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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
READ THIS BOOK
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What would you give up for happiness? Art? Logic? Music? If you grew up without these things would even know what you’re missing out on or will you be preconditioned not to care about them. I understand why Brave New World has survived through the times because it leaves you questioning who was right? John or the Controller?
I somehow expected something different? But finally having read it, I think it's very thought-provoking and eerily describing modern society even though written in the 1930s and oh. just great.
dark
sad
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
Depending on how you present it, hell can sound like paradise.
Imagine: no more parents, monogamy, romance, emotions, aging, nor delayed gratification. Sounds like dystopia to you? I would think yes. Well, not in "Brave New World". Instead, it means no more pain, madness and misery; only stability and contentment left. You know the author did an alright job when the arguments they present as to why this nightmare is the best course of action for humanity almost seems logically sound in parts.
I feel like I see this story's shadow creeping on us already.
So what would you rather have: subjection and happiness, or freedom and pain? Or, as the author puts it, "Liberty to be inefficient and miserable. Freedom to be a round peg in a square hole."
If that theme interests you but you'd rather not actually think about it, just smugly feel like you are, this book is for you.
It had started well enough. Then there was the Henry Ford wordplay, which is funny... for about five minutes. There were tiny genius bits in there, but it's mostly a bore so I gave up at 60%.
Some of this book's worst offenses are similar to "1984". Reading the summary of the rest of the book, I see that Huxley, just like Orwell, committed the capital crime of arguing for his theme through dialogue instead of through the story. And, just like in "1984", the author couldn’t resist having the pretty, kind gal fall for the boring, ugly, bitter, self-pitying, antisocial (all describers used by the author!), hypocritical manlet nice guy™ for some mystical reason. When will I read about a non-conventional man who isn't painfully insufferable?
I still find "Brave New World" better written, more accurately prescient (capitalism and industrialism > communism around my part of the world) and relatively less bloated. And whereas with Orwell I'm not sure whether his protagonist purposely is a walking cautionary tale of a psychopathic incel or if his behaviour is to be lauded, here I’m at least one hundred percent clear on the fact that Huxley condemns it.
I think it's clear: 20th century male-authored, barstool-philosophy dystopias are not for me. I will give "We" a chance but after that I'm done.
To think those books are often mandatory reads in high school... if there isn't a conspiracy theory that says we impose horrible classics on children to disgust them from reading yet, I'd like to register the patent for it please.
Imagine: no more parents, monogamy, romance, emotions, aging, nor delayed gratification. Sounds like dystopia to you? I would think yes. Well, not in "Brave New World". Instead, it means no more pain, madness and misery; only stability and contentment left. You know the author did an alright job when the arguments they present as to why this nightmare is the best course of action for humanity almost seems logically sound in parts.
I feel like I see this story's shadow creeping on us already.
Spoiler
No hypnopaedia yet, but children are indoctrinated efficiently enough through commercially and politically charged advert-tainment. Monogamy, while still the default, is becoming synonym with boring and old-fashioned. Over-consumption and instant gratification are goals in themselves now. The nuclear family? Don’t make me laugh. Artificial wombs come up more and more in the media, and less and less as a joke. Chemically-aided escapism is slowly turning legal. Getting old is to be impeded as much as possible. And whether it's hustle culture or no-leisure-from-pleasure, there's no time left to sit down and think. (This edgy take was brought to you by: My Uneducated, Reactionary Ass.)So what would you rather have: subjection and happiness, or freedom and pain? Or, as the author puts it, "Liberty to be inefficient and miserable. Freedom to be a round peg in a square hole."
If that theme interests you but you'd rather not actually think about it, just smugly feel like you are, this book is for you.
It had started well enough. Then there was the Henry Ford wordplay, which is funny... for about five minutes. There were tiny genius bits in there, but it's mostly a bore so I gave up at 60%.
Some of this book's worst offenses are similar to "1984". Reading the summary of the rest of the book, I see that Huxley, just like Orwell, committed the capital crime of arguing for his theme through dialogue instead of through the story. And, just like in "1984", the author couldn’t resist having the pretty, kind gal fall for the boring, ugly, bitter, self-pitying, antisocial (all describers used by the author!), hypocritical manlet nice guy™ for some mystical reason. When will I read about a non-conventional man who isn't painfully insufferable?
I still find "Brave New World" better written, more accurately prescient (capitalism and industrialism > communism around my part of the world) and relatively less bloated. And whereas with Orwell I'm not sure whether his protagonist purposely is a walking cautionary tale of a psychopathic incel or if his behaviour is to be lauded, here I’m at least one hundred percent clear on the fact that Huxley condemns it.
I think it's clear: 20th century male-authored, barstool-philosophy dystopias are not for me. I will give "We" a chance but after that I'm done.
To think those books are often mandatory reads in high school... if there isn't a conspiracy theory that says we impose horrible classics on children to disgust them from reading yet, I'd like to register the patent for it please.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I should maybe give it more stars, but reading it was a bit of a chore. If you're in the mood to do your homework, though, by all means, have at it.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
There's a connection to Lord of the Flies here especially in that final scene but I'm struggling to put it into something pithy
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my favorite books of all time.