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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
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Matthew, Assistant List Master
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Aug 15, 2015 01:06PM
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Nice! I bought this recently and I'm looking forward to it. :)
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I'll try to join in on it as well .. I've been too busy to read much lately, but this has been on my tbr list for a long time.
Look forward to joining the discussion. I've read this a couple of times and excited to see what you all think.
I read this a couple of years ago in honor of banned books month.
Not saying I support it, but, it's Nnot surprising this got banned somewhere along the line. I had a tough time reading some of the portrayals - especially the "savages" but also what I'll refer to as a somewhat chauvinistic treatment of women. But hey. This was written in the 30s!
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I can say that's true for me, too. Especially with violence and sex. Is it gratuitous or necessary to the story? I chuckled at the way they would chew sex-hormone gum and hold hands while outside stimulation did thd rest to get their pleasures satisfied.
I thinking there's a bit of "now" in the desire of living in a society of pleasure and instant gratuity. Much more so than the 30s. If baby boomers can, many are retiring early. Many millenials spend on "doing" rather than owning so much stuff. This is, of course, my opinion and generalization.
This is a book I've always wanted to read. It's much lighter than I thought it would be. Seems comical even. So over-the-top, and offensive. I 'get it', it's a satire, people have become shallow...well...Stepford Wives like, Pod People. I was just hoping for something more mind blowing. I'm only 80 pages in so things could change.BTW, The Year of Ford is so reminding me of Infinite Jest. : )
I rather liked this one. I don't think it's current enough to still be considered a great dystopia if written nowadays, but given its age, the content is pretty amazing. Given its publication in 1932, I'm assuming it was written during the time of the Great Depression that more or less abruptly ended the craziness of the roaring twenties .. and you get a feeling where the depiction of the society in the book comes from. Which is imo not so very different from our current culture indulging in tech gadgets & social media (and all their dark sides).I can see how it was banned in a country like Ireland and I found the depiction of savages questionable .. but not that surprising given its historical context.
The thing that did blow my mind is how much of the book still makes sense today .. some things are just hilarious in our modern minds, but as a whole, it's pretty accurate for a dystopia.
