Customer Reviews

Brave New World

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I read this book in university and it was one of my favorites. It is such a warped look a utopian society but it is everything we want....isn't it. Casual sex is the norm and the introduction of soma, a drug with no side effects makes the future and adults playground. There is no families, babies are not born, but decanted test tubes. People are born into a specific class, and intellegence is altered. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll just say that I highly recomend reading it if you like dystopic fiction or sience fiction.

While this personally did not have the impact on me that '1984' nor 'The Handmaiden's Tale' did, it is a quality allegory that should be read by everyone who is concerned about the future of mankind. Huxley presents a series of characters who change in their level of importance as the story progresses but, in the end, we are left with a sobering message about the potential outcome of any political/social/religious extreme if it is lived out to its ultimate limit. The world of complete ease, sexuality and consumerism leads to a life without inner meaning and emptiness. The world of totalitarianism and dogmatic religiosity leads to a life of self-guilt and suffering that goes on without end. The other key message that the author brings out is the fact that there is a great deal of difference between thinking and pondering personal and social change and the actual mechanism of acting on these thoughts and bringing this change about.

a heavy reading I must confess. luckly the story was short, i'm not sure I would have finished the book otherwise. I'm suprised by the ability of the writter to express our society trends. I'm keeping this book and be sure to read it in 20yrs or so

Aldous Huxley was born in England in 1894 and saw his first novel - "Crome Yellow" published in 1921. He is best known for his anti-utopian novel "Brave New World", which was first published in 1932.

"Brave New World" set in the year 632 AF - 632 years after the first Model T Ford has rolled off the production lines. (Henry Ford has, it would seem, become the world's main deity, and the "Sign of the T" is commonplace). The 'civilised world' has become a radically different place - although everyone is, technically, happy it's cost a certain amount of 'free will'. The family unit no longer exists, with children now being created in a laboratory. Since the overwhelming majority of women are 'created' sterile, the entire population's physical and intellectual development can be carefully controlled from conception. This level of control ensure that - with only very few exceptions - people are happy fulfilling their pre-determined role in society. (Members of the 'Epsilon Minus' class are bred for menial labour, while - at the other end of the scale - members of the 'Alpha Plus' class are bred for their intelligence). Promiscuous sex and recreational drug use is encouraged, and only a deviant would consider abstaining from either. Similarly, spending time alone is considered abnormal, while monogamy is practically a perversion. One of the book's key characters is Bernard Marx - an Alpha-Plus, who has some rather dubious tendencies. He's planning on taking a rather unusual trip to a "Savage Reservation" : in these places, the primitives who live there have children and raise families in the time honoured fashion. They also grow old and don't consider cleanliness to be "next to fordliness".

I've slightly mixed feelings about "Brave New World". I was a little disappointed - though, with the constant comparisons to "1984", I think my expectations of it were maybe a little off. The elements of the book dealing with indoctrination, conditioning and bio-engineering are certainly relevant to today's world - however, the book just didn't make the impact it could have. Part of the problem, for me, was that the book's focus shifted so often from one character to another - next to Winston Smith, the characters that appeared here were a little flimsy. Similarly, I didn't find Huxley's Brave New World quite inspiring the same depth of feeling as Orwell's Oceania. Nevertheless, it's certainly worth reading, and I can see why it's so highly thought of.

We are treated to a glimpse of a possible future world where friendship can still exist. This is a story of a hand full of individuals in a world that emphasizes "Community, Identity, Stability" that find each other and discus subjects that most of the people of that time cold not understand. However we do. Naturally the author Aldous Huxley builds his own scenarios and draws his own conclusions through the characters speeches and description of experimental history.

Bernard Marx who is about to lose his job because he is different (very different) form those around him, decides to take a vacation to visit the Zuni's. There he meets a misplaced person named John. Together with the help of Bernard's friend Henry they intend to change the world. So they find out the world is incapable of changing.

We get an Ayn Rand type speech from Mustapha Mond one of the world controllers' that helps you realize that in this brave new world the three friends are the anomaly. How can this enigma be solved?

Do not forget to watch the 1998 movie version with Leonard Nimoy as Mustapha Mond.