Brave New World in The Alternative Worlds

May 19, 2008 Terence rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, speculative-fiction

I’ve just finished listening to the Audio CD version of Brave New World as read by Michael York. It wasn’t a bad reading; though, at times, I thought his intonation and rhythms were a bit off.

I first saw rather than read Brave New World when I watched the 1980 miniseries starring Bud Cort as Bernard Marx (check the IMDB page - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080468/ - Cort's the perfect Bernard but Marcia Strassman as Lenina?...ummm...not so good). It wasn’t until I got to college that I actually r I’ve just finished listening to the Audio CD version of Brave New World as read by Michael York. It wasn’t a bad reading; though, at times, I thought his intonation and rhythms were a bit off.

I first saw rather than read Brave New World when I watched the 1980 miniseries starring Bud Cort as Bernard Marx (check the IMDB page - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080468/ - Cort's the perfect Bernard but Marcia Strassman as Lenina?...ummm...not so good). It wasn’t until I got to college that I actually read the novel (in a freshman honors seminar). I have to admit that there’s a certain seductive attraction to the Brave New World – no worries; all conditioned to like their lives; a benevolent, paternalistic dictatorship that doesn’t send its deviants to re-education camps or gas chambers. Though the latter is conditioned on the existence of a number of remote islands those deviants can be exiled to - as Mustapha Mond intimates in the scene where he, Bernard, Helmholtz and John are determining their future: if there weren’t so many islands, the directors probably would have to shoot the malcontents. It’s a very well padded velvet glove but it still covers an iron fist. The scene also parallels the final confrontation between O’Brien and Smith in 1984. Of course, there it’s all iron; Oceania’s too poor to afford velvet.

What struck me while listening, particularly toward the end when Mond was justifying modern civilization to the Savage, were not parallels to 1984 but rather to Iain Banks’ Culture novels. After all, isn't the Culture Huxley’s World State only without the State? Its citizens have few worries and regularly indulge in drugs, orgies and unencumbered liaisons. What makes the Culture Utopia and the World State “hell” is that the latter enforces a conditioned infantilism, while the Culture allows its members the “right to be unhappy,” which John laments on in Huxley’s book. The Culture allows its “malcontents” scope with positions in Contact and Special Circumstances; and, if that’s not enough, you can always secede from the Culture entirely without repercussion.
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Jan 02, 2009 Nicky rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, classics, dystopia

Brave New World is pretty easy to read and get along with, for a dystopian novel, and there are some pretty good quotes. For the most part I didn't think the prose was exceptional, but it was functional and got the story told.

There were several things that bugged me about it, though. The first thing is the characters -- I'm all about characters in my reading, and if I don't connect with a book, it's likely because I didn't get on with the characters. Brave New World doesn't really have any chara ...more

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Apr 01, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, sciencefiction, adultfiction

Huxley takes industrialization to task, using the slippery slope argument to imagine a future with no deprivation or rebellion, but also no art, no literature, no relationships or families. Is losing meaningfulness the cost of happiness?
What if we took automation to its extreme, and mass-produced humans, customizing them in-vitro for their intended purposes? And with sex, drugs, and mindless entertainment to keep everyone happily distracted, no one will ever complain.
It's interesting to contras ...more

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Jun 28, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi

This is really well told--I found the writing absolutely amazing. And as a dystopia, it is absolutely thought provoking, and I'm sure it was ground-breaking for its time. But...I despised all of the characters, the women characters were absurdly drawn, and I was disgusted with the attitude Huxley takes toward his constructed world. I found myself arguing with the book *constantly*. I just don't see the world the same way Huxley does. So while I grant that this is an important piece of literature ...more

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