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Brave New World (平装)
by Aldous Huxley
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Fiction, Sci-Fiction |
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A radiant and dazzling novel that promises an intelligent and heartbreaking journey into the futuristic “Brave New World.” |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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Saturday Review of Literature (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Mr. Huxley is eloquent in his declaration of an artist's faith in man, and it is his eloquence, bitter in attack, noble in defense, that, when one has closed the book, one remembers. |
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Martin Green (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
It is as sparkling, provocative, as brilliant, in the appropriate sense, as impressive ads the day it was published. This is in part because its prophetic voice has remained surprisingly contemporary, both in its particular forecasts and in its general tone of semiserious alarm. But it is much more because the book succeeds as a work of art...This is surely Huxley's best book. |
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Vivek Sharma (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Brave New World describes a paradigm for a new stable world, where arts are surpressed, faith and God are abolished, a caste system is created into which people are trained to think and work right from their births, sexual pleasures are promoted and "soma" present a ready refuge from every sorrow, every burst of adrelin. The novel written in 1930s is outright brilliant in several respects: its a self-supporting surprisingly accurate prophesy of changing world order and how societies are organized, it is book of reflection where the very basis of God, our faith, our social, religious and cultural attributes are questioned, it is a commentary on sociology, it is book of philosophy where questions about freewill, nature of science and most importantly human nature are provoked. The book is a great read, and one of those pieces of literature that everyone must commit to, not only to read it, but to think about what the book hints at! Huxley's Brave New World is in many respects like Wells’s Time Machine, underlines how luxury leads to lack of extremes, pain and instability which nucleate each change, drive new inventions and inspire art and literature. |
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Russell Seidle (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
In his Foreword to Brave New World (written in 1946 for a reprinting of the novel originally released in 1931), Huxley admonishes himself for not having incorporated ideas associated with nuclear fission into the technologies of his imagined future society. Despite this omission, Brave New World undoubtedly remains an uncomfortably accurate depiction of tomorrow's world. One could argue - and argue convincingly - that Huxley's descriptions are more relevant now than at any time in the past.
Certainly, the unswerving emphasis on individual happiness, satiety, and immediate fulfillment of human desires described in the book more closely fits with current Western societal norms than it must have at the time of Huxley's writing. And while the notion of subconscious behavioural programming as a state-sanctioned institution may not have reached the explicit form characteristic of Huxley's world (there is as yet no formal College of Emotional Engineering, to my knowledge at least), it seems fair to say that corporations and governments exert all manner of subtle appeals for us to continue our patterns of conspicuous consumption and to content ourselves with the cultural, legal, and moral status quo. Like the inhabitants of the Brave New World, we are increasingly taught to despise yesterday's ideas and products, to self-medicate with all manner of mood-enhancing drugs (of the legal type only, of course), and to accept, however tactfully, established divisions between social classes.
Added to these general themes, the especially riveting aspects of Brave New World revolve around the adaptation - or lack thereof - of the Savage to the “civilized” society of the future. In the lengthy conversation between the Savage and Mustapha Mond, Huxley manages to deftly address principles of spirituality, art, and truth in ways that challenge us to surface and examine our own assumptions regarding the existing social order.
I found the treatment of religion and its place in future society to be of particular interest. The marginalization of Christian traditions and beliefs in this new world echoes the similar banishing of pagan systems by European settlers in early American history. What is more, by finding a place for the co-existence of these two religions in the “uncivilized” outpost of the Reservation, Huxley touches on the historical links between mysticism and mainstream Christianity, a theme he returns to in his excellent collection The Human Situation.
Apart from all this, though, Brave New World is also an engaging, well-crafted work in its own right, and can be enjoyed as a provocative novel without the need for excessive philosophizing of the type of which I'm guilty here. Well worth a read.
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Alex Alaniz (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
As other reviewers have noted, Huxley nailed some of the dark side of modern life. In an age when rat brain cells, linked to chips, are flying F-22 simulators, he could not have forseen, the advent and potentially perilous consequences of the advanced molecular age we are entering by fusing our nanotech with nature's living, bacterial factories and software editors, the viruses.
Wealth gradients naturally arise. Consider the following simple computer model results: A finite amount of land (wealth) is owned in equal parcels by a finite population. Wealth is passed on to the next generation by inheritance. Only (single) children inherit their parent's whole land, while siblings of families that bear more than one child, must, necessarily, inherent less or no land at all. It may be that the eldest sibling gets all the land, leading to "worthless" siblings, or that the eldest gets a larger share of the wealth, or that all siblings get the same share. Single children will own more wealth than the children of families with more than one child. In one generation wealth gradients arise, and worsen as the generations pass. But this is not the complete picture. Those who own large chunks of land relative to those who own little chunks of land will need help in turning their land wealth into income. They will hire out poorer people.
There are two cases to consider: A) There is a shortage of labor. This will mean that wages will be high, a good thing for the poor. This happened in Europe after the Black Plague wiped out a huge portion of the population. Or, B) if times are good and the population is growing fast, there will be a glut of labor. Then wages will be low, and as the situation worsens while the population rises, during bad years (bad harvests) the poor will be forced to get loans against their land, or sell portions of it to feed their families. Defaults and/or purchaces of sold land will lead to the richer owning yet larger chunks of land. Eventually, one will get landless people who must work for a living among increasing competition for jobs...this will lead to oppression by the rich and ultimately to internal class conflict and collapse.
Read Huxley's shocking, gripping book, then, in view of his dark truths, consider that we are entering an age of advanced bio/nano techonology. Take invitro fertilization (IVF) for example. It is very expensive, and few people can easily afford it. Now imagine, say 15 years from now, the exorbitant cost of tweaking IVF embryos with state-of-the-art gene science to produce offspring with significantly improved physical and mental capabilities. Only the richest rich - think of the millionaire space tourists - will be able to afford such cutting-edge science. Then what, except to fall further behind, will happen to our kids when they try to compete against souped-up humans for jobs? Unless we take a stand, the extreme wealth and power gradients that already exist today between us poor slobs and the billionaires will likely grow far worse. This is what I consider in my recently well received strong scifi book Beyond Future Shock. It also what James Hughes considers in his non-fiction book Citizen Cyborg.
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A reviewer (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
In the present, human-kind is generally living in a world of freedom. People have every right to think, feel, and express themselves in whichever way they find suitable. One individual is no different from the one sitting across from them. To each his own, as they say. However, in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, society is presented in an entirely different way; a cleverly disguised and manipulated dystopia. Each individual, conceived and born out of a test tube, is subject to a sort of "caste conditioning". There are no mothers, no fathers, and the citizens begin practicing promiscuity while only toddlers. Separated and conditioned specifically according to social-status, this society functions solely on the work of the people and soma-induced "holidays". Bernard Marx, a high-class Alpha Plus, lives with confliction in this world. Bernard, who is unlike most Alpha Pluses due to a mistake during his test-tube infancy, is one of the few who dare to question the society in which he lives. Pained by unhappiness and societal neglect, he functions with depression. Lacking the promiscuous behavior his fellow Londoners practice, he has concentrated his focus on a woman named Lenina Crowne. Fortunately for Bernard, Lenina accepts his offer for a date to a "Savage Reservation" where native Americans still function as they would today, without conditioning by an outside source. While they are appalled and disgusted by the inhabitants and culture of the reservation, they come across are rather unique fellow who differs greatly from the people of the reservation. Deciding for mostly selfish reasons, Bernard brings John the Savage and his mother back to London. Eventually, the drastic change in atmosphere and overwhelming disgust towards human nature leads to John's untimely demise.
Still torn between my feelings about this book, I will say that Huxley elegantly portrays his vision of the future with such sophisticated language and gripping narrative. He has the ability to create in the reader the tension, sensuality, or anxiety that is occurring in the each part of the book. The words he chooses and the style of which he writes can unknowingly cause a build up of emotion that you do not realize your face is only inches away from the pages, eager with anticipation of the moment. However, at times it can seem slightly chaotic and leave one emotionally drained at the end of a chapter. The ties to Shakespeare throughout the text and even to the root of the title itself (The Tempest), is a compelling aspect. Initially published in 1932, the eerie prediction of fascism and the idea dangerously resembling Hitler's Third Reich is something that, if the reader looks close enough, leaves one thinking. I suggest reading this book with an open mind. Many ideas can seem somewhat shocking and slightly sordid, but it only adds to the intensity of the novel. Anyone with a fondness for these dystopian novels, such as George Orwell's 1984 or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 would find this book most intriguing.
