# Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1 Viewer)



## Lacrymosa (Jul 20, 2008)

What do you think of this book?

I don't mind it. Simply.


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## weak sauce (Jul 23, 2008)

it was an awesome read, and way ahead of its time. more importantly....it was an awesome read.


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## Mike C (Jul 24, 2008)

Lacrymosa said:


> What do you think of this book?
> 
> I don't mind it. Simply.



Is that it? What exactly was the point of posting? Will you be starting other threads (duplicating others that have already been done) of all the books you don't have an opinion about?


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## Olly Buckle (Aug 13, 2008)

Very depressing, I preferred Island, the same sort of bastards came out on top at the end but at least you felt the good guys had had an innings.


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## GoodmanBrown (Aug 20, 2008)

Has anyone read Huxley's _The Doors of Perception_ or _Heaven and Hell_? I just discovered them yesterday while looking for some related stuff on Amazon. He apparently provides a pretty decent argument for the 'spiritual use' of LSD. The synopsis caught my interest, so I'll probably check it out.

I'm not too crazy about _Brave New World_, although I respect it. I prefer _1984_.


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## Lyonidus (Aug 20, 2008)

I thought this book was very good. I really enjoyed it and considered it extremely important to read considering the age that were living in.


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## weak sauce (Aug 22, 2008)

Lyonidus said:


> I thought this book was very good. I really enjoyed it and considered it extremely important to read considering the age that were living in.




nostradamus aint got shit on aldous huxley!!


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## Kinbote (Aug 24, 2008)

Loved it. Preferred it to 1984, which owes a little to Brave New World in the first place, although I appreciate Orwell as a better writer. Didn't much like the denouement. Like Lyonidus said, I think it is incredibly relevant today.

Apparently a movie's in the works.

K.


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## spider8 (Aug 25, 2008)

Brave New World: Good, clever ideas but a lack of sparkle in the prose and plot. We don't have to chemically retard people from birth to have a class that's happy to do menial work- we can either ship them in from the third world or just not educate them well enough here.


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## For me with Squalor (Oct 14, 2008)

I read Doors of Perception as well as Heaven and Hell, I think its a must read. I cannot begin to describe to you the value that those writings contain. Its mind-blowing.
I think they also help in understanding what Huxley was talking about with his lucid dreams in BNW (even though it was written later). H and Hell is actually a documented account of Huxley being used as a guinea pig for testing the effects of mescalin on humans. And his conclusions afterward are inspired I believe. It changed the way I view a lot of things.

Spider8: are you insinuating that the average population of the US (i assume you are from the US) is well educated?


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## Tom88 (Oct 14, 2008)

GoodmanBrown said:


> I'm not too crazy about _Brave New World_, although I respect it. I prefer _1984_.



I feel the same way. Perhaps if I'd read it before 1984 I might feel differently, but it was impossible not to draw comparisons the whole time -- and 1984 always came up ahead.

Admittedly I haven't read it in some time, but I remember comparing the overall tone to Orwell's classic - right from the get go I didn't really "buy" into Huxley's world the way I did Orwell's. The opening chapters had some students studying ye ol' way of life, and constantly exclaiming how gob-smacked they were that we were monogamous etc. Basically Huxley was employing no subtlety at all to show the contrasts of his world and ours. This set me off on the wrong foot from the get-go.

Bernard wasn't a protagonist I particularly warmed to, though I suppose I understood his bitterness. He wasn't trying to go against things because they were wrong, he was doing it because he was neglected, or different. Sour grapes that I initially disguised as a sense of righteousness. I thought John the Savage might become the character to show him the error of his thinking, but that never really took off.

The final nail was the ending with John. It just felt rushed and silly to me.
I have to remember the context of this book, that it was vastly ahead of the curb, but compared to 1984's gritty, real universe this one came off as silly and gormless.


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## Mike C (Oct 16, 2008)

Tom88 said:


> I have to remember the context of this book, that it was vastly ahead of the curb, but compared to 1984's gritty, real universe this one came off as silly and gormless.



The mistake is to draw comparisons just because they both depict a dystopian future. 1984 was a satire on post-war Britain. BNW was more projecting towards a logical future and he in fact was the first to predict the globalisation of corporations. The only thing they really both have in common is the conclusion - the individual will always lose, and freedom is an illusion.


