Brave New World

Would a future totalitarian society be all that bad if every single person - from the day they were born - was truly happy with their lot in life? That is the question Brave New World asks, and Aldous Huxley leaves it up to the reader to decide the answer. I've re-read this book several times and each time I'm glad I did. That is because it is an enjoyable story, first and foremost. The characters have sufficient depth, the locales are peculiar and attention-grabbing, and the underlying message is enough to make you stop and think. Brave New World revolves around three main characters. First, there's Bernard Marx, an elite "Alpha Plus" who is uncertain about how he fits into society. Then, there is Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe, a man who reads The Holy Bible and Shakespeare, despite his society's ban on these "pornographic books". Finally, we have John (named John Savage when he visits Bernard's world), the son of two World State citizens raised in the remote hostility of a Savage Reservation. The interactions and thoughts of these three characters forms the skeleton of the book, and it is through their eyes that we view the World State of the future. The reader learns about how babies are "decanted" in the future, how they are bred and conditioned for their role in society, how entertainment plays a role in keeping them happy, and how unhappiness can be quickly whisked away by a gramme of Soma, a powerful drug that has no debilitating side-effects. Of course, it would be easy for the author to jab his finger at you from the pages and scream "SEE?!? SEE?!?! See what a society without freedom looks like? Isn't it horrible?", but he doesn't. In fact, the world of Year of Our Ford 632 doesn't seem so bad at all when you consider disease, war, and unhappiness have all been snuffed out of existence. But at what cost? Midway through the book, we meet John. Biologically, a son of the World State, but philosophically a student of the old religions and old literature of the old world. But don't misunderstand. John is not necessarily the book's "everyman". Many of his emotions and actions (like self-flagellation) are still foreign to a modern reader. Bernard - who has at this point accepted that he is "different" compared to his fellow World State-ers - brings John to his home to show him off to his peers. Naturally, many aspects of the World State are appalling to John, and this conflict continues all the way to the book's conclusion. Something I found remarkable is that the author, Huxley, gives us plenty of chances to sympathize with many of the various characters. Bernard Marx is not the "good guy" nor the "bad guy". In another story, the World Controller Mond might have been the evil villain trying to destroy any freedom, and John Savage might have been the passionate hero who wins the pretty girl and ultimately brings that freedom to society. But none of this occurs. The characters in Brave New World are just people, thrust into a world of perfect happiness and perfect harmony, and they each react in their own way. Sure, it's cute to see how the author envisioned the future, and perhaps a bit scary to see some of his "predictions" coming true, but that isn't what makes this book great. What makes it great is that it allows the reader to come to his/her own conclusions. To you, perhaps the World State seems terrifying, or maybe it seems like a nice place to live. To you, perhaps John Savage is the hero, or perhaps the logic and compassion in Mustapha Mond's final words and final actions resonate with you more. Maybe you can relate best to Bernard Marx's flawed personality. I suppose the choice is really yours, because Huxley doesn't make that choice for you. A lot of people say that the story is about entertainment media taking over our society, or about drugs, or about a controlling government, or about morality. I don't think Huxley intended the book to be exclusively about any one of those things, although of course the book makes a statement about them all. As stated above, Brave New World lets you draw your own conclusions about the World State instead of trying to grab you by the collar while screaming "SEE?!? SEE?!? See how horrible a world full of drugs and genetic manipulation would be?" Now, I rate this book a full 5 stars, but here is the "but..." of the review. For the majority of the book, we are treated to a fascinating romp through future science, future sociology, and future beliefs. However, toward the end of the book, John and Mustapha Mond engage in a very lengthy conversation about society and morals and God. To me, I really enjoyed this part. It was a great answer to my lingering question of "Why did society become this way?". To others, it might come off as a preachy, show-offy exposition from Huxley's own heart. Mustapha makes a point about human psychology, and John counters with Shakespeare. Mustapah points to the World State's "happiness", and John counters with God. Mustapha talks about bliss, and John talks about struggling for joy. I enjoyed it, but you might not, especially since it breaks away from the overall pace and feel of the rest of the book. Nevertheless, this book is well worth reading. It can be finished by a diligent reader in a weekend, and it contains a lot of thought-provoking ideas that will stick with you long after the final page.

