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What are readers saying about Brave New World?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-05 10:08:19.
(Language: English)
  
I can honestly say that this is the only science fiction novel I have read; but beyond even that specific genre, Huxley's classic satire and social outcry ranks high among the best works of fiction ever written or that could be read. Every choice made by the author in the creation of his future "utopia" is planned out to such minute and precise detail as to fully envelope the reader into this world. But more than that, Brave New World stays within our own to really make us think about our own lives. Never have I experienced a work of art that so fully called me to question how much the natural man's desires have been fed in my life so that I lose myself to mundane "happiness and comfort" completely forsaking "beauty and truth." I think its a work of genius to so blatantly shock us with content and yet so subtely move us towards indignation. I went to the mall after I read this book and I saw it all: sexual promescuity, the destruction of the family, mass production, consumerism sought over progression, chemical substance abuse, and the rejection of all that was old. The only thing wrong with Huxley's stark vision of the future is that it's a little too true. If you ever want to know some of the reasons why giving into every impulsive natural man desire is destructive beyond even basic morality, study Brave New World, and you will want to join the Savage in seclusion to prove what you can do to improve
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-28 06:31:41.
(Language: English)
According to Neil Postman, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision ... people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In Brave New World, we won't have to burn books because no one will want to read them...
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-15 04:11:36.
(Language: English)
This is a classic, and positively creepy, vision of the future. In this future, there is a one-world government that controls everything. Children are grown in bottles, conditioned for their predetermined job by altering the condition of their test tubes--oxygen levels and the like--to create a caste system. After being decanted, the children are taught by recorded voices that indoctrinate them with the message that the government wants them to receive. All conceptions of morality are dead, and "right" is what is good for the community. Children are encouraged to begin sexual experimentation when they are extremely young, and the coda of the day is "Everyone belongs to everyone else." Long term relationships are a threat to the stability of the community. Individuals who start asking too many questions are sent to live on an island where they can't do any damage.Into this world is thrust The Savage, raised on a Savage Reserve where elements of our culture still exist. His worldview is informed by the works of William Shakespeare, suppressed along with all other art in the Brave New World outside. How will the Savage respond to this? Huxley creates a piece of literature that is as engaging as it is a message about the dangers of the direction our society was headed in 1939 adn still today....
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Gertrudis posted a review at 2008-03-01 08:53:29.
(Language: English)
Imagina que vives en una sociedad en la cual el gobierno te vigila constantemente, te dice cómo vivir, qué ropa usar, qué música escuchar y te acondiciona a ciertos gustos, labores y niveles sociales. Piensa por un instante cómo sería el mundo si no existiera el concepto de familia y además pudiéramos acostarnos con todas las personas que quisiéramos. En 1932 esto era concebido como una sociedad utópica. Y es lo que pretende describir el libro “Un Mundo Feliz” (título original “Brave New World”) de Aldous Huxley. En el siglo XXI estamos cada vez más cerca de esta utopía que más bien se vuelve una realidad.Si bien es cierto que el concepto de familia aún existe, que no pueden salir miles de gemelos idénticos de un mismo óvulo fertilizado, también es cierto que los paradigmas han dado un giro inmenso. Hoy en día una familia puede estar compuesta de 1 ó más padres y madres de igual o distinto sexo. Podemos ser manipulados tanto genética como mentalmente. En un futuro cercano podremos elegir los atributos físicos de nuestros hijos, evitar las enfermedades genéticas y descartar aquéllos fetos que no correspondan con lo que esperamos.A principios del siglo XX esta historia no era más que eso: ciencia ficción. En los albores del siglo XXI esto se ha convertido en una escena de terror. De hecho, el mismo autor escribió una revisión de la novela 30 años más tarde en la que se dio cuenta que el mundo avanzaba hacia esa utopía más rápido de lo esperado. Estoy segura que si hiciese otra comparación 76 años después, Aldous Huxley se vería a sí mismo como un moderno Nostradamus.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-30 01:18:08.