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## moderan (Oct 24, 2008)

True...but they'll forever be associated. 1984 is, as you say, satire on a specific time and place, Swiftian, and Brave New World more Wellsian in terms of setup and execution. However that final message and their ubiquity in the marketplace keeps them as bookends.
There are certainly more believable dystopian novels to be found, but those don't have the notoriety of either piece.


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## froman (Dec 6, 2008)

I just read it about a month ago.  What a beginning! Wow.  It was like "bam, bam, bam".  At first I didn't know what the hell was going on, but when I realized I thought it was a cool idea.

It also had a total protagonist shift halfway through.  I liked that though.  I was much more interested with the Savage than I was with Bernard.  I liked the ending as well.


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## janyoung101 (Dec 10, 2008)

i agree. this is a great book and almost alarming considering he was describing society today.


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## Capulet (Jan 8, 2009)

Tom88 said:


> Admittedly I haven't read it in some time, but I remember comparing the overall tone to Orwell's classic - right from the get go I didn't really "buy" into Huxley's world the way I did Orwell's. The opening chapters had some students studying ye ol' way of life, and constantly exclaiming how gob-smacked they were that we were monogamous etc. Basically Huxley was employing no subtlety at all to show the contrasts of his world and ours. This set me off on the wrong foot from the get-go.



I preferred the writing in 1984 as well, but appreciate that the books are foils for each other. While I think the world of 1984 is more realistic in its depiction, the idea presented in BNW seems to be coming true.

Mankind does not need to be screwed under an iron thumb to achieve power (1984), if you entertain them sufficiently and distract them with leisure they will happily hand the keys to the kingdom to the power hungry.


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## Mike C (Jan 9, 2009)

Capulet said:


> While I think the world of 1984 is more realistic in its depiction...



That's because 1984 is a satire and BNW is a fantasy.


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## jmascia (Jan 23, 2009)

I just taught this book to my high schoolers. I think it is an excellent book with plenty of social commentary that still applies today. However, my students did not feel the same way. (Sigh) I don't think any of them actually read it.


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## spider8 (Feb 7, 2009)

For me with Squalor said:


> Spider8: are you insinuating that the average population of the US (i assume you are from the US) is well educated?


 
Apologies for not seeing this sooner. Maybe you won't see this reply. 

I'm from the UK and a lot of people doing menial duties are desperate immigrants from poor countries, or there's plenty of british people also who (I think) are smart but lack of a high standard of education has the same effect. Especially the older generation. The only difference from reality and _Brave New World_ is that they are not happy, hence the chemical retardation. 
Now we've flipped the coin: The under-thirties are better educated but there's till too many degree owners now (younger generation) and not enough proffessional jobs. Educating people to degree-standard does not itself create jobs.
Many degree owners now do menial work.


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## Mike C (Feb 9, 2009)

spider8 said:


> The only difference from reality and _Brave New World_ is that they are not happy, hence the chemical retardation.



A good place to counterpoint how Orwell dealt with the menial classes - the Proles; Cheap alcohol. The Party/Orwell recognised that the proletarians would be if not happy, then contented with their lot as long as they could buy cheap beer and gin at the end of a working day. A more relevant form of chemical retardation.


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## Mike C (Feb 9, 2009)

jmascia said:


> I just taught this book to my high schoolers. I think it is an excellent book with plenty of social commentary that still applies today. However, my students did not feel the same way. (Sigh) I don't think any of them actually read it.



Sad, a missed opportunity. I think it depends on how you sell it to them before they start to read.


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## Dr. Malone (Feb 9, 2009)

I've always been more interested in Huxley for his mescaline advocacy, but I've recently decided to read BNW.  I'm looking forward to it.

Didn't Wells also write a novel in the BNW/1984 genre?  For some reason I'm thinking he coined "New World Order".


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## spider8 (Feb 11, 2009)

Mike C said:


> A good place to counterpoint how Orwell dealt with the menial classes - the Proles; Cheap alcohol. The Party/Orwell recognised that the proletarians would be if not happy, then contented with their lot as long as they could buy cheap beer and gin at the end of a working day. A more relevant form of chemical retardation.


 
I forgot about that, it's so many years since I read it. I know that about half the people on my nightshift tonight will hit the bottle when we get home in the morning. Cheap chemical retardation, relaxant, comforter, sleep medicine, companion. (companion? ! )


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