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was published in 1932, a fact that is truly astonishing if you pick this novel up blindly. Set in a dystopian London, this book that I’d gladly describe as cinematic, follows future citizens through their nightmarish brave new world, with little to no resemblance to our own. While Huxley’s novel wasn’t specifically written for me and my literary tastes, I am continuously amazed by this book. Keeping the time that it was written in mind makes for a truly captivating reading experience as Huxley has managed to weave a story that’s timeless and interesting and terrifying all at once. The protagonist of Brave New World is Bernard Marx, an outsider in this seemingly perfect world where everyone has their place. Although he was born an Alpha Plus, the highest tier in this New World’s society, he’s never felt that he fit in. He feels that he’s always had to fight for respect, whereas with any other Alpha, it’s automatically given. Despite this fact, he doesn’t particularly identify with the lower level Epsilon’s or any other caste, for that matter. Nor does he really fight against these social constraints. Bernard’s main companion is Lenina Crowe, a nurse in the “nursery” where all the lives in this world come from. Unlike Bernard, Lenina is only too happy to accept things the way they are. The main idea of Huxley’s world seems to be to erase emotion and sentiment in its entirety. There’s no place for love or monogamy, for hate or passion, for any type of longstanding commitment or relationship, including family. This society thrives on logical thinking, therefore all evidence of history and deities have been erased. The closest thing to a belief system or god they have is Ford Company founder, Henry Ford, known for his innovation, vision of the future, and ability to get things done. Huxley’s choice of Ford as a messianic figure goes to show that the most important value of this world is production. So why has Brave New World withstood the test of time? Why hasn’t it faded into obscurity like so many other dystopian novels just in the last ten years? I think there are two main reasons. The first, and the one that astounds me most about this book, is its timelessness. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this book was written and published yesterday. The language Huxley used is still incredibly modern and easy to read. That along with the ideas he fearlessly writes about, such as promiscuity and recreational drug use, aren’t something you’d expect from a book written in the early 20th century. Secondly, there is the premise of the book. The idea of all of humanity being a godless, loveless people, is a challenging thought to say the least. On the other hand, it has restored my faith in our race. Surely, we’d never let this happen. And our steadfast faith is for the better, right? My conscience wants to say yes, but logic says we’d be better off without the sentiment. The fact that it got me thinking about these things is why this book is still relevant. It challenges everything we know and hold dear about humanity and the way we are. All of that leaves the question; is Brave New World a good book? For arguments sake, I’m going to say yes. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, it’s not the best science fiction book ever written, and at times the science side of things is complicated and tends to drag on. However Huxley made his point here, which I think was to leave us with questions. What if this was the way things were? Cold, godless, ignorant and adolescent in many ways. This novel is so exceptionally well written that it held my interest despite the fact that it’s not something I’d choose to read outside of an academic setting. One of my favorite quotes was during Bernard’s introduction, which summed up Bernard’s character as well as any of us who have ever felt like an outsider. “Those who feel despised do well to look despising.” In conclusion, I think I can easily say that Aldous Huxley was a visionary. He envisioned and created a world not entirely unlike our own, and fearlessly wrote about things that could make literary critics today shudder. Brave New World is an adventure, despite its like of action, and a poignant look at what exactly makes humans, human.

