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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Makes some thought-provoking philosophical and political points (as expected), but it felt incredibly disjointed as a novel, with characters that seemed to disappear and a plot that jumped around a bit too much in a way that didn't really feel like it was in service of the greater message. Short enough that it's worth a read if you haven't, but not the sort of holy dystopian text some probably want it to be.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book was a weird one. i'll start with what i liked first.
i think it's really interesting to see some of the ideas that this early work laid the groundwork for in terms of tropes and concepts within the satirical dystopian fiction genre. modern works like the hunger games would not be what they are today had it not been for brave new world.
what i didn't like is pretty closely related to what i did like: the book is one of the earliest classic works in the genre, so it just didn't have the nearly 100 years of refinement that we are used to seeing today. the satire is very blatant and heavy-handed. the notion that technology can be used to condition and manipulate people to the point of near dehumanization in every aspect of life is beaten into the mind of the reader in every possible metaphor imaginable. satirical fiction should not need to be so obvious to convey its message. but in the pre-WWII, very young technological age this book was written, maybe the level of technology-enabled-atrocities people were capable of committing wasn't so obvious. i don't know.
also of its time are the book's sentiments towards race, "civilization," and promiscuity. it all leads me to believe that huxley was a closeted racist (trying really hard to be progressive), sexually repressed man who hated technology.
i think it's really interesting to see some of the ideas that this early work laid the groundwork for in terms of tropes and concepts within the satirical dystopian fiction genre. modern works like the hunger games would not be what they are today had it not been for brave new world.
what i didn't like is pretty closely related to what i did like: the book is one of the earliest classic works in the genre, so it just didn't have the nearly 100 years of refinement that we are used to seeing today. the satire is very blatant and heavy-handed. the notion that technology can be used to condition and manipulate people to the point of near dehumanization in every aspect of life is beaten into the mind of the reader in every possible metaphor imaginable. satirical fiction should not need to be so obvious to convey its message. but in the pre-WWII, very young technological age this book was written, maybe the level of technology-enabled-atrocities people were capable of committing wasn't so obvious. i don't know.
also of its time are the book's sentiments towards race, "civilization," and promiscuity. it all leads me to believe that huxley was a closeted racist (trying really hard to be progressive), sexually repressed man who hated technology.
challenging
dark
tense
I really wasn’t enjoying all of the human testing and how some people were bred to be less than others. I understand it was a commentary piece on the threat of a totalitarian and unchecked technology and power but it just wasn’t enjoyable for me.
dark
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Incredible book. It immerses you in a socially-engineered society of the future that is very fleshed-out in its design and in how it’s been imagined and represented. And after that, through its storytelling, it even actually makes you question whether it’s utopian or dystopian, making you engage with the story in a way that I have not experienced in other dystopian literature. I fully recommend this book. It was unique.