From the Bookshelf of Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library…

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

Start date: July 10, 2012

Finish date: August 13, 2012

Discussion: Literature with Lunch

Discussion leader: Lissa

Why we're reading this: A 1932 novel set in London of AD 2540 anticipates a future developed society of ramant consumerism, worth…more
[close] A 1932 novel set in London of AD 2540 anticipates a future developed society of ramant consumerism, worthless free love, routine drug use and cultural passivity.

Check the catalog to see if it's available.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 5 topics — 13 comments total

Literature with Lunch

A community read for Kansas: Our Boys
By Lissa · 4 posts · 21 views

last updated May 02, 2012 11:38AM

The first funny travelogue? - Innocents Abroad
By Lissa · 2 posts · 10 views

last updated Jan 26, 2012 10:19AM

showing 1 of 1 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 15, 2012 Maria rated it liked it

Upon second reading I rate this book only slightly higher than the first time through about 8 years ago. 3.5 stars instead of a flat 3. The points that Huxley makes are important and thought-provoking, but he absolutely beats his reader over the head with all the stage-setting and technical detail, and it's really not necessary. My favorite distopian stories (1984, The Handmaid's Tale, The Road, The Hunger Games) offer minimal to no explanation for how the world got to that point, and yet we see ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 21, 2014 Cheshire Public Library rated it liked it

Shelves: featured-on-cheshire-library-blog

Before there was The Hunger Games series, Maze Runner series, Legend series there was Brave New World. Huxley was one of the first authors to write a dystopian novel and all others that follow are using him as an example. He did it first and did it best. I marketed this book as the original dystopian novel, because of how popular that genre is right now. And if you want to know where these authors have likely gotten their inspiration, you need to read this book.

Brave New World is a book that is Before there was The Hunger Games series, Maze Runner series, Legend series there was Brave New World. Huxley was one of the first authors to write a dystopian novel and all others that follow are using him as an example. He did it first and did it best. I marketed this book as the original dystopian novel, because of how popular that genre is right now. And if you want to know where these authors have likely gotten their inspiration, you need to read this book.

Brave New World is a book that is so similar to our own, it is scary how real this book is.

Published in 1932, Brave New World takes place almost 600 years in the future. This is a world where your future is determined at the moment of your conception. Every single child born in this world is born of the test tube and is “raised” to be one of five classes- Alpha, being the best and highest class, or Epsilon, the lowest class. You have no mother, father, and are engineered for specific tasks. You will never grow old, you will never rise above your class, and you will have no apparent free will. Life will be full of pleasurable things however- sex, drugs, mass consumption, and more.

So what makes a dystopian novel different from an utopian novel? Dystopian novels are characterized by a horrible society headed towards oblivion, while utopian novels have an ideal society. Brave New World is a utopian novel on the surface, and to those living in that society, but it’s really dystopian. There is a huge reliance on technology, instant gratification, and lots of propaganda.

Huxley was disturbed at the path the world was taking: the world had been plunged into a great economic depression, fascism and communism were taking hold across Europe, and the Industrial Revolution was continuing to change the landscape of the world. What would happen to us as a people if all of this continued? Huxley feared that we would become a people slaved to technology, conditioned for pleasure and nothing else, and drugged to reality. If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like today’s society, you would not be that far off. However, lurking on the fringes were Savage Worlds with people who had lived a much different life.

If you read Brave New World today, there are many scenes that will likely make you think twice. One for me was the scene at what I’ll call the children’s center, where children are being conditioned for certain things. This particular set of children is taught to be afraid of loud noises. What is eerie is the level of manipulation that is going on- these children have no free will. Just like our own, the world of Brave New World is a throw-away society. Something breaks, is old, is damaged, is no longer wanted- throw it away!

Huxley had supposed it would take hundreds of years for the things he wrote about to come true, but if you look hard at the world we live in today, it is a lot like the one he envisioned. Hospice, cloning/DNA/biological engineering, helicopters, and e-books were just a few of the things he prophecized for the future.

Brave New World is easy reading, but do not be fooled by the simplicity of the language or writing. Huxley has a lot to say about how we live our lives with each other, with technology, and for the future.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

-- Reviewed by Jenn http://cheshirelibraryblog.wordpress.... ...more

Like · see review