Aldous Huxley: A Brave New World

[hemybel]

Aldous Huxley(1894-1963) wrote this book A Brave New World. It was his vision of this future, a new world order where there is no violence and human beings are not born, they are grown.


who read this book?

[RebelOutcast]

I did a couple of weeks ago.

[Goatse]

I'm reading it just now... it's awesome so far.

[Ligeia]

I read this book a year ago.I didn't like it,at all.It was quite strange and I had the impression it was giving a distorted view on history,especially the left one....as far as I can remember many of the characters there were named after revolutionaries and theorists and other famous people...I remember one name :lenina---or something in the way. :P

I think the dystopia was about the society getting too cold and mechanical just because of science and superating the world's misery or better,finding a better way to forget about it while creating a new misery.

But I really had the impression,while reading it,that it was constantly saying"don&#39;t try to think of a better world,don&#39;t try to build one new,it will end up like this one and fail"......or maybe I thought like that since peope whom I have discussed with always say communism will end up like the brave new world. <_< annoying....

[Scars]

I liked it more for the concept and descriptions of the world than the actual story, which I didn&#39;t think was that great. However it is a good book and is well written.

[Hegemonicretribution]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2006, 06:13 PM
I think the dystopia was about the society getting too cold and mechanical just because of science and superating the world&#39;s misery or better,finding a better way to forget about it while creating a new misery.

But I really had the impression,while reading it,that it was constantly saying"don&#39;t try to think of a better world,don&#39;t try to build one new,it will end up like this one and fail"......
I have to disagree, dystopia is one of my favourite genres, and ths is one of my favourite books, I don&#39;t know if it should be called dystopian though.

It was not about society becoming to mechanical, and for us to stop trying to improve, they did that in the book remember? They could cut working days right down, or be more efficient, but there was no real point. People worked for the sake of working.


or maybe I thought like that since peope whom I have discussed with always say communism will end up like the brave new world. <_< annoying....
BNW was consumerist, the distribution could be argued along socialist lines, but the social policy is in direct contradiction with it.

To me this novel raises philosophical questions about the aims and pursuits of our race. Do we move only towards happiness, or is there something more to life? It raises the issue of conflict as a necessity.

The reason I doubted it is dystopian as such can be explained by a comparison. To us, (the savages) their culture seems alien and disturbing, but the same is true the other way around, so you have to see why.

Our culture is seen as horrible because of pain, sickness, fear, ageing, suffering and a lack of material goods.

We see their world in a certain way because it seems too deterministic, and a bit creepy. I am not in favour of such an existence, and this is because I hold freedom as a higher goal than happiness. However I know there are a few people that follow deterministic lines of thought, any response?

[Ligeia]

Originally posted by [email protected] 4 2006, 04:26 PM


To me this novel raises philosophical questions about the aims and pursuits of our race. Do we move only towards happiness, or is there something more to life? It raises the issue of conflict as a necessity.

The reason I doubted it is dystopian as such can be explained by a comparison. To us, (the savages) their culture seems alien and disturbing, but the same is true the other way around, so you have to see why.

Our culture is seen as horrible because of pain, sickness, fear, ageing, suffering and a lack of material goods.

We see their world in a certain way because it seems too deterministic, and a bit creepy. I am not in favour of such an existence, and this is because I hold freedom as a higher goal than happiness. However I know there are a few people that follow deterministic lines of thought, any response?
Hmmm..I&#39;ve always considered this novel as dystopian if you only regard the one side, not the savages.The one side disturbs although it tries to be perfect,tries to persuit happiness....or better,this happened in consequence to the try.

And doubtless it is this determinism that makes this world horrible,but you say freedom is a higher goal than happines,does that mean that if you have freedom you dont have neccessarily happiness?

I don&#39;t see any happiness in the characters of BNW,maybe since it failed.

or I forgot too much of the content.

[Hegemonicretribution]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2006, 08:34 AM
And doubtless it is this determinism that makes this world horrible,but you say freedom is a higher goal than happines,does that mean that if you have freedom you dont have neccessarily happiness?
I don&#39;t think that one necessarily excludes the other, but the levels of hapiness in BNW were only sustainable through the determinism exercised by society over the individual.

I do think that much of what was discomforting about it is just our fear of what is different. At one point tribal religious people living in caves would be horrified by the prospect of godless modern life. The death conditioning etc I don&#39;t feel was particuarly wrong.


I don&#39;t see any happiness in the characters of BNW,maybe since it failed.
The characters were happy, content with their position in society, their work, their social life and soma. It is hard to prevent them from being happy, and then reconditioning comes in.

It didn&#39;t really fail in the book as such, maybe it wasn&#39;t capable of attracting outsiders but still. I suggest reading "The Island" next.

[redchrisfalling]

I had to read BNW for a class this semester, i realy enjoyed it and our clas had some great philloshoical disscusions. The worst part of the whole thing for me was that no one had thought of the issuse that the book brought up before reading the book. It&#39;s sad that a group of people who consider themselves well educated have never tried to wrap their heads around the deeper meanings of censorship, passifing the masses, and orthadoxy.

I would also recomend one of Huxleys less known works The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell.

[timbaly]

I read Brave New World last year. I believe that the commentary is not necessarily anti-communist. I see it as anti-fascist and anti-Soviet, it was just a warning as to what the future might hold if totalitarianism and other forms of authoritariansim were to take control of the world&#39;s nations.

[Hegemonicretribution]

Originally posted by [email protected] 9 2006, 09:42 PM
I would also recomend one of Huxleys less known works The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell.
If you liked BNW read the Island. Read DoP and Heaven and Hell if you are a living being, essential reading in my oppinion, they have influenced more than most works I have ever read.

BNW may be a great story with philosophical connotations, but to those with any oppinion on reality and/or drugs DoP is necessary.