(Language: English)
This is the first dystopian novel I've ever read where it started out making me think, wow, if this happened to society, if this actually somehow ended up coming to pass, and there were no kinks in it, no individuals slipping through the cracks, well, I guess I wouldn't actually MIND that much. Of course, no dystopian novel ever follows that route, there always has to be those people who don't fit into the structured society, who are dissatisfied, and that by definition means that the society isn't perfect, that the control isn't complete. In this book, it's the son of a high-ranking director that spent most of his childhood in part of the earth that remains 'uncivilized'. Along with a couple of alpha men. But if it were perfect... the people in this society are genetically and socially conditioned to love their station in life, to be completely satisfied with it, and if ever anything bothers them, there is a euphoric drug with no side effects to take them away from it all. How could one escape from that, or, indeed, even know they were trapped? Freedom tends to take top billing in novels that are supposed to be hard-hitting and scary, but I think that freedom as an idea would cease to exist under control as complete as this society would have if it were perfect. And that is scary. To us. To them... I'm not so sure. Anyway, the way people are conditioned in the book obviously took a lot of thought and research, and the ideas are so advanced that I wouldn't have guessed it was written in the 30's. I especially enjoy how, at the beginning, a timeline is given through conversation of how it all came to happen, a 'minor detail' which tends to irk me when it's missing in novels that assume a massive change in the future. I was very glad to see it. Overall I was basically attached to the book by the hand for the whole time I was reading it, even though it was a second go-around... it made more sense the second time. I'd recommend reading this one slowly and paying attention to the details. It's not an easy one to follow, but it's worth it if you do.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-21 05:57:02.
(Language: English)
Huxley's forte' is definitely in fiction. In this book he sees into a strangely controlled future, not too far off from our current reality. Everything is sterile, cut off from nature. People pop pills to avoid their emotions. Babies are born in labs, and family no longer exists. They are hypnotized and conditioned from infancy. And the greatest threat to community is the unique individual. It's interesting that Huxley's work was such a precursor to the counter culture movement of the sixties. The idea that "we all belong to each other" spawned ideals of polyamory. But what might not have been as apparent to the anti-materialist hippies, was that free love is a mirror of our own consumerist mentality. Hence, the hippies eventually became yuppies.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-17 09:57:15.
(Language: English)
First published in 1932, Brave New World still feels modern today. This might have less to do with the thematic structure of the book and the writing style of Aldous Huxley, and more to do with the fact that much modern day genetic science is based on latter day eugenics. The idea of controlling the human population in terms of genetic development in order to bring humanity to its maximum effiency was a popular American ideal all throughout the early to mid 1900's (indeed, eugenics was a throroughly American science before the Nazis even got started), so it comes as no surrpise that the religious iconography in Brave New World is centered on Ford's Model T, or that the setting of the book was based on Huxley's trip to California. Huxley relies on a few implicit biases that don't sit well with me. For instance, the "species" differences between the human races (look out for the Jezebel's "negro" fecundity referred to as a boon for eugenics). I also noted the conflation of deviance with moral character (too weak to fit in, too strong to be controlled) - individual relativity in desire do not exist in Brave New World. Any form of human pleasure or desire, from the physical to the emotional, are taken as absolutes that can be distilled down into formula - either easy open access physical pleasure or Christ-like matyrdom for true emotional experience. People who defy these absolutes are just to weak to appreciate them. Overall, I enjoyed the book for its moral ambiguity, and the archetypal natures of the characters. It's a lot to think about.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-21 08:32:50.
(Language: English)
A thought-provoking tale of a utopian (or dystopian) future, however you may see it, of Huxley's vision of a Brave New World; London in it's finest, controlled by totalitarian World Controllers and where babies are hatched and bred and decanted. This book pulls at your conscience, tugs at your faith and reveals all the different "what-ifs" lingering in the minds of everyone, blatantly portraying them all in pristine reality, where recreational sex is made compulsory in the minds of children and a drug called 'Soma' with no side effects are given to the people on a daily basis. Huxley touches on many issues between science and human life at every page, and it's as if you feel his desperate need to just tell everyone, "Please. Stop. Think about what you're doing." A good deal of Shakespeare is referenced in this book, as well as religion, philosophy, and the very easy but worrying question, "What is true happiness?". Simply put, this is science fiction at its best. Fantastic read.
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Wayne posted a review at 2009-08-16 12:04:50.
(Language: English)
This is a great book set in the future. Although written in 1932, its ideas are getting more mainstream, and disturbingly closer to how things are getting with genetic engineering possibilities. With State operated mass-production of Fertilisation of the entire population, genetic engineering, & conditioning, clinically in containers in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, the populations lives are pre-conditioned and pre-determined. (Similar to how the Clone Armies were manufactured in Star Wars). The story then has parallels to Orwell's 1984, with a story of love against an oppressive regime backdrop, even with meeting the head of the society. Then, again in a parallel to 1984, the character we are following struggles to survive comes to terms with where he now is in his life, then we move to how he deals with his media exposure. This part of the story also seems curiously relevant to today's society with parallels to the cult of media personality gossip and worship. With the planned movie version in the works, I can see how this could well the ideal as a movie for todays society. This is an interesting story, but a bit disjointed in places.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-19 01:55:08.
(Language: English)
Written just prior to WWII, so don't expect a happy happy joy joy sort of feeling here. The over all theme here is that society in the far off future, say 6 centuries from now will be an Anti-Utopian society, like Orwell's 1984, except everyone will be having sex, even the children ... don't believe me, read the damn book. All you need is the right card and level and your literally off(in more ways than one) sort of Logan's Run meets Debbie Does Dallas. Of course there is sex and drugs with out rock and roll but the hook here is you get the drugs and sex from the government ... aint that a kicker. But instead of Rock, when your tripping they try to sell you the newest Model T's through mass Hypnosis. Now for characters, I love this guy, John the Savage, he's great, totally alien to all the educated test tube Fordists in this dystopiac society. Not only does he run around going from duh is this place great to this sucks while quoting Shakespeare How beauteous mankind is!O brave new worldThat hath such people in't!"
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Thom posted a review at 2011-06-21 05:28:50.
(Language: English)
The crux of Huxley's Brave New World was by no means a new one at the time of its publication in the 1930's. Its emphasis on biological conditioning as a means to achieveing social equilibrium certainly owed much of its inspiration to a body of scientific and imaginative writing of the late-Nineteenth Century, of which Thomas Huxley and H. G. Wells were by far the most notable. However, Huxley's capacity to articulate a timeless problem in a contemporary format is not altogether unsuccessful. The rule in Huxley's work is still the same as that which would be articulated by Orwell over a decade later, complacency by cocercion. Only by removing man's most fundamental power, that of choice, could harmony be achieved, even if it is removed before they are born. As Rousseau aptly put it in The Social Contract, some men must be forced to be free. In Huxley's case, much to the Savage's chagrin, they must be forced to be happy.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-12 07:22:20.
(Language: English)
'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley is a very 'ideas driven' text. Huxley has created a plausible modern world where everyone is created into a particular societal role and conditioned to embrace a particular economic and social a script. Religion, independence, moderation and beauty are sacrificed for a world of unadulterated 'pleasure'', comfort and stability. Huxley's world is the most compelling reason to read this text. Unfortunately, I felt that the execution of this text was lacking. It had a very promising start and the techniques used by Huxley kept the text fast and interesting. Soon I found myself bored, which surprised me. Although I keep in mind the conditioning of the characters, at times I found them irritating. The same can be said for the repetitive use of slogans. One thing that I did enjoy was all the references to all the late-19th early-20th century thinkers that I had learned about in psychology and anthropology classes and following where the ideas from. To the books credit, it was written in 1932. In it's time the themes covered were bold and controversial. It is a strong text in this day and was a good read. Not so much for the plot or characters, but for the fodder for thought. 'Brave new world' is too hyped and should not be compared to Orwell's 1984 as the two should be recognized for their own merits
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-10 01:03:04.
(Language: English)
Honestly, I have no "legitimate" reason for disliking this book. In fact my primary reason was that it did not meet the expectations I had for it. Truthfully, it was well-written, and the story itself is probably effective in what it was meant to convey. Without revealing too much of the plot to those who have yet to read this, it starts off as a great dystopian vision of what the world would be like if general public were obsessed with efficiency, happiness, hedonism, and Ford. Children are no longer born, they are "decanted" in bottles that run along assembly lines, and are modified in one way or another so that when the babies come out of the tube, they are already pre-destined to belong to a certain Class. Conditioning continues through the rest of the "individual's" existence to ensure compliance and conformity with the expectations of each class. What I did not like about this book, first, was that it went from a general overview of this society, from which the dystopian vision could have been further expanded (and thus made vastly more interesting), to following a couple of the characters, and then ultimately to following a single character. It just seemed that it went from being this great speculative satire to an almost predictable story of a couple people confronting this monolithic prison society, and you don't really get the feeling that there's "no escape." The ending was good in some ways, but it also seemed somewhat implausible. Then again, so did the entire book. I take it all as more of a "this what would happen if..." kind of thing, and not the "this is what will happen if we let it" satire that I was expecting. Keep in mind this is a completely subjective review, and the book probably deserves a higher rating than I gave it for its style and language. But I just did not like it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-02 11:54:17.
(Language: English)
Cannot avoid comparisons with Orwell's '1984' due to its date of publication and its very realistically conceptualised view of where our present paths are taking us. Much that is described, as in '1984', although to a greater degree in my opinion, is already here or coming in one shape or another, whereas here we've got utopia as dystopia - have we? - rather than outright dystopia. Although works should stand on their own rather than in comparison with something else, I'm going to state a preference in favour of this, 'Brave New World', due to the ambiguity about the future it portrays, and the fact it appears to comment more on us as human beings. The skilful writing makes it feel that the story's direction is determined by the characters while we are reading rather than the author's pre-determined destination. This means that, for the reader, you may find yourself constantly surprised by the decisions and actions the characters make and take, and possibly feeling decidedly more ambivalent towards the images and characters portrayed than you may have anticipated at the start. You are very much left with your own conclusions to draw and, for me, that is what takes this book to a different levels than Orwell's, and makes it a more rewarding read. Having said that, both visions of the societies we inhabit are here in some shape or form to a lesser or greater degree, and both authors give convincing portrayals of the types of characters that would be shaped by such worlds, and are both well worthy of your time. Maybe I come down in favour of this as Huxley's world still feels one very much created and inhabited by human-beings and humanity, even though still clearly shaped by the 'utopia' that has evolved, whereas the institutions are in clear ascendency in '1984' and the human spirit is more clearly the victim. Or maybe I just like the idea of soma and free-sex as a force for social good. Whatever, an entertaining and thought-provoking read, recommended for both these reasons.
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Peachy posted a review at 2010-04-10 08:29:08.
(Language: English)
Good Ford! I sit here exhausted after finishing Brave New World, and the first thought to enter my mind is that I am grateful to my High School English Department for not including it in our studies, as I’m sure it would have sent me into a fast and furious depression. Alas, I feel that a gramme of soma may be my only recourse. haha Huxley’s didactic and political satire has sent me into a spiral of whirling emotions, as I draw far too many comparisons from his dystopian society to our modern day. A revolutionary of his time, Huxley’s oppressive World State is not a far cry from the western world, as he conjures up images of the lower-caste members as “… a long caterpillar of men and women travelling home on the monorail.” (Wasn’t I a part of that caterpillar in my trek home on the TTC yesterday, minus the doses of soma to keep things civil?) How about the nine-years war, which created a state of fear and panic, forcing the government to take charge and control all measures of the World State in pedantic form, in order to stabilize society and provide uniform happiness? However, to me, enforced happiness seems just as ridiculous and unattainable as enforced democracy. Of course one could argue that both of these things are illusions, in and of themselves anyway. One of the most disturbing aspects of this ‘fictional’ world is the use of a structured class system, derived by embryo manipulation, sleep hypnosis, and the numbing soma, to create a population of slaves who happily carry out the dirty work for the upper-caste members of society. This of course being the most powerful parallel to western civilization, as the capitalist machine oppressively ensures that immigrants and children of low-income families get stuck in the cycle of low-paying, dead-end jobs, unable to afford an education that could possibly enhance their opportunity for personal growth. How would consumerism continue at this accelerated rate if everyone were educated? Who would take on the monotonous task of flipping the burgers, or working the assembly lines? In the end, theirs is a sacrifice for the greater good of the collective. (I can’t help but be reminded of the Borg.) And if they complain, just write them a prescription for the latest anti-depressant or anti-psychotic that the ravenous pharmaceutical monster is peddling. All in all, the World State is a mirror of our world wrought with consumerism, sexual liberation and sedation through government-issue medication, simply exaggerated. In this state of disillusionment and contentment through instant gratification, the truth of our existence is lost. Without our passion for each other, artistic expression, scientific exploration or dogma, what is the purpose of our time here on earth? I choose to live life on my own terms, and if that means I must suffer through pain, misfortune, destitution and fear, then so be it. At least this will sustain in me an ability to recognize and enjoy pleasure, prosperity, security and heroism. The struggle, of course, is maintaining the balance. Check out more of my reviews at BookSnakeReviews
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-11 09:25:01.
(Language: Spanish)
Yeups! Whata Breton´s sponsor about surhyper society was to street route, nowdays Brave Soma New World is living spiritualy in our veins. PC (Morgesten-Von Newman)never guess that they were building droids, Robots and Cyborgs. Colegues, of all that masterful outstanding past prospectus of nowdays Replicants reality we only have Hyper Super Thecknocracy to not be scared though figure wath we hated in the past about Einstein´s mistake, jeys! The system will never end up. We are by sample simplicity alpha betha gamma fraternity, but only the readers. Probably it sound morality awkard but ethics will never be the solution. We travel on speed light with match just in time agenda to our conflictive ego homo. I did had a child in honour to Tim Leary, A. Hoffman, Paul Bowles and of course to remember those insightful spirit of originality to provide outreach to Huxley´s spirit, Sir Dr Who is alive, but Groucho Marx wd say that he is the only and single married artist of contemporaneous art to commitment with suicide by no fears of pain!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-07 09:52:03.
(Language: English)
***SPOILER ALERT***This highly acclaimed dystopic novel from the mid 20th century rings very true to our present existence. Centuries into the future the human race has changed itself so that almost everyone is born by artificial means and are essentially clones of one another. To impose a class structure different children are affected psychologically and biological during gestation and early childhood. Everyone is focused on youth and beauty - no on gets old they just suddenly fall down dead at a certain age. There is no family structure to cause negatives to the people. The Alphas are encouraged to think but only to a point and are conditions to desire sports that require travel and equipment. They are also conditional to want to be in groups all the time and to be very free and open sexually. Into this mix is dropped a savage - the child of an Alpha and a Beta born away from civilization on a native reserve. He is raised in a more traditional way but as an outcast because his Beta mother is rejected by her society. He reads Shakespeare - an author now banned, and the Bible (God has been replace by Henry Ford as civilization's deity) also banned. He causes some of the more free thinking Alphas to rebel and question authority. For this they are sent to Islands to live their unconventional lives. The savage cannot bear to live in this society and commits suicide. Along with "Oryx and Crake" and "1984" this is one of the great dystopic commentaries on our society that resonates more than ever.
