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soybecca 's review for:
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
challenging
reflective
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:
Yes
Le sigh. Philosophical treatise x literary fiction with unsympathetic characters is not my vibe.
The world building to get to Ch. 17’s thematic climax was effective and the debate wouldn’t have been as powerful without the weight of what we experience via the characters. BUT man was it dull. I just can’t bring myself to care about whiny characters who live out their archetypes to the extreme without much nuance. Lenina and Mond being a slight exceptions that weren’t explored as fully.
The emotional detachment of the writing also meant that we were told the characters were experiencing happiness, love, etc. without really feeling it. If that was Huxley’s aim in mimicking dystopia, congratulations but I’d find the concepts more challenging if I could empathize with the character’s experiences rather than intellectualizing them.
I find the arc of Huxley’s own life and how he grappled with and chose to live out his own principles much more fascinating. That being said I recognize and respect that this thinking in this form was radical for its day and am interested in how it persists as a relevant cultural touchpoint today. But hooboy did I almost DNF 🤣
The world building to get to Ch. 17’s thematic climax was effective and the debate wouldn’t have been as powerful without the weight of what we experience via the characters. BUT man was it dull. I just can’t bring myself to care about whiny characters who live out their archetypes to the extreme without much nuance. Lenina and Mond being a slight exceptions that weren’t explored as fully.
The emotional detachment of the writing also meant that we were told the characters were experiencing happiness, love, etc. without really feeling it. If that was Huxley’s aim in mimicking dystopia, congratulations but I’d find the concepts more challenging if I could empathize with the character’s experiences rather than intellectualizing them.
I find the arc of Huxley’s own life and how he grappled with and chose to live out his own principles much more fascinating. That being said I recognize and respect that this thinking in this form was radical for its day and am interested in how it persists as a relevant cultural touchpoint today. But hooboy did I almost DNF 🤣