Aldous Huxley's tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric vision of a "utopian" future—where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment.

Picture his ironic portrait of a populace doped into Nirvana on "soma" (read Prozac and Zoloft), isolated and diverted by petty preoccupations in mindless trivial pursuits (read video games and internet surfing to all the porno sites), oblivious to anything not directly pertaining to themselves and totally unaware of the degree to which they are being socially, economically, and politically co-opted. Beginning to sound more familiar? Remember, says Huxley, brute force is not the only method an oligarchy can use to influence, manage, and finally control our hard-won freedoms and liberties; it can be done with over-indulgence and the deliberate fertilization and promulgation of apathy through self-absorption, as well.

Even Huxley says (circa 1960, almost 30 years after the original publication) in the preface of the revised version of the book that he is alarmed as to how quickly the sort of events he figured might take a hundred years such as the appearance of political internationalism and transnational corporate entities are already arising and beginning to control more and more of the substance of our social, economic, and political lives. Just how much do we know other than what we hear and see on television, for example? Yet the electronic media is owned and managed by transnational corporations. Ever wonder why we never heard much muckraking news coverage of the NAFTA or GATT deals even though many recogized the two bills would radically change the nature of international trade? Perhaps the transnationals didn't want too much hype or fuss. Starting to feel uncomfortable yet? Still, people keep insisting this was just a whimsical work of fiction, that it was a parable, that he really wasn't serious.

Want to find out more? Read this book, but do so slowly, taking notes, recognizing how many contemporary parallels there are to each of the "whimsical details" he conjures up, and then figure out in your own mind how very close he was to prognosticating just how far we have come toward the "Brave New World" in which everyone's soul and awareness is for sale. The kids are wowed by the recent movie The Matrix", yet few appreciate just how much of a fabled existence we are already living in. No pain, no sorrow, no trouble of any kind. Instead, we have our individual and collective consciousness "managed" pharmaceutically; our psyches eased into blithering bliss with "soma", our diminishing attention spans sidetracked and occupied by petty diversions and endless entertainments. Pass me the corndogs, honey!

But, hey! Don't touch that dial; Regis is on! They may retry OJ! What did Bill Clinton really do with that cigar? Have you seen the latest news about the stock market? Did you get any of that new beer they're advertising? it's supposed to make me a real ladies man....What's the latest gadget? Can I buy one on-line? By the way, where are the kids? Hell, never mind, just turn up the volume; I think I know the answer to that question Regis just asked... Meanwhile, folks, our awareness of what is going on around us, our rights and our liberties are being power-washed away, obliterated, and we cannot even see it happening in front of us. We are diverted, distracted, content in our own little worlds. So welcome to our nightmare. Better beware; it just looks like Nirvana. It's really another "Brave New World".


Through the eyes of a savage   November 9, 2001
 114 out of 120 found this review helpful

Aldous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" is both one of the best science fiction books and one of the most brilliant pieces of satire ever written. BNW takes place on a future Earth where human beings are mass-produced and conditioned for lives in a rigid caste system. As the story progresses, we learn some of the disturbing secrets that lie underneath the bright, shiny facade of this highly-ordered world.

Huxley opens the book by allowing the reader to eavesdrop on a tour of the Fertilizing Room of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where the high-tech reproduction takes place. Into this seemingly advanced civilization is introduced John, a "savage" from a reservation where old human culture still survives. Thus, BNW is also a tale of "culture shock" and conflict.

Huxley creates a compelling blend of bizarre comedy, serious character study, futuristic extrapolation, and philosophical discussion. His writing style is crisp and witty, and cleverly incorporates references to canonical works of literature. Probably the scariest thing about BNW is the fact that, in many ways, humanity seems to be moving closer to Huxley's dystopian vision.


Because this IS a Brave New World   February 17, 2000
 90 out of 105 found this review helpful

About 70 years ago Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World, in hopes of setting off a "semi-serious alarm" as to what will happen in the future. This book deals with the problems of religion, science, art, politics, sex, drugs, and mostly every aspect that can effect one's life. And needless to say most of his predictions came true. This really amazes me and should really amaze anybody who reads it. However, I don't recommend Brave New World to most people. For several reasons, one being that this book is written in a VERY whimsical style. For example, in the end of Chapter 3, snippets of conversations are taken and jumbled up (this may seem easy to tackle; but trust me, it isn't). Second, the book is very confusing at times, this isn't a book you can read with the radio is on, you need all you attention toward the book (or else deciphering it is impossible). Third, the book has MANY very deep meanings. Huxley some how placed all of the problems of society into a book 250 pages, and you could easily assume that it is chuck full of content. Personally this is one of my favorite books. Brave New World's style is very original, nothing like I have read before. Its message it bitingly powerful, and shows exactly what this world is headed for. But for everybody who says this is better than Orwell's 1984 (or vice versa) are mistaken. The books have very little in common. Orwell is taking about totalitarianism and its various faults, Huxley is talking about the effects of Social Utopianism. So for anybody who hasn't read either, don't be mistaken by the fools who think otherwise.


A classic that isn't any more   November 26, 2000
 77 out of 104 found this review helpful

In my experience, when people talk of dystopian novels, inevitably two titles are mentioned: 1984, and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. And then, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, yes, and BRAVE NEW WORLD". While the first two remain astonishing and relevant works of art in today's world, Aldous Huxley's contribution (which pre-dates the others) always remains a distant third. Why?