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Aaron posted a review at 2009-07-08 11:16:21.
(Language: English)
This is one of the very few books I remember reading in school. There are only about 3 books I read my entire time in school. This is why I distrust the educational system and why I believe they conspire against me. Rather than trying to write a brilliant review of a work I only vaguely remember, I shall relate to you what I do remember. Trust that I will soon reread this novel (and you will get a fresh review, when I do), as I believe all the dystopian novels are worth rereading (we proles still don't get it). I'm not sure if it was my Junior or Senior year in high school. I had been sent to an alternative school for being arrested with marijuana. Because I was facing drug tests I replaced pot with LSD. I was growing my hair long. I had an older gentleman for an English teacher. It was one of the few subjects that I enjoyed. This teacher fellow struck me as perhaps an alcoholic. He was quite bumbling as well, though I rather liked his romantic notions and long vocal remembrances of the 60s and the girls he had known. I remember when Brave New World was passed out to the class while he stuttered and stammered about. I was probably the only one excited to get the novel. As I said, I had done next to no reading in school. Upon beginning the book I was instantaneously transported from the classroom and away from people which I despised into the future of mankind. The people I had been with in the classroom were the same social order of the future. Huxley's vision was disturbing and a most logical portrait in sociocultural, scientific and political evolution. I remember being mildly shocked at the explicit nature of Huxley. I remember reading about the sucking vibrators and the socialization of sex. I became aroused and when the class was over I had to leave awkwardly with my books hiding my arousal. Perhaps this was not as indicative of Huxley's writing as it was my teenage hormones. It was always strange to look up from the book, breaking the spell, to realize I was still sitting in class. I don't remember many details of the novel. I remember empathizing with the main character and his morals, and I have a fondness of Lenina, though I can't remember why... I really must read this again!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-29 03:52:12.
(Language: English)
In this satire book originally published in England in 1932, we are taken into a future where society is dramatically changed. Babies are not born; they are made in factories and "decanted" from their "bottles". No nuclear families or households exist; children are raised publically in large age groups. The citizens enjoy a comfortable life: a violentfree city, material goods, a job suiting their intelligence and a leasure time consisting of casual sex, friendship, drugs and sports. No exlusive romantic relationships, families or close friendships in our terms exist, and these arrangements are considered historical past. Everyone is expected to get along with everyone and be social. The one and only drug slash sleeping remedee, soma, is relatively harmless and given out by the state on paydays. In this kind and satisfying, yet perhaps emotionally flat society, grows up our main caracter Lenina. When meeting Wildman she sudddenly finds herself in love - a very unsocial and emotionally unhealthy condition... At the same time, a group of young men starts questioning the orderings of sociey... A lot of people see this book as a dystopic scene; I don't neccessarily think so. The book both praises and mocks Shakesparian ideals, represented by the semi-savage Wildman who seem preoccupied with beauty and mening, but also is rather anorectic and asexual in his ideals. I find it to be one of the most important books that deals with ideal society and its opposite, and far more engaging than Orwells' "1984".
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-02 08:07:06.
(Language: English)
This one deals, as many of you might already know, deals with the idea of utopias, and the prices that must be paid to make them work. Unlike the models where everyone is suppressed by commands from on high, this one deals with everyone being allowed to do whatever and whomever they want. Only one catch is that from before birth they have been programmed to fit in a certain caste system and have very childlike desires and to deal with their problems with the use of the perfect drug, soma. Anyone who shows too much individuality is sent to islands. Society functions because everyone has been brainwashed into consuming large amounts to travel and watch brainless movies and play complicated sports. Everything is new and clean. Into this utopia gets dropped a Savage, a remnant of pre-utopia Native American society, an outcast who was born from a utopian citizen who gets injured and lost on holiday visiting the savage reservation. He doesn't fit in to the Native American society, and he soon finds out that he fits in even less in the Brave New World. As with some of the earlier books the writing is light and quick. It's a nice social commentary that has a bit of resonance with todays ills as far as the economic crisis. There are many references late in the book to Shakespear that are worked in nicely as the Savage learned to read with that collection.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-22 04:56:55.
(Language: English)
A well made societal situation without a valid explanation of how that situation came about in the book (or, at least not enough) constantly reminded me that I was reading a near impossibility, which took the ominous tone that the book had so well and the first half and quelled it in the second half. The characters are very separated from themselves, but since most of the people in this book have no clear consciousness it may be a statement that in this situation they cannot be close to themselves (which makes no sense because the same type of writing is applied to the savages). Throughout the work there is too much of the author telling you the emotions of the characters rather than effectively carrying it out through their affects on the page. In fact, the only emotion that moves you in the story is that of pure interested horror. However, the fact remains that you feel nothing for nay character at any point other than perhaps this interested horror. The ending was interesting... I guess. Its a good statement on the fear of an absolute communism, or what happens when everyone receives equality, but there are a lot of holes in his logic, such as the fact that money and wealth exists but he rarely addresses socioeconomic issues within the same castes. Also, Bernard Marx (the first main character until the savage) (who is a mixture of the beliefs of Bernard Shaw and Karl Marx -- what he criticizes is not absolute socialism but absolute marxism) does not really change too much in the story and is rather a tool to portray the world he lives in, but since he becomes unimportant it seems to me not worthwhile to even read about him. But then again, I'm not a fan of switching main characters in the middle of any work. Overall though, its a very interesting concept, as well as a great story until like the last 5 chapters where a lot of it seems to lose affect.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-02 09:54:54.
(Language: English)
I may be a little hard on the book, but I suppose I had high expectations having heard about it for so long. Some of the futurist ideas are a little dated now (The Feelies, what an awful concept), while others are all too eerily familiar (SOMA the wonder-drug of the future reminds me all too much of the trend towards prescription drugs for depression) My primary gripe would stem from the way Huxley would often do 'fade to black' in the middle of scenes, leaving it up to the reader to either determine what transpired in later passages. The most aggravating of these occurs at the end of the novel (I'll try not to include any spoilers here) where a critical choice has to be made by one of the three protagonists. Only what choice he made is never clearly revealed...perhaps, on reflection, intentionally as he would likely have ended up at the same result regardless of the choice made... In the end one could say that, like those born into the various castes, he had no choices either. Regardless, it annoys me that Huxley was so incredibly vague at the end of the novel. As a story it suffers in the same way that the Lord of the Rings does. It goes on far too long 'after' the most interesting aspects of the story have been lain to rest.
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Yan posted a review at 2009-03-08 11:14:32.
(Language: English)
Brave New World, a science fiction written by Aldous Huxley, is set in London of AD 2540(632 A.F. in the book), and the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and pre-programming of children, both of which combine to change the whole society. The negative utopia, or the dystopia, is the main concept of the virtual world. A dystopia is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia. According to the definition, a dystopian society should be one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence and/or pollution. However, it seems that we cannot find any poor conditions in the world described by the author. Everyone is satisfied with his own job and people can enjoy themselves by having promiscuous sex or taking soma, a kind of a drug which can bring people into virtual ‘holiday’. In fact, it is this kind of relaxed and hollow lifestyle that makes that world an unchangeable dystopia, even more horrible than that caused by bad living conditions. Since everyone is pleased with his own job and nobody wants any promotion or change, the whole society will become stagnant. This is extremely dangerous, in my opinion, because a tiny mistake will cause a devastating result to this ‘perfect’ society because nobody ever thinks of how to deal with it, and people cannot prevent it because it may happen in any area. Actually, it almost happens in the novel. John Savage is the son of Linda and Thomas, who later becomes the director in the modern world. Accidentally, he was brought to the modern world from his savage reserve with his mother. Initially, they just want to find some joy in the modern World State. However, with the appearance of John Savage, the base of the whole society is strongly shaken by his eccentric behaviour. People cannot understand why he does not like to enjoy life or take soma, just like the others do. And his deep fear to have sex with