1984

Orwell's best-known work of unrelenting dystopian realism warns against totalitarianism. Reader Richard Brown's stern, didactic rendering of narrative passages successfully captures Orwell's hard-bitten cynicism. Unfortunately, Brown is less successful interpreting dialogue. He falls back too readily on stock voices: breathy heroines, smarmy villains, squealing children. Such characterizations detract markedly from the brooding tone so carefully set by the narration and break the listener's suspension of disbelief. Though Orwell's tales are allegorical, they're also deadly serious. Though his characters are bloated and distorted, they should never be played for laughs. S.J.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine