautifully crafted development of world
I've been searching for some answers of how I ought to live through literature for quite some time now, desperately searching. The focus on development of characters, beautiful descriptions of scenes and an inevitable quality based on the circumstances all come together to explore the concepts naturally. The messages themselves are also able to be practiced as you go, leading to a better appreciation for the piece of literature itself as Huxley's œuvre draws to an end.
A comprehensive lesson on finding enjoyment in life.
65 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- ASL4U
- 2017-03-13
Wonderful writing
This is a good book. I listened to the audio version - the reader was great but i think the book would better have been digested by reading the hard copy unstead of listening because of the "enlightenment" theme. You kinda need to slow down input in order to get the most out if a book like this. Glad i read it - may well come back and give it a second ho in hardcopy.
32 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Sarah welch
- 2018-12-08
Terrible plot
This book was not at all what I was expecting. I was expecting something with more plot, and less preaching. It felt like Huxley got really high and decided to make a fantasy island, but instead of following in-depth the lives of the people in this paradise, he has an outsider come in and get preached at for an agonizing 11 hours. This is a philosophy book. Do not read it if you want anything other than a philosophy book.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Adam Hammes
- 2017-04-30
love this book
reading the final chapter alone was worth the wait, possibly the best description of the indescribable I am familiar with
18 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fabian Schmidt
- 2017-08-16
A guide into buddhist philosophy disguised as novel
This book is tragically enlightening. If anybody has ever experimented with heart medicine they will rediscover themselves especially in the later chapters
28 people found this helpful
