Scan barcode
lilymj's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
rozydozy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
gertrudy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
smateer73's review against another edition
3.0
It was interesting, an utterly haunting view of the world that simultaneously enthralls and disgusts the reader. The characters and situations are shocking, and the ending, although maybe leaving things to be desired, shows the effects of that a "perfect" world can have in someone.
aimlesssatellite's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Way too slow paced, didn't need 15 pages to describe the light coming through window
hollidayreadswithme's review against another edition
3.0
Check out my blog at www.readingreckless.wordpress.com for more reviews.
“O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206
Because this book was old (1932), I didn’t think it was going to be relevant to today, but it was and that is terrifying.
We are brought into this dystopian world at the beginning with the creation of humans, not by other humans but in laboratory with a forced caste system, making babies fear books and knowledge by electrocution and dulling their minds with drugs and alcohol.
“Everyone is for everyone else”
Promiscuity is encouraged. As a woman, you are to give yourself to the man if they desire and they are to “have” you as they please. Monogamy is unheard of. Motherhood the greatest embarrassment. We meet Lenina who doesn’t really want to see other men, but with her friend’s urging, she goes on a date with Bernard, who doesn’t want the physicality of the relationship. He is starting the question the society.
Lenina and Bernard go on vacation and meet savages. They are horrified by what they see. A woman and her son! Cast out from society to a place where it seems that they have been cursed to adapt to a life where it is not okay to go sleep with everyone and babies get born to mothers and fathers all the time.
The parallels to modern society are stemmed in the society, and in their advancement, we see a moral turpitude. In our society now, we see the flinging away of “old ideals”: marriage, fidelity, the disposal of broken things. Linda, the savage, is a Beta from the society must adapt to the life of fidelity, mending clothes.
As for the characters themselves, because they were a foil for the overall backdrop of this society, the only character that had any real development was John, the savage. I liked his character because he refused to comply. Forever the radical, he is a product of his upbringing, as is everyone else in theirs.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale.
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads
2019 ATY Challenge - A book published before 1950
“O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206
Because this book was old (1932), I didn’t think it was going to be relevant to today, but it was and that is terrifying.
We are brought into this dystopian world at the beginning with the creation of humans, not by other humans but in laboratory with a forced caste system, making babies fear books and knowledge by electrocution and dulling their minds with drugs and alcohol.
“Everyone is for everyone else”
Promiscuity is encouraged. As a woman, you are to give yourself to the man if they desire and they are to “have” you as they please. Monogamy is unheard of. Motherhood the greatest embarrassment. We meet Lenina who doesn’t really want to see other men, but with her friend’s urging, she goes on a date with Bernard, who doesn’t want the physicality of the relationship. He is starting the question the society.
Lenina and Bernard go on vacation and meet savages. They are horrified by what they see. A woman and her son! Cast out from society to a place where it seems that they have been cursed to adapt to a life where it is not okay to go sleep with everyone and babies get born to mothers and fathers all the time.
The parallels to modern society are stemmed in the society, and in their advancement, we see a moral turpitude. In our society now, we see the flinging away of “old ideals”: marriage, fidelity, the disposal of broken things. Linda, the savage, is a Beta from the society must adapt to the life of fidelity, mending clothes.
Spoiler
The crowding that happens as the Jon, the savage, is made a spectacle is so similar to the social media and our tendency to make something “viral”, the very word meaning the spread (infection) of that into society.As for the characters themselves, because they were a foil for the overall backdrop of this society, the only character that had any real development was John, the savage. I liked his character because he refused to comply. Forever the radical, he is a product of his upbringing, as is everyone else in theirs.
Spoiler
The ending made me sad but it was the only way he could be free.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes 1984 or Handmaid’s Tale.
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads
2019 ATY Challenge - A book published before 1950
kribol1113's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brisingr's review against another edition
1.0
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.”
Huxley at least got one thing right,
Huxley at least got one thing right,