Another book received as a birthday present, I devoured Brave New World a few weekends ago, even reading it in the company of You, which I have been told by my father was very bad form. Not that it would have kept me from reading. Besides, I needed to finish it so that You could borrow it, and I didn’t know when I’d see him next.
I have a secret passion for old science fiction novels, especially ones where the future the author predicted is happening now (1984 by George Orwell comes to mind). Brave New World fits in with the genre perfectly, and makes some good summer reading.
Brave New World
Aldus Huxley wrote Brave New World 1 in 1931, placing it in the future–After Ford 600. After Ford refers to Henry Ford, who takes the place of God in Huxley’s novel, as he was the creator of the assembly line, and the beginning of modern scientific discovery. Humans have turned into products, produced on an assembly line and raised by the government.
As a happy, hard-working, goods-consuming citizen he’s perfect. Of course, if you choose some other standard than ours, then perhaps you might say he was degraded. But you’ve got to stick to one set of postulates. You can’t play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble-puppy.” (Chapter 17) Brave New World
People are engineered for their roll in life, from the Alpha-Double-Pluses who are the rulers of the utopia, to the Epsilon-moron, who is engineered to do menial work. Twins aren’t created by twos, but by 54’s, 76’s and 92’s. An entire twin group will be used to work a factory, or some other job where their identicalness is seen as an asset.
“Brave new world” is a phrase uttered over and over by the “savage”–a man found on the Indian reservation in New Mexico, who was born to a Beta-Minus left behind on vacation, fathered by an Alpha-Plus. He is seen as a great experiment when he is brought back to civilization, to see if people can be happy with seemingly freewill, as the savage was brought up.
Opinion
I enjoyed this novel, as I do most science fiction. While there are sections that are confusing–such as chapter three, where Huxley switches between three different scenes with each paragraph–I found the book easy to follow, even while Huxley introduces new ideas that the reader isn’t often knowledgeable about.
The sports Huxley makes up is a good example of this. I am dying to know how he intended Centrifugal Bumble-puppy to be played, as my mind cannot conceive of a game that would fit that name.
Conclusion
This is a classic piece of science-fiction, and any person who considers themselves a fan of science-fiction should read this book. The classic sci-fi writers wrote what they perceived as plausible futures for our world, and they often used them to warn of us the dangers inherent in our futures. Huxley approaches Brave New World almost in fear of the production line, as it could become the tool that governments use to impose their will upon the people with the people gladly doing as they are told.
There is no good reason to not read this book. It’s that good, really. Besides, how else would we learn what the previous generations thought of the world before us. Sometimes it’s nice to be reassured that things aren’t as bad as people imagined they’d be.
Rating
- http://www.hedweb.com/huxley/bnw/one.html – Brave New World, free text [back]
[...] And what have I been doing this week? Well, I had a WordCamp WriteUp. WordCamp is the first conference I’ve ever attended, and I am really glad I went. Next year, I’ll be better prepared. I also have a book review up for Brave New World, which is one of the few books on my science-fiction must read list. [...]
A woman after my own heart! Brave New World and 1984 are two of my favorite books ever…
I love dystopic fiction. I started reading it back in my angstful middle school / early high school years. I think The Giver (Lois Lowry) was the first book I read of this genre and I just loved it. It quite literally blew my brain and rocked my world.
For me, these novels are so intriguing because they make us think about how our actions may affect our future. We have the fortune of hindsight, but these authors were expressing their own versions of the “worst-case scenario”.
In truth, I would very much like to see a modern dystopic novel. Unfortunately though, it would probably have to be filled with blank pages because we’re going to destroy ourselves through either war or the general destruction of our planet.
Lord, Erin, I knew there was a reason I liked you so much.
The Giver has to be my most favorite of all the childeren’s books I’ve read. I still have my copy from when we read it in the Eighth Grade, and I’ve gotten rid of all my other books from that time period. That means I’ve been packing this book around for little over eleven years. That’s how good it is.
Did you see that there are some-what sequals to The Giver? I’ve been meaning to read them, but I always forget when I’m in the bookstore. I’m gonna definitely have to search them out sometime.
I also agree with you on the “modern dystopic novel.” I don’t know if writers today have it in them, and if they do, who would publish it. I would love to read what today’s authors fear about the future, just as we know what Huxley and Orwell feared about the future of their world.
I enjoyed your post. I am reading this book for a college level class. I found it very interetsing. At the same time very difficult to truly understand Huxley’s intent for us as the reader. There is so much to be understood in reading this. Some say its a book of the evils of technology. I think it could be addapted as a book os social and economical awareness just the same. I am curious what your thoughts are…
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