This is another one of those "dystopian" novels that seemed popular in the first half of the 20th century. It fits in perfectly with novels like "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451". Of those three novels, I believe this came first. The funny thing about this book is that the future doesn't seem completely terrible, unlike the latter two novels, although I might compare the entire population of the earth (in "Brave New World") to the proletariats (in "1984"). See, in this novel nobody seems to be unhappy at all. They are literally born to do the jobs they will perform for their entire adult lives, and love those jobs. Each person is born into a certain "caste" and they are happy to be in that caste, and envy no one in any other castes. The lowest of the low are referred to as epsilon - minus, semi-morons. This is interesting, as epsilon is a common mathematical number that defines how much error a function may allow. In this book, the epsilons (as a general class), represent the lowest possible mental and social state of humanity. Of course, their are more intelligent people as well. The castes are, from highest to lowest: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon. That's quite a bit like a typical grading system of A, B, C, D, F. As you can imagine, the Alphas are the smartest, and the list goes down from there. But the thing is, each caste member is truly satisfied by their caste membership. The novel makes a pretty logical reason why the caste members are happy with their lot in life. Sex is treated in a completely pragmatic fashion, and emotions are almost completely subdued. With the help of a super narcotic, the populace is able to enjoy life and extravagant recreation - devoid of all sadness and driven by a natural tendency to "consume". Everything is in place to allow a person to go through life almost without any spikes in emotion. Even death is a conditioned response. The missing element in this picture is humanity. Essentially, those in control have tried their best to keep any highs and lows within a certain amount of error (epsilon). The central question is the running of civilization vs. the individual spirit. It seems that, to keep a civilization going, we need to make certain sacrifices individually - and it's easy to make those sacrifices when we don't realize that we are making those sacrifices. However, there are about 5 major characters, and I think each one represents a different amount of humanity - or at least different levels of humanity. In this version of the future, it's possible to step outside the bounds of what is acceptable, but you are not doomed if you do so. Instead, you are offered a quite reasonable accommodation. Aldous Huxley offers extremely complex characters, but each is allowed to act within a certain epsilon of ranges - he wrote in very delicate shades of meaning. In fact, I'm pretty certain that I've never read an author who has presented me with more "gray areas" within the thinking of each character. Mr. Huxley is a very deep and complicated author who was ahead of his time. Those novels "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451" presented dystopias that were easily regarded as undesirable, whereas "Brave New World" presents a future that is not so obviously flawed. In fact, my wife asserts that this future was actually desirable - but she's a bleeding heart socialist, so that doesn't surprise me. "Brave New World" does, in my mind, present a more deviously dystopian future than the other two novels. I believe each of the major characters is meant to ask, in total, all of the questions we, the readers, might have. In the end, this novel was gripping and a serious page turner. Every night, it inspired a great debate between my wife and me, and its overall game plan is one of subtlety instead of shock. I'll bet that, after you read the novel, you will be able to spot this particular plot in many movies - particularly "The Matrix".

Brave New World is nothing short of a literary masterpiece that grabs you from the very first page and refuses to let go. Aldous Huxley crafts a world that feels eerily familiar and yet disturbingly alien. The society he builds is dazzlingly precise in its control, unnervingly efficient in its pursuit of happiness, and terrifyingly believable. The writing itself is elegant and sharp, full of vivid imagery that makes the futuristic setting feel tangible. Every character, from the rebellious Bernard to the idealized John the Savage, is fully realized and layered, forcing you to confront complex questions about freedom, conformity, and human nature. The themes are timeless. Huxley explores technology, social engineering, and the price of stability in ways that are surprisingly relevant even decades after publication. This book challenges you to think, question, and reflect on the world around you, and it lingers in your mind long after the last sentence. The pacing is excellent, moving smoothly between philosophical reflection, gripping narrative, and intense emotional moments. I found myself reading with awe and unease simultaneously. The dystopia feels frighteningly possible, and yet Huxley writes with such precision and clarity that it is impossible not to be captivated. This is the kind of book that sparks conversation, debate, and introspection. If you are looking for a novel that is intelligent, provocative, and unforgettable, Brave New World is essential reading. It is a brilliant, thought-provoking work that deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf. Five stars without hesitation. It challenges the mind, stirs the imagination, and leaves an indelible impression.

First. The download version of this story is difficult to read. It is not correctly formatted, makes errors with punctuation, and adds line breaks in the middle of sentences. Whomever formatted this did not edit it with any attention. Thus 3 stars. It is very difficult to read. Second, I've read BNW several times in my life and found the general theme and topic extraordinary and provocative. Now after several readings, I find the writing to be decidely inferior. Huxley has little skill in developing characters and tends to make them all flat, cliched, as if they are in a Passion Play walking onstage with a sign that says Lust or Greed. He also is unskilled in plot either driven by character or from structure. The characters lack any kind of coherent depth of human nature. But the theme and topic are inventive to the point of terrifying. This is a story about how much society can construct humans with biology and psychology and whether a human nature exists and cannot be designed out. Huxley leaves it to you to decide where that human nature, if it exists, comes from, and that is largely irrelevant. Science is 100 years past Huxley's science of 1923 and given his family, he knew the best science of his time. He makes you consider whether society can design people and if that is good. His constant uses of Marxist terms and concepts clearly indicates he is following the left, progressive, socialist, communist belief that government is a tool for making better people and Huxley clearly questions that belief. And past that, he forces the reader to consider exactly what human and human nature means. In summary, this is a great book trapped inside a poor novel. I would recommend everyone read it, literary flaws and all.

