Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Writers Forum

demented_1004 · 08-05-2005, 06:32 PM

Has anyone read this book? I've just finished reading it. Thought-provoking stuff. I quite didn't get the last page- does John, the "Savage" commit suicide at the end?

Anarkos · 08-07-2005, 06:41 AM

Very good book.

Starrwriter - Can someone really blame a generation as skullfucked from birth as mine for high drug use? Is meth really all that much worse than other drugs which lead often to violence...such as alcohol?

Fuck it. I'm Edge. Don't tar the youth with one brush.

Hodge · 08-07-2005, 02:17 PM

Meth leads to violence as well. Have you ever seen a guy go on a speed crash? Stay away.

Anarkos · 08-07-2005, 04:30 PM

Hodge - Not disputing that, but simply pointing out that it's far from alone.

Starrwriter - I don't believe in the concept of "good" narcotics. Even weed. While you say it "helped" I would disagree...unless helping involves causing paranoia (which often leads to violence) and dulling of the wits.

Now, my generation's issues: Environmental collapse, spectre of AIDS, babysitting-via-TV/computer, threat of "terrorism", endless vague wars on abstract nouns, mass-market plastic culture, unprecedented divorce rates and levels of single parenting, blah, blah.

Ejp414 · 08-07-2005, 04:31 PM

The first fifty pages or so of that book just blew my mind. After that, it seemed to lose its magic, but I still found it to be a great book with amazing concepts to ponder.

The Evincar · 08-30-2005, 01:12 AM

One of my favorite pieces of dystopian literature...A bit awkard at points, but still a great book from Orwell's mentor. Who's to say it's not utopia if practically everyone's happy, programmed to be happy or not, they don't know better, mostly.

Anyway, "Island", "The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell", and a few other books of his were quite nice too, can't remember all their names at the moment.

Spudley · 08-30-2005, 04:49 PM

Brave New World. One of the best pieces of early science fiction. The really impressive thing about it is that it was written in the 1920s, but it hasn't dated at all. The scientific elements he described are even more real now than they were when he wrote it, and the dystopian society he created is utterly plausible and believable. And - if you stop to think about it - very scary.

I did a comparative study of BNW vs 1984 when I was in high school. It's probably about time I re-read them both.

strangedaze · 08-30-2005, 05:18 PM

I don't understand why it is dystopic. Give me happy pills when I am sad, sex with everyone when I'm horny, and I'm a happy camper.

strangedaze · 08-30-2005, 07:37 PM

I keep telling myself that I'm an Alpha, but then the intoxicants wear off and I'm forced to face reality.

Trilock · 09-09-2005, 03:19 PM

I remember reading this book when I was a senior in high school and was simply blown away as well. It's a good, futuristic take on the Hindu Caste system, imposed on "civil" society--in which he also wrote an introduction to a version I have of the Bhagavad-Gita.

PaPa · 09-23-2005, 04:44 PM

The thing is, if you think about the society described resonably, it works - everyone is happy. Those who aren't happy are either sent away to live with others of their kind or elevated to high office. Some people are deliberately given lower status, but they are made to enjoy their menial work and not want more brains - they are just as happy as the Alphas.

The moral of my argument is that being reasonable isn't always the best course.

pride.in.introspection · 02-10-2006, 06:13 PM

I only got part way through the book. I found it difficult to read.