BRAVE NEW WORLD, while incredibly sophisticated considering when it was first published (1932), does not hold up as well in the world of 2000. Its ideas are still potent, and it does remain a fascinating read. Nevertheless, as an enduring masterpiece, it is deeply flawed.

BRAVE NEW WORLD centres, more or less, around Bernard Marx, a sub-average Alpha. Techniques in reproduction and eugenics have progressed to the point where 'mothers' (an incredibly filthy word) are no longer necessary; babies are born in jars, and carefully cultivated and conditioned to accept their predetermined roles in life. Alphas are the highest level; intelligent, arrogant, strong and beautiful. Lower down are Epsilons and Betas, lower caste persons who perform the more menial yet necessary functions of the society. Bernard is an abnormality; a rather weak and small Alpha speciman, who has deep yearnings to break free of the conformity of society. This is as close to heresy as it can get.

Bernard gets permission to visit a Reservation, a place where progress has been disallowed. There he meets John the Savage, a white male who has been raised among the Indian culture. He decided to bring John back to civilization, where, predictably, culture shock sets in.

BRAVE NEW WORLD has been hailed as a cautionary tale against rigid conformity and science, where the individual now exists to serve the advances of science, not the other way around. This is indeed so, and Huxley's take on the theme is years ahead of its time. His new world can be remarkably complex and exciting, and almost inviting in its ultimate ideals.

But much of BRAVE NEW WORLD does not inspire the reader in the same manner of 1984 and CLOCKWORK ORANGE. In those novels, the worlds of tommorow, while equally vivid, also function as deep social satire. BRAVE NEW WORLD, by contrast, reads like parody. We do not enter the world of the novel, and see ourselves. Rather, we laugh at it, seeing the folly of others.

BRAVE NEW WORLD also lacks convincing narrative and characterizations. Huxley's characters are mere props, used to fuel his ideas. Never once do we empathize with anyone. Characters come and go to illustrate points of view, but never to engage the reader. Contrast this with 1984, where the reader connects so completely to Winston Smith that his eventual downfall breaks the heart. Or CLORKWORK ORANGE, where Alex's murderous rampages are presented in such a form that the reader completely understands why he is the way he is. In BRAVE NEW WORLD, the reader dispassionately views the actions of the characters, never once gaining any understanding. Orwell and Burgess allow us to live in their worlds; Huxley presents the world, but doesn't let us enter it.

BRAVE NEW WORLD is still a thought-provoking experience. It is fast-paced and thought-provoking. But Huxley's world only exists as an idea. It is smart, lucid, and entertaining. It is a classic, in the sense of its lasting appeal and relevant subject matter. It fails to be a literary classic, but not for lack of trying.


The Most Important Science Fiction Book Ever Written   May 21, 2002
 31 out of 32 found this review helpful

I've put off reviewing Brave New World, as I thought I wouldn't be able to give an unbiased review. But, after re-reading the book for the tenth time (or so), I decided to give it a shot. Brave New World is the most important science fiction novel ever written. Not necessarily the best, not necessarily the best-written, but the most important. It is very good and very well written, but those are subjective points open to debate.

Brave New World, published some ten years before Orwell's more popular, anti-Communist 1984, imagines a world where people are conditioned from the moment of their birth to be part of an economic and intelligence-based caste, where the media exists for the sole purpose of distracting people from the humdrum of their lives and news is created as sensationalist entertainment, where different thinking is treated with social ostracization or drugs or both, and where the rule of the entire society is maximizing consumption of material goods. In short, not unlike the world today, and America in particular.

BNW (the society outlined in the book) is a Capitalist and Freudian Hell, where people are manipulated to buy things they don't need and conditioned to be perfect molds for that manipulation. The book follows three main characters: Helmholtz, a reporter who realizes the truth about BNW, Bernard Marx, a man who ultimately succumbs to the ostracizing criticism of his so-called "friends," and John Savage, an outsider who grew up with books and without the benefit of BNW's conditioning. All three eventually come to the same conclusions about BNW: that it is a society based on dictatorship-like control for the sole purpose of increasing consumer-base for a large, unnamed corporation-government.

As politicians are increasingly bought off with "campaign contributions" from corporations and special interests, news media is funneled into networks owned by five white men; physical and mental health is disregarded as the Randian, Capitalist mantra of "maximize profits no matter what" destroys basic human dignity; and everything from wars to game shows are turned into video-games for our amusement, it becomes very difficult not to make the prophetic connections between Huxley's vision and today's society. In BNW, there are no protests because people don't care. There are no dissenters because they are mocked into submission when they don't squeeze into the hole designed for them. Take a stroll through modern America, and things aren't much different.

"Brave New World" is important because it, not 1984, is the vision of the future. In a world turning into a Capitalist "Utopia," where maximization of profits is the norm and consumption of material goods supercedes all else, one cannot help but shudder at Huxley's words. The point is made even more evident when one realizes there is no Iceland or Falkland Islands to which we can escape: when Buddhists temples in Tibet have Coca-Cola machines, it's not difficult to see the tendrils of capitalism-gone-wrong everywhere, dark and inescapable. Good luck trying to figure out how to deal with it, besides "if you can't beat it, join it," the biggest cop-out answer someone can offer - along with the Savage's solution at the end. It can be done, however, even though the answer might not be immediately obvious.

This is a science-fiction classic and a book that everyone should read. Forget 1984: the Communists lost. Unfortunately, the Capitalists aren't doing much better - in BNW, most people are just blissfully ignorant of the Truth, rather than oppressed and numbed by it on a daily basis.

Grade: The ultra-rare A+