Brave New World in Never too Late to Read Classics

May 21, 2020 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, modern-classics, dystopia, borrowed-from-library

3.5 Stars, rounded up.

It is easy to see why Brave New World has stirred readers and endured for 80 years, particularly when you consider it was among the first of its type of dystopian novel, so would have been unfamiliar content to its original audience. It is creepy, in a very calm way, for the most frightening part of this flawed Utopia is the realization that its people participate in its inhumane practices by consent.

What lies at the heart of this society is an abject immorality that robs p 3.5 Stars, rounded up.

It is easy to see why Brave New World has stirred readers and endured for 80 years, particularly when you consider it was among the first of its type of dystopian novel, so would have been unfamiliar content to its original audience. It is creepy, in a very calm way, for the most frightening part of this flawed Utopia is the realization that its people participate in its inhumane practices by consent.

What lies at the heart of this society is an abject immorality that robs people of both individuality and soul. There is no God, run-away consumerism, pervasive drug addiction, misuse of science and technology, rampant promiscuity fed by sanctioned pornography, social class discrimination purposefully created and maintained--in short many of the worst failings of our own society. The book questions whether a work ethic is necessary to feed happiness, whether too much ease and indulgence makes for good rulers, what it is to be civilized or savage, whether parents serve a purpose other than merely producing children, whether technology can be a curse to humanity, whether mobility should be limited to the strata of society in which a person is born, and finally, whether the individual should be wholly sacrificed to satisfy the desires of the masses.

The novel predates World War II, although some of the rumbling of the storm that was to come was on the horizon, and many of these important questions were put to the test at that time. One would think the answers had, then, already been found, but sadly many of them remain in question when you examine our own society closely. Therefore, the themes expressed in the novel remain relevant.

The characters are a bit stiff and one dimensional. The plot lacks any real tension or depth. It is much more a book of ideas than story. I could surely see the influence it had on future writers. I do not know if Margaret Atwood has ever cited him, but there were elements in this book that were echoed in her The MaddAddam Trilogy: Oryx and Crake / The Year of the Flood / MaddAddam.

I particularly enjoyed the Shakespearean references. Brave New World will not ever be a favorite for me, but I am glad I have now read it. It can be ticked off that endless list of books I feel I should have read but somehow missed, and it has left me with something to think about.
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Jan 21, 2020 Josh Caporale rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The strength of this novel lies not in the characters, setting, or plot, which had the taste and texture of a Necco wafer, but in the powerful, eerie, cautionary messages that one can definitely apply to any establishment that is looking to infringe on a free way of living. Just take a look at what is going on in this book and see if there are ANY parallels to today or what could possibly happen in the near future. Also keep in mind that if ANY society tries to condition you into not liking or b ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 Shirley (stampartiste) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-classics, challenge-bingo-2020

Brave New World was far more disturbing to me than 1984 because I could envision a version of this regime in the U.S. (I cannot speak for other countries) in the not-so-distant future.

In 1984, the state enslaved the people by harsh and punitive means (think Russia under Stalin or China since Mao). Indoctrination was brutal. In Brave New World, the people didn’t realize they were being enslaved. Indoctrination, which started in infancy, was achieved by means of repetitive "truth" slogans administ ...more

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