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Brave New World

May 25th 2006 11:48

Australian edition

I just finished reading Brave New World the other day and I must say it was a jolly good read indeed! I picked it up a while ago after reading Orwell's 1984 and seeing as this book predated it by a good 16 years or so and is listed on pretty much every must-read sci-fi and literature list ever written, well, I figured it was worth reading.

I was very surprised by a lot of things in this book. 'Brave New World' was written in 1932 by Aldous Huxley and details the world far into our future, where people are genetically engineered rather than born and the population is kept in line with a drug called soma. All this I knew. What I didn't know was how frank it would be in regards to sex and how our attitudes towards it might change in a world where the idea of 'family' is null and void. It was very interesting, especially when you consider what era this book was written in.

'Brave New World' is often cited as a dystopian novel, meaning that it portrays a seemingly-perfect world that is actually quite rotten or flawed underneath. Huxley himself would renew and review his views on his most famous book several times in his lifetime, including in a followup essay-tome 'Brave New World Revisted' (1958). What I found with Brave New World was that it wasn't quite anywhere near as damning of it's depicted future as I had been led to believe it was. All manner of left-wing pinko commies seem ready to denounce the current order and how like our world has come to resemble the soma-addled class-defined society of Huxley's damning vision. But it isn't that damning! Yes, all the flaws are there to see, but the author's voice within seems quite ambiguous when it comes to certain aspects of his future... the 'Savage' rails against this perverted future but sometimes he is quite an unsympathetic figure, and on the flipside - the authoritarian figure of Mustapha Mond is probably the most likeable character in the whole book! What's going on everybody?

Aldous Huxley. Hated H.G. Wells. Loved mind-altering drugs.

Obviously, this is what is great about books. Anyone can read one and come away with a completely different interpretation, and I guess this is why everyone should decide for themself what they think of a book rather than take anyone's word as gospel. 'Brave New World' is definitely one thing, and that's important. It's probably a superior book when compared to '1984' if you want to talk in terms of ideas and the way in which they're presented for digestion. That's not to take anything away from '1984' either, they're very different books (and if anything, '1984' is probably better written). Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think 'Brave New World' is probably closer to Vonnegut than it is to Orwell.

Earlier edition. From wikipedia.org

The title of 'Brave New World' is a Shakespeare-reference and Shakespeare plays a pretty big part in the second half of the novel. There's a lot to address in this book and I wouldn't dream of addressing it all, but it's amazing how much is fit into so few pages. This book is easily a one of a kind and I can't believe I missed out on reading it at school - what a jip!

'Brave New World' was amazingly out of print for a while. Thankfully it's back, with a vengeance.

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Posted By: Luke - Category: Classics

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6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

May 25th 2006 22:57

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Fat Cult
Techbreak

Brave New World is a great read... I like the casual, clinical sex, and the mind-altering drugs..

Comment by Shani

June 9th 2006 03:10

The big question is : would you rather live on the savage reservation or in the 'brave new world' society?

Comment by Luke

June 10th 2006 00:58

Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior

Ooooo... dunno. The unlimited sex in the Brave New World society sounds pretty good but I don't think I could hack the endless work either.

Comment by Cibbuano

June 12th 2006 22:20

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Fat Cult
Techbreak

I'm all about the savage. He had that great savage sex, remember? Plus, when he arrived in the sterile world, didn't all the girls fawn over him? Or is that just how I remember it?

Comment by Luke

June 13th 2006 00:03

Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior

Yeah they all love him... best of both worlds I guess.

Comment by Anonymous

August 25th 2007 04:10

can some one tell me where entertainment machiens are in the bookYour text goes here

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