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A review by hankuspankus
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
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
2.5
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.