A truly riveting novel by Huxley! There is something so unsettling in the book's seemingly simple premise of a world where people are socially and physically engineered to either be adept or inept; able to think for themselves or to blindly follow orders; able to indulge in life's pleasures or be relegated to a life of labor because the alternative is inconceivable. Mass-hedonism is the central focus of the book, where people are conditioned to avoid emotion, instead preferring to offload their feelings through the use of a drug that inundates them with endorphins. While ostensibly a utopia, the hellish world that the people inhabit is nothing short of a jail cell with an invisible barrier designed to keep people in line because they'd prefer the safety in absolute comfort as compared to the freedom in emotional turmoil and human triumph through suffering. I don't think I can ever truly convey or rave or even vouge enough for the reading of this book, so BUY it, and you won't regret a single second that you did.

Introduction This book was one of the most difficult books I have ever read. No, it was not difficult in the sense that the reading was hard - in fact, the writing style I very much enjoyed unlike 1984 by George Orwell. The reason why it was so hard for me to read was that I instantly saw parallels between the book and the present day. From the book's obsession with sexual activity and the "next big thing" to the escapist type of reality in which the character's occupied seemed disturbingly like culture today. Important Points In the world that Huxley created, the men and women are merely shells of real humanity. They have all the physical appearances of real people - however, they go through life numb, unfeeling; drugged and pacified by their diversions and addictions to government supplied media and drugs. Hollow men who neither feel nor truly desire to feel anything deep - except for some strange cases. Those strange cases provide the very medium with which Huxley tells the story. For the first half of the story, the book is told from the perspective of Bernard Marx - a rather pathetic and sensitive man who was born - or should I say engineered? - into the highest class of society. Marx, however, immediately does not fit into society due to his abnormally small stature which is highly similar to members of lower class. Marx has a prolonged superiority complex that makes him a brooding bitter, and - to use a quote from Toy Story - "a sad, strange little man" that ostracizes him from the rest of society. The latter half of the story is told from the perspective of another man who is able to very well look at society from the outside in - I will not spoil who it is though I will say he is probably the most "human" of all the characters here. Silence Is Violent ("Car Radio", Twenty-One Pilots) In this world, one simply does not have time for silence. There is always things to do - from watching the latest feely (reminiscent of risque and nonsensical movies today) to engaging in games with one another, one can just not be solely alone in silence except for perhaps when they are asleep (though it is encouraged to leave one's radio or television on to enjoy one's rest more). As one of the leaders of this strange world put it, [A]t sixty our powers and tastes are what they were at seventeen. Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking - thinking!... Now - such is progress - the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think - or if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always soma, delicious soma... To have even a notion of wanting to be alone is seen as irregular and almost rebellious against the state - antithetical to the World State's Motto of "COMMUNITY. IDENTITY. STABILITY" Everyone Belongs to Everyone Else This is one of the most disturbing aspects of Huxley's society. Their view on sex is, as Bernard himself noticed, infantile and impulsive. When it comes to the State's citizen's sex lives, it is very base. Family has been dissolved thanks to the advancements of science - people are born out of test tubes and conditioned to never get too close to one another. Almost to maintain a certain distance from each other at all times. Now that fetal development in the lab has been perfected and the family has been dissolved, what can there be left to do with sex? Have fun of course. The book explains this rather uncomfortable subject a bit more in depth, but citizens in the world state are encouraged to sleep around all the time with different partners. Thanks to powerful contraceptives and the dissolution of family, one does not have to worry about any of the baggage that might come from having intercourse with multiple different people. This reminded me a lot of the hook-up culture that is prevalent in today's media and, frankly, all around us. People still have to deal with baggage, but that has not stopped them from trying to pursue this type of ideal. Meaningless! Meaningless! As one gets to the climax of the story, there is a very interesting dialogue between one of the key characters and a leader of the State. Actually, I think the entire dialogue may be the biggest highlight from the book. To summarize without giving too much away, the character remarks at how devoid of meaning the lives of the World State's citizens are. By extension, the character goes onto say how this is not life and how he wishes for life with all its faults and glories. Without them, he contends, it is not really life that you are living but something base - sub-human almost. A point that certainly makes one think. Conclusion As I read this book, it affected me personally. I got mad and I got frustrated. I see that our society could end up this way. Though Orwell may have been right about some governmental ideas, Huxley is the winner in predicting how people may be made complacent to authorities. As I finished the book and ruminated on the ending, I thought for a long while on it. Then, my frustration went away and was replaced with hope. There is hope in this real world and there is meaning. As long as people long for that hope while it may be found and pursue meaning - a meaning that goes beyond themselves - then that will be our world - a brave one. Works Cited Ghigo1972. "Community, Identity, Stability." DeviantArt. N.p., 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. Teecup. "Life Is a Tale Told By an Idiot by Teecup." Redbubble. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

