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kerbohydrate's review against another edition
3.0
Idk about the message of this one. Seems kind of conservative propaganda-y. Which is fine, I can respect propaganda for what it is, but the ideas feel inconsistent, and therefore are very confusing to me. I feel like it contradicts itself a lot, especially on the themes of individual freedom and general societal progress. I hated Bernard Marx. Too much pick me energy. I know it’s the point of his character, but I’m just sick of reading about not like other boys. John is literally a flagellant. Both in the physical sense and the psychological sense. Literally what was he on. What is Aldous Huxley on. I do think that this world is very well thought out and logistically sound in the sense that he gives you a whole spiel about why it is the way that it is. Strangely, I thought it was brilliant. However, I must stress again: What is he on??? Wikipedia says psychedelic drugs.
jamiedencklau's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
bigmans21's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cookiedoughicecream's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tuhmeeyur's review
4.25
wow. i'll start by critiquing this book because i have a lot of praise. i had to put aside the blatant racism underlying a lot of this story as well as some sexist undertones and a possible argument for eugenics. but, quotes like "ending is better than mending" and "was and will make me ill, i take a gramme and only am" are buzzing around my brain and i can viscerally feel just how programable the human mind is. this book is sickening and creepy in its realism. so tapped in to human nature and the direction totalitarian government seems to be moving closer and closer toward. while reading 1984, already knowing i'd read this book, but not having any clue how the dystopian societies would differ, i remember (thinking specifically of sex) how our society today does the opposite of what orwell's did. where the party made sex this disgusting thing, this sterile duty performed only to produce children, i thought to myself how, actually, sex for pleasure can be liberating, or it can be another form of slavery. and i think today we lean towards the latter.
huxley did a brilliant job of showing the effects of the opposite--a world where sex for pleasure is the duty to society, people must stay placated, docile, 'happy' at all times, and that is the only goal. you can't even get married and have children if you wanted to. instead, that is what they are conditioned to see as disgusting. mother and father, husband and wife, even lover as the dirtiest words. the use of unnecessary labor and drugs to keep the people subdued is also extremely relevant with today's opioid crisis, rampant high-functioning alcoholism, the building of smoke shops on every corner, the epidemic of the side hustle and/or second job just to get by. if we have the technology, why can't we feed and house everyone? because a society of alphas will never exist peacefully. at least that is what the current controllers seem to believe.
and part of what is so haunting about this novel is that despite the imagery of a thousand identical babies, grown in a lab, being administered electrical shocks to deter them from ever reading books or admiring the beauty of a flower, despite the fact that people are disgusted by the ideas of family, friendship, love, god that are the things we hold dearest to our hearts, despite the totalitarian government hypnotizing tweens in their sleep so they participate in rampant over-consumerism, despite it all, the ending leaves you wondering if the savage really were better off in this brave new world. if art or love or truth or beauty are worth all the pain and suffering in the world, or if we should trade it all in for happiness.
huxley did a brilliant job of showing the effects of the opposite--a world where sex for pleasure is the duty to society, people must stay placated, docile, 'happy' at all times, and that is the only goal. you can't even get married and have children if you wanted to. instead, that is what they are conditioned to see as disgusting. mother and father, husband and wife, even lover as the dirtiest words. the use of unnecessary labor and drugs to keep the people subdued is also extremely relevant with today's opioid crisis, rampant high-functioning alcoholism, the building of smoke shops on every corner, the epidemic of the side hustle and/or second job just to get by. if we have the technology, why can't we feed and house everyone? because a society of alphas will never exist peacefully. at least that is what the current controllers seem to believe.
and part of what is so haunting about this novel is that despite the imagery of a thousand identical babies, grown in a lab, being administered electrical shocks to deter them from ever reading books or admiring the beauty of a flower, despite the fact that people are disgusted by the ideas of family, friendship, love, god that are the things we hold dearest to our hearts, despite the totalitarian government hypnotizing tweens in their sleep so they participate in rampant over-consumerism, despite it all, the ending leaves you wondering if the savage really were better off in this brave new world. if art or love or truth or beauty are worth all the pain and suffering in the world, or if we should trade it all in for happiness.
amelia555's review
3.0
The fun thing about old science fiction novels is to see what that got wrong and what they got right, even if they lean towards the extreme (and they mostly do). I feel like 1984 (because these 2 are often compared) ended up being more prophetic with its ideas of over the clock surveillance and fake news. BNW predicted dumbing and numbing of the masses with pleasure - and, well, it's not exactly wrong, in a way, as lots of us become addicted to escapism. Class divide really did become very apparent with time, too. But overall, I read this novel as some sort of a cautionary fairytale, while 1984 felt like an eerie almost slice of life. BNW takes things a bit too far for all of its characters. Lenina and others' conditioning is extreme, but so is John's devotion to Shakespeare. Neither seems probable. A lot of ideas in this book seem like too much, although I kinda can see why they might have been born in 1932. The world felt too decadent, a World War happened, morality was declining (at least in the eyes of some folks) as well religious inclinations of the youth. Maybe what Huxley described felt like a logical step. Still, I felt like 1984 was more of a "society is going to hell due to politics" and BNW was more of a "tsk-tsk-tsk, kids these days" kind of a novel. I prefer 1984.
maxrox's review
mysterious
medium-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
3.75
_luxpins's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0