By: Aldous Huxley Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Harper Perennial Modern Classics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: October 01, 2006 Release Date: October 17, 2006
Aldous Huxley's tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric vision of a "utopian" future—where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment.
Amazon.com: "Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come.
Dystopia, i long for thee I purchased Brave New World after reading 1984, and while I must confess that I enjoyed Orwell's book just a little bit more, Huxley's work was still an immediately compelling read. I think what I liked best was just how "british" this future was, by which I mean, everything seemed so very posh and hip and how we Americans would tend to see the British, as opposed to (sorry to keep drawing comparisons) 1984, whose depictions of England were much more how they might be viewed by say, South Africa.
Another thing I liked about the story was that I didn't particularly care for any of the characters that much. I actually enjoyed the disappointment of having each character let me down just when I thought their basic goodness would shine through. Initial protagonist Bernard Marx is far from the jaded idealist that one wants to believe he is, instead vying for vapid acceptance in the shallow society that he is ostracized from; Lenina Crowne does not become enlightened to Marx or the Savage's wyas of living and remains blissfully baffled by each of them, and wistfully goes on enjoying the meaningless sex and soma holidays; even John the Savage becomes unrelatable, turning into something of a zealous monk who becomes so averse to any feelings of personal satisfaction that he... well, read the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed Brave New World and will in all likelihood pick up Brave New World Revisited in the near future.
Good Book An excellent book with an excellent plot and perfect examples of external and internal conflicts among the characters and the society in which the characters live in.
A very confusing and incomprehensable book. The moment you read the first page of this book, you know you are in trouble. There is no clear explaining done about any of the super natural things going on in this utopian society the book tells about. The author seems to just assume that everyone will just imagine the same thoughts that popped into his own head as he was writing this book. The book seems to have no point either. First you have a weird society in the future. Then a man who was actually born from a former member of that society makes his way there. He doesn't adapt, and after his mother dies, he becomes a hermit and at the very end hangs himself. I will give credit for the author's imagination, given that the book was written in 1932. He talks about television and helicopters and jet planes as if they were an everyday thing.
not for weak swimmers The beginning is like swimming up current; the reader has to kind of force his/her way into the story, which is made hard by the boring torrents of Huxley's writing style and I often found myself wishing I'd be lodged under a rock to drown in the river that is this book, to just die there and be free from the thoughts that spill into these pages. But, I make it a point to always finish a book, and surprisingly, at times I found myself captivated in the story. The first few chapters make this book hard to get into, but, on the bright side, it picks up a little and there are some beautifully written descriptions that erase my regret for ever picking up this book. However, if you are impatient or easily bored, you won't make it far. If you want a story that'll captivate you from the first page, don't even bother with this book. Try "The Alchemist."
Satire at its best Huxley takes science fiction and satire to a new level with his novel, Brave New World. Brave New World provides an anti-utopian perspective taken place in the future in which technology, totalitarianism, and control rule. The story begins in a factory in which embryos are being genetically made. In this scene the Director show how people are conditioned and placed into classes and also forced to be subjected to meaningless sex. Unfortunate for them!!!!!. As the book continues Bernard Marx, Carl Marx, is later introduced as an unfit member of his social caste and till John is introduced he is our main character. He is later joined with Helmholtz, who is his best friend. Both have distinct discontent of the World State. Bernard's character begins to unfold in his love stricken attitude towards Lenina, which offers a sense of disfunctionality in a society in which love is not to be shown and we finally get a sense of emotion. While his love and lust for Lenina continues her character begins to spread as they travel to the savage world, New Mexico. In the Savage World they meet John, the main character. John reveals an incriminating secrete that forces the Director to resign. Furthermore, john leaves the wild to come to civilization with Bernard and Lenina. John begins to fall for Lenina and displays true affection towards her, but she only wants to have sex with him. In his stay in the city he becomes a show and tell by Bernard. Bernard becomes very famous and popular through his relationship with John. John and Bernard fall out and feud. While in civilization he has many altercations with angry mobs over soma, a drug that everyone takes when feeling depressed or overwhelmed. Unable to handle all the horrid actions of a World State, John runs away to a secluded island. He begins to reconcile with his actions in the world until citizens finally recognize him and force him to recount his stay in the World State. Overcome with disgust he commits suicide. Thorugh all the accounts of the main characters, Huxley proves that totalitarianism is an unsuccessful form of government by using satire, technology, and drugs.
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