Great hardcover book. Larger print, Uneven pages

Pros: A classic that holds up, font and text is clearly readable, the introduction is brief an concise. Cons: From the pictures on Amazon page you cannot clearly tell that the illustration on the hard cover is not engraved into the book itself but just a dusk jacket. I have not found anything in description on the Amazon page that specifies otherwise . For a 90th Anniversary Edition I expected a more premium care/build of the book.

Perfeito!

Estupendo libro, leanlo

Aldous Huxley has depicted a dystopian world in this book where children are no longer born naturally and are rather genetically engineered and grown in decanters. Every child born has a predestined caste depending upon the conditioning of its decanted embryo. The residents of the world state are segregated into alphas, bravos, gammas, deltas and epsilons with alphas being the highest in the degree of precedence and epsilons being the lowest. A decanted embryo is raised according to the caste it is predestined to born into. Alphas are breeded to be intellectuals and have excellent physical and mental conditioning whereas epsilons are conditioned to have stunted growth and low IQ so as to perform menial jobs. Once a child is born from the embryo , it is made to undergo a training program wherein it's reactions to various stimuli is engineered depending upon its caste and future job role. The juveniles are exposed to hypnopaedic learning or sleep teaching and also encouraged to perform erotic play to encourage promiscuity. In the world state, there is no concept of religion, family or marriage. Women are born freemartins and don't give birth. All the residents are non- chastate and are promiscuous ("Everyone belongs to everyone else"). The world is depicted as technologically advanced where everyone commutes in a helicopter and residents are secure from all diseases and worries. They are kept in a false state of happiness with sex, drugs and music. The residents of the world are conditioned not to question their existence or have an opinion on things. There are no history books or literature available to them. 'Soma' is a magical drug which removes their worries, anger and frustration and calms them. The drug is rationed to all the residents and they all are shown as its slave. The world depicted in the story shows no struggle for the residents and all of them are kept in a false state of happiness. Terms like vibro vacuum massage, sec hormone chewing gum and feelies ( movies where you feel all sensations) are a part of the false utopian world of the residents. Other than the residents of the state world, there also exists 'savage' reservations. There is no specific protagonist in the story. There are various characters like Bernard Marx, Lenina, Helmholtz, John (savage), Linda ,Mustafa Mond etc. The story takes Bernard and Lenina to a savage reservation in Mexico where they meet John and Linda and bring them along to their world in London. The rest of the novel involves the Savage's point of view and his feeling with respect to the so called utopian world. The story with a few turn of events change the Savage's perception of the world completely. The book is an excellent read. This book is equally good if not better than Orwell's 1984. Highly recommended.

Un grand classique qui a un peu vieilli mais dont la lecture est agréable, car le style aujourd'hui suranné est charmant. Un bon moment. Les traductions françaises n'étant pas exceptionnelles, on profite de la version originale, particulièrement bien écrite