Book Review – “Brave New World”

The “big three” utopian novels are generally listed as Zamyatin’s
We, Orwell’s 1984, and Huxley’s Brave
New World
. I’ve read the other two before (although I don’t
believe I’ve reviewed them), but this was my first read of Huxley. How
does he stand up to the competition?

General Information

Title: Brave New World

Author: Aldous Huxley

Original Publication Date: 1932

ISBN: 0-586-04434-5

Cover Price: $9.99 Can

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Premise

Mankind has developed a stable society, but at what cost?

High Point

The Savage tries to free the others.

Low Point

The exposition about religion near the end. Everything else was dealt
with using a certain degree of subtlety, and then this just gets
spouted off. It’s unfortunate given the elegance of the rest of the
novel.

The Scores

Most dystopian novels have a single, controlling government, with
no indications of any other type of civilization in the world. This
not only brings new motivation for dystopia, but it provides a new
social structure that goes along with it. The shifting emphasis from
one main character to another is fresh, as well. I give the
originality 6 out of 6.


The imagery is very clear. The construction of the world
and
the Hatcheries is clear from the outset, and the rest of the world’s
technology and structure is laid out as needed. I also like the
justification for limitations on the technology used; it helps
motivate the accessibility of the story for future generations who
wonder why they aren’t using the latest gadgets to do their work. I
give it 5 out of 6.

The story is well designed, with a shifting emphasis and a
well-crafted slow revelation about the society under scrutiny. The
events take place for perfectly justifiable and believable reasons,
leading to a very immersive read. Even if you choose to ignore the
dystopian study (which I don’t recommend doing), the story is still
entertaining. I give it 5 out of 6.



The characterization is as carefully crafted as the plot,
presumably because they are so integral to each other. With this
world, one needs an excellent motivation for change, and it’s
provided. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response this produced was strong (even
through
my allergy-induced stupor.) I cared about John, Bernard and Lenina.
I disliked the World Controllers and the droves of mindless
soma-munchers. The ending packed an exceptional punch because of
this. I give it 5 out of 6.



The editing was well done, too. The pieces were
assembled
with a careful hand, revealing them as needed, and withholding other
information that wouldn’t be useful yet. It’s the kind of editing
that demands a re-read of the novel. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, it’s an excellent read, and (in my opinion) superior
to the better-known 1984. I highly recommend it. I give it
6 out of 6.

In total, Brave New World receives 37 out of 42.

Additional Notes and Comments

As always, I take requests.
I’ve still got one request for Cryptonomicon, but I want to
leave that tome aside until I have time to read it in a short
timeframe, which probably means it’ll wait until after finals in
December. The list of other easily filled requests is available here.

6 replies on “Book Review – “Brave New World””

  1. REVIEWS

    No one’s reviewed Cryptonomicon here yet? I’ll do it, unless you have your heart set on writing the review.

    I enjoyed the satiric elements of Brave New World, some of which are dated, and some of which still hold true. Meanwhile, if you’re a new-ish reader looking for other dystopias of note, consider Vonnegut’s Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (Christian Reconstructionists run a post-atomic-disaster eastern seaboard. Ignore the movie), John Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up (environmental collapse by 1979. Also, the President of the U.S. is a corporatation-controlled former Hollywood actor who looks good on TV. Thanks the gods that didn’t really happen in the 80s), Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano (techno-corporate facism. Brutally funny), and Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz.

    Later this fall, I’ll be reading and reviewing Suzy McKee Charnas‘ trilogy that begins with the dystopic satire, A Walk to the End of the World.

    • Re: BttF

      Can I request a review of Back to the Future, please?

      Done. I might as well do the rest of the trilogy while I’m at it, I suppose.

  2. Brave New World and 1984…
    … may both be dystopian stories but the are so totally different that I find it hard to say one is better than the other. I do, however, know that I would pick BNW, if I had to pick one to live in.

    Which makes BNW a conceptual sort of dystopia, I mean, it isn’t like 1984, where it would be a constant sucky life. Life isn’t that bad in BNW, it just looks lacking in some sorts of important, substaintial meaning from our current perspective.

    The world of 1984, on the other hand feels like it has plenty of painful/”everything is there to crush you” meaning.

  3. Excuse me but…..
    Isn’t reviewing a renowned classic such as Brave New World a bit…well …pretentious?

    Kind of like "reviewing" Shakespeare or the Bible maybe?

    Well….just a thought…

    • Re: Excuse me but…..

      Isn’t reviewing a renowned classic such as Brave New World a bit…well …pretentious?

      I can’t answer for fiziko, but I suspect a lot of the people who drop by the Bureau have heard of, but not read, the classics of SF, so a review is in that sense a good thing.

      And personally, I think a review of the Bible would be amusing. Any takers?

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