This latest version of George Orwell’s 1984 from Audible Studios is a difficult listen. While some of the sound effects are cheesy, it doesn’t detract from the fact that you are hearing people cheer after a prisoner is hanged or hearing someone undergoing torture. No matter how stark Mr. Orwell’s words are, hearing them acted out is a very different experience.

The adaptation itself is decent. You miss some of the explanations a reader gets only because we only hear the story through Winston’s mind. Joe White tries to capture some of the omniscient narrator effect through Winston’s rambling thoughts, but it just isn’t the same. I would say Andrew Garfield is a bit too emotional and irrational if only because I never got the impression that Winston Smith was emotional and irrational. Apathetic and depressed? Most definitely. Visibly nervous and jittery? Not so much.

That being said, Tom Hardy is the perfect choice to voice Big Brother. His voice is already so hearty and rich, it emphasizes the larger-than-life character that Big Brother is. The same goes for Andrew Scott as O’Brien. He has the best voice when it comes to playing characters who exist in the gray areas of society. Depending on what you know, his voice could be gentle, beguiling, and safe, or it could be angry, accusatory, and dangerous. Mr. Scott plays the role so well that even listeners who know the story and how it ends will be fooled.

Up until I listened to this adaptation, I felt that 1984 was a book that was firmly ensconced in the past. That it was no longer relevant today because Big Brother and thought crime as such generally known things. After listening to it, I can’t help but feel shock at just how uncomfortably close we are to a 1984-like society. With all of the anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers, we have reached the point where 2 plus 2 equals 5. Big Brother is the Trump, and his followers are the party members who believe he spouts the truth every time he opens his mouth. We have been at war with one country or another practically since the end of World War II, and our politicians actively encourage involvement in foreign affairs to fill their war chests. It is both depressing and disturbing to see that for all the warnings and the fact that the book is supposed to be satire, we are much closer to George Orwell’s 1984 than you ever imagined. ( )