A completely new society has been put in place of the one we all know of as now. Gone are structual governments (as we know them) and families; gone are religion and books; gone are love and conflict; gone is the desire to be one's own individulistic person. Everyone is assigned a place in life before they are born, and through education (a more precise term might be corruption) learns to love that position. In this essense a forced utopia is formed, and everyone is happy. When someone from a different, less advanced society (because of this he is known as the Savage) comes to live in the Utopia, he is appalled at the system set up. The Savage immediately takes steps to destroy the utopian society, and in the process learns a few things about himself as well. In the end, when he realizes that he is powerless to halt it, the Savage, feels that he has nothing ot live for if he is to be stuck in this new society for the rest of his lifetime.

the concept. The society Huxley thinks up is brilliant. Horrible, but brilliant. You've got to understand how there really can't be a utopia unless people are corrupted, as their ideas and opinions and beliefs will clash and cause conflicts. It's just... well, it really boggled my small mind.

the characters. Bernard was a puny pessimest who whined constantly and tried to hard to fit in with the society he didn't believe in just to gain prestege with his peers. Lenina was a brainless, vain, selfish whore. The Savage was somewhat likeable, but his temper was a turn-off (get some anger-management classes, for God's sake!) Admittedly the characters were not created to be likeable, but they were still my least favorite part of the book. Also, the plot was a little slow to pick up (the Savage isn't introduced until the middle of the book).

read 1984 and Catch-22. They seem to be similar in context to A Brave New World.

really, really thankful that I live in a democracy, where I can voice my own opinions... rather, just HAVE my own opinions, not ones force-fed to me by the leaders. I also felt contempt for those masses of people, robots programmed by the ones who create them to do their beck and call. Even though they couldn't control it... I don't know. I have little patience for people less intelligent for me.

is a genius. Plain and simple. He meant for the book to be a satire of today's society, and I think he did an extremely good job of it.

well, just because it gave me a deeper look into society and governments and leaders. It was excellent food for thought.

the plot takes a while to start up, and the characters are very annoying. If you're a middle-schooler or lower I would also not reccommend it; it has some mature themes and obscene language sprinkled in frequently.

Most of my friends who read this book hated it. Despised it. Abhored it. And for the majority of them, it was because of small things about the society that bothered them (the shocking of the babies, the children engaging in erotic play, etc.). As for me: I didn't particularly like or dislike the book, but it intrigued me greatly, and that was what kept me reading with interest. I say if you're mature enough to look past these things that may slightly disturb you and look deeper into the actual brilliance of the society, then you'll at least get an interesting read, and possibly even like the book as well.

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Created Apr 06, 2003 at 5:58pm • Submit your own review...