Lenina also makes her quite confused, since in their opinions, sex is a social activity rather than a means of reproduction and is encouraged from early childhood. “Everyone belongs to everyone else” is what Lenina quotes mostly, but also what John hates most. Instead, John Savage likes poetry best, and his desired life is the one in Othello’s world, which is told impossible to materialize by them. John, excruciated, suffers under all the misunderstanding and criticism. He killed his own mother in the hospital and he tried to teach those premature children what the real life should be like. He even tried to throw away the soma, which is essential for all the others. In the end, all his effort failed and people still do not listen to him. John chose to live away from the city, but the reporters find him later in the countryside. What make them more surprised is that John is caning himself. Finally, John hangs himself. Although John does not succeed in changing the way modern people think and live, his behaviour sill shows that such a kind of society, without any obstacle or setback, is unbearable for a man like John who has a goal and wants to work hard to reach it. That is also the most illogical part of Huxley’s civilization. Because of this, the author referred to Brave New World as a negative utopia, namely, a dystopia. Besides the main idea, the names of the characters are all very interesting, too. Take Henry Ford as an example. Henry Ford originally introduced mass production in car industry, which made the process of making a car much faster and easier. The reproductive technology used in the Brave New World has quite a number of similarities. Both of them can produce a large number of ‘products’ in a short time and each product are almost the same. In this way, the author named the Lord as Henry Ford to satire the improper way of producing the human being. Moreover, the name John Savage, especially the word ‘Savage’ is very ironical. Although John comes from the savage reserve, it seems that among all those so-called modern human beings, it is only John who is the most clever and clear person. The name Bernard Marx seems to be from Karl Marx, one of the greatest revolutionary leaders credited as the founder of communism. Why does the author choose Marx as the name of the character? Maybe it is because the Brave New World has some factors which are similar to communism, both of which will let people satisfied with their jobs and enjoy their lives.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-02 04:22:18.
(Language: English)
I'm really not one who enjoys reading science fiction or books about dystopian societies, however I have to admit that Huxley's view of our future has a lot of truth in it; consumerism, drugs, permiscuous sex, cloning, instant gratification, entertainment via technology. Of course I'm sure that all of these things were around in one form or another in Huxley's day and were his inspiration for the story, but you can definitely see how we are moving ever closer to the life he predicted in the World State depicted in Brave New World. It was an interesting read and definitely provided food for thought. The scariest thing about our future society is the replacement of our Lord with Ford and the complete lack of meaningful relationships. One of tne main of the characters in the book, The Savage (an outsider to the World State), argues that without love, art, science and religion, which were sacrificed to create social stability, life is not worth living. I could reduce his list to one word: love. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
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Sarah posted a review at 2010-02-16 01:07:56.
(Language: English)
A fascinating insight into dystopian society. A classic and in every way worth reading. Our AP English teacher asked us which world we would rather live in if given the choice: Brave New World or George Orwell's 1984. It is disputable which society is more terrifying: while the inhabitants of Airstrip One have to live with and comprehend their oppression, they at least have some level of awareness and enlightenment that the government of Brave New World seems to have done away with. In 1984, the Party attempts to exterminate any vestiges of individual thought, which it views as counterproductive to social stability. The Brave New World government does the same thing; the difference is that in Brave New World, the attempts are successful, with the help of technology and the production of drugs like soma. Ignorance is dangerous-it is the ignorance of the people that allows the World State to remain standing. 1984 shows us that as long as people still have their own minds, someone will revolt. It also shows us, however, the power in the hands of the dystopian society; the driven passions of one or a few people cannot tear down their "stability." So if revolting would do no good, I think that I would rather live my life in a state of drug-induced happiness. I suppose it would be better than no happiness at all, if that were my only other option. This book is enrapturing and crazy; it twists and turns. It knows no boundaries.
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