classics

In the society that revers Henry Ford, the father of mass production, as God, people are predestined to be born into one of the social classes. The lucky few are made to be born physically attractive, possessing supreme intellect and will later become scientists and governors. Others are deliberately made to be born crippled, ugly and retarded to different extends will eventually become manual-labor workers. However, through hypnosis the society makes sure that its every single member will absolutely love his life, no matter what he or she is doing. People's lives are essentially reduced to pre-programmed existence, but people don't mind, since they don't realize that things can be different.

Nevertheless, in this society there are no wars, no decease, no violence. Everybody is happy, lives are simple but good. What could be possibly missing?

In Brave New World Huxley is trying to find out what makes one's life worth living. Beneath the sci-fi exterior of the Brave New World lie profound philosophical issues - the value of freedom of choice, and the ability to determine your own destiny.

I find BNW to be an excellent thought-provoking material. The quality of the novel is somewhat marred by the too-detailed description of this futuristic society. I think Huxley could have spent less time on that, and more time on attending to the really important issues in this novel. Nonetheless, Brave New World is a terrific novel, definitely a must for someone who enjoys thought-provoking literature.

This book is a true marvel. Huxley had tremendous insight considering this book was written in the twenties. This is very much the world as it is becoming in Western Civilization. Huxley paints the terrible picture of a perverted society where the individual is not capable of being an individual at all.

If I may then I'll compare this to 1984. This is totally different. Instead of a super state or "Big Brother" control over the masses through brute force, here we have a society of people who are living in a very perfect and peaceful world where people are bred through a mechanized process. The family has been successfully destroyed. Through genetics a caste has been put into place and each person seeks his own happiness or contentment.

Emotion is almost a crime in a Brave New World, while sexual promiscuity is encouraged. The people here never want to feel unpleasant and they ignore things that are plainly unjust. The people live in an almost drugged state where entertainment, recreational drug use, and easy sex are the substance of life.

This book really brings it all home. The problems today that face us are spinning out of control because the people care no longer. Morality in the freedom of the individual has been replaced in the Brave New World by a sort of political correctness that is more of a collective sense of what is right and what is wrong that is conditioned into the fetus as it is developing.

This is a great book today and will be a great book tomorrow as the human race is constantly increasing in technoloy. This book offers a choice between total security and safety (and a bland life) or an uncertain life where every man is his or her own master of destiny and may stand as a individual and free. We all must be forever on our guard of our rights or we may wake one day and find our selves living in a Brave New World.

I see that some reviewers are saying the threat of a world similar to that in this novel is farther away than ever. That would be nice. Increasingly, I'm interpreting sci-fi dystopian/utopian novels not as warnings of a dire future but condemnations of a nasty present. And though this book was written in 1932, as civilization increases its messages only become more pertinent. I just finished reading this book today, and it would probably be wise to wait longer before reviewing it, but what the hell. Huxley's "brave new world" can be read as a brilliant satire of consumer society and civilization itself, in which people avoid feelings, pain, and confusion through drugs, work, and a tunnel vision that is reinforced by societal "conditioning" (though I would argue it's part of human nature as well). I was troubled by the Savage's masochistic tendencies, and confused at times as to what Huxley really thought of the Savage's over the top behavior, in the pursuit of sensation and actual feeling. Because the Savage goes so far over the top by the end, I can only assume that Huxley feels he's gone too far in the opposite direction, pursuing pain and denial simply because they are values opposed to the society he hates. Though the book is a brilliant critique, not just of society but of the way the human mind strives to shut out anything unfamiliar and uncomfortable (this is where the book's true greatness lies, I think), I'd consider deducting a star simply because it's more of an essay told in novel form than a full-fledged story. Many pages are devoted to pure description of the society, albiet cloaked in the dialogue of characters rather than in the narration, and sometimes this overshadows the characterization and story development. But the opening chapter uses an interesting, almost "cinematic" technique of "crosscutting", which can be exasperating to read but is original at least. And the characters are actually quite convincing and recognizable, especially Bernard...it's as if George Costanza from Seinfeld wound up in a future society (see Woody Allen's Sleeper). It's brimming with fantastic ideas, but I don't think it's fantastic storytelling. Nonetheless, that a minor quibble, because it's very readable and extremely insightful. Pick it up right away. 5/6