Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

22 reviews

sprinumter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Huxley wrote this book 80 years ago and there are components of the story that are remnacent of today’s society. We are still working toward this classist, “perfect“, everybody-is-happy-because-they-know-their-place, all-for-the-greater-good, society.  It is scary to think that technology may eventually get to the point where people are just conditioned to be happy living in a systematically oppressed society based on being a delta or a gamma, least ye be an alpha or beta. The first time I read this book was in high school and it is surprising to me that I did not make the connections that I have now 10 years later. Even if you have read this before, try rereading it again to see how your views have changed.
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soupsswagreads's review

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

1984’s opposite dystopian, a true classic reflecting the values of society and influence of psychological conditioning. This book will open your eyes to the disturbing and yet somewhat intriguing dangers of a totalitarian rule. 
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rosinawrites7's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In the common 1984 Vs Brave New World competition, Brave New World definitely wins for me! It's a much more engaging read and is more similar to current society. Huxley's imagination is incredible. Would definitely recommend - once you get your head around the first chapter or two, the story gets more gripping and I enjoyed the read.
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burn_the_letters's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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miaaa_lenaaa's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Hmmm, hmmmm, im not sure i can communicate my feelings, perhaps an interpretive dance would be better

<<SPOILERS>>

No wait i wish we had some from iceland after he gets sent there?? Oh and also i hate it when books reference Shakespeare, it high key makes me quale with anger and idk why xx
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rhubarb_the_herb's review against another edition

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  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Loved the concept hated the execution

The book spent quite a while at the beginning just world-building, and the world was definitely interesting, but very facts and information dense. This made the book a little cumbersome. It is very much a 'telling' as opposed to a 'show' book, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but made a substantial amount of concepts feel like they were there for the shock factor
such as the 'erotic child play' which is just left there and not really explored at all?? which is a bit disappointing
as they were just left there with no explanation or exploration.

This along with the world-building means that for a good portion of the novel, there is not plot or character development leading to some superficiality in characters and underdeveloped traits particularly in some side characters. Additionally the book introduced concepts that were interesting and relevant but then did not take them any further
the stuff about the islands where intellectuals and thinkers are sent would have been really interesting to explore but it was just mentioned and left there which was disappointing
. 

Furthermore, the pace is janky and uneven jumping across time irregularly and unnaturally which affects the flow of the book. 

The ending and events preceding it came a little out of nowhere
the death of john made sense but the public whipping was bizarre. It served a purpose to the story but it felt like an obvious plot point and not a natural progression of the story
. Even though they could certainly be analyzed, they felt, again, a bit random and there for the shock factor. 

I could see the themes and I liked the concepts of choosing happiness and comfort or freedom questioning whether a happy and pleasant society can coexist with complete personal freedom and thought. I did not vibe with the execution though. 

Overall, themes were good but reading this felt a it like an unpleasant fever dream.
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nebubabe's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i would have given a 4 star if not for the (in my opinion ofc) weak ending. i quite enjoyed this book and it gave me a lot to think about until the final chapter. i understand why it had to end the way it did but it almost felt like it was written by someone else. it was abrupt and unsatisfying. now i'm left with a sour taste in my mouth.
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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.5

I was not entirely sure what to think about this book after finishing it. Despite Aldous Huxley only being 37 when he wrote it, it has a very strong "old man fears societal change and scientific advancement" vibe. I had hoped there was a #disrupttexts discussion about it so I could get some other perspectives, but I can't find one. So I'm left to interpret it on my own. This review may get long. 

In the World State, babies are no longer born out of human wombs. Instead, they are grown in test tubes, selected and genetically manipulated from even before the moment a sperm hits an egg in a fertilization tank, and conditioned until age twelve, all in the interest of producing a strictly class-stratified society where each person is genetically manipulated and mentally conditioned to not only accept but love their lot in life. Alphas are the prettiest, tallest, smartest, and one-of-a-kind, and lowly Gammas and Epsilons are conditioned to hate knowledge and beauty and are only one of up to ninety-six genetically identicial people. Excessive consumption is practically law, leisure is mainly sports that require lots of expensive equipment, free sex without commitment is the relationship model, and if you start having negative thoughts, the drug soma will make you feel good again. 

In the beginning, the book bounces through a bunch of different characters in the effort of illustrating how the world works. It eventually settles on Bernard Marx as something of a main character. Bernard is very much a misfit in his world - he is much shorter than people of his class (Alpha, the highest) are supposed to be, and he likes solitude and monogamy and doesn't like sports or soma, all of which are considered practically pathological in World State society. But he does desperately want to be accepted and be considered normal. 
So when John shows up about halfway through the book, it almost immediately pivots to him as the main character. John is the natural-born son of a woman from the World State who got lost and trapped on a "Savage Reservation." John was born and grew up there, a world where people age, babies come from wombs, honor and suffering are important parts of life, and consumption isn't an option. He is the outsider that challenges the societal norms of the World State because he finds a challenge-free life of uninspired contentment and free sex without romance completely intolerable. 

John is portrayed as the "noble savage" (despite being 100% white), the only person in the whole of society who prefers a life with challenge to a life without, who understands that heterosexual monogamous marriage is the only correct sexual arragement, who knows and follows the traditions of past great men, who finds the honor in devotion to religion and its rituals, and who accepts unhappiness as part of the human condition. Bernard likes solitude and doesn't like drugs, but it's implies that he doesn't go far enough. Tradition is better than progress, the book seems to say. Natural things are better than whatever science can come up with, loose women will destory male-female interaction altogether, old works are better than new, letting scientific discoveries and societal advancement keep us from being unhappy is actually a very bad thing. Practically the only thing I agree with this book about is that strictly stratified societies consigning people to a particular caste even before their birth and giving no opportunity for individual choice are a bad thing. 

This is a very complex book, and I know there's more to be said about it than what I'm saying here. There's definitely some notes to be made about race, gender, queerness, and religion that I just don't have room for since this review is already so long. I would love to see the people at #disrupttexts put out something on Brave New World with an English teacher's analysis on what this book is trying to say. Despite my mostly-negative-but-still-technically-mixed feelings on the morals here, it actually is an interesting dystopian world. 
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worm_book's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really thought-provoking, and spookily close to the way society is going. I am glad I didn't miss this classic!
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madmilliner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

This book is gross. It is meant to be a warning against excess, and the pursuit of happiness above all else,  but, is so unnerving and bizarre that it just feels campy, and emotionally manipulative. 
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