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McAbney (MSL quote), UK
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was inspired by realising that I hadn't read any of a recent list stating the top twenty geek novels. Given that my impressions of geek literature being hardcore science fiction and adventures in elfworld it was pleasant to discover that this novel, over seventy years after its publication, is still fresh. I would tend to think, however, that its endurance is due to its satirical tone rather than any sort of geeky idolisation as, despite its futuristic setting, it deals more with its characters rather than the world around them.
Set in a dystopian society in 2540 AD or, as the book calls it, AF632 (AF meaning After Ford) the novel presents an almost perfect society where war and poverty has been eliminated at the cost of family, culture, and religion. The whole world is considered to be a single state and the central tenets are those, as you would expect, of the industrialist Henry Ford. Fordism is the semi-religious doctrine that permeates this society: his sayings are gospel, his name is said in vain, the cross has been replaced by the “T”; indeed, in a motion similar to crossing oneself, the citizens make the sign of the “T”. An interesting idea, perhaps, but the incessant expletives ("for Ford's sake!", "oh my Ford!", etc.) do lose some of their humour and power.
It begins, with little narrative, in the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre, a place where human beings are raised are `bottled' (raised in test tubes) and then conditioned via radiation and Pavlovian techniques to become one of the five social castes of society (the independent Alphas through to the half-retarded Epsilons). Once fit for society the citizens are then `decanted'. The Director of this centre is giving a tour to a group and shows them the bottled embryos passing along a conveyor belt as they are treated with chemicals to determine the future intelligence and physical attributes of the embryo. He then shows them the nursery where some children are being conditioned to loathe, of all things, books and flowers.
Then, moving on, we meet one of the world's controllers, a man named Mustapha Mond. He tells the touring children about the World State and the benefits that attempts to quash peoples' emotions and relationships has made on society. Indeed, in this world, there is no marriage, grief, or joy - promiscuous sex is actively encouraged, death is no big deal, and games only serve to further the economy.
More characters, from here, are introduced into the narrative as Huxley's world escapes the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre and goes further afield. The self-conscious Bernard Marx gets permission from the Director to visit a savage reservation in New Mexico; Lenina Crowne, attracted to him, accepts his offer to join him. Helmholm Watson, a hypnopaedia writer (slogans that are repeated and learnt whilst citizens sleep) shows discontent at his job feeling, as an Alpha, that he is capable of much more. And, in New Mexico, they meet John and his mother Linda, a pair of savages discontent with their world. Returning to London attempts are made to integrate John into society but, his world is shaped by Shakespeare (he found a copy of his complete works) and he disagrees with the dystopian World State, arguing with Mond until each character goes their own way (John to exile; Marx exiled.) and the final denouement.
Brave New World could have been better, there's no doubt about that. The obvious hindrance was a narrative that never really centered on one character: one minute we were touring the hatchery, the next we're following Bernard who, in turn, slinked into the shadows when John was introduced. Huxley has ideas, though, and amidst his obvious taste for neologisms (centrifugal Bumble-puppy!) gets his ideas across fairly well although this can be at the cost of the narrative as the climactic argument between John and Mond goes back and forward with neither being right. The World Controller argues that society is better off when nobody reflects on the past, when people aren't given any time to themselves, and when there is nothing to be emotional about and that eliminated studies (history, religion, science) are wrongs that require control while John, in his misunderstanding of the World State, believes that people should have freedom of thought and be allowed to suffer emotions to make them human. Of course, in a world where people are made to order, made on Ford's assembly line, he has little chance of ever making a point.
The writing in Brave New World is fine, if a tad verbose at times or scientific at others (dolichocephalic!) with, as previously mentioned, a world of neologistic commodities (pneumatic armchairs, for example). Dialogue is alright and serves to paint a more accurate picture of the characters but it is not entirely realistic and sometimes serves as device for infodumps. The characters, however, are hard to follow as they feature for little periods and, while you get an idea of what drives them, you don't get a complete sense of their role within the story, especially as to their reactions by the novel's close.
While I liked Brave New World one of the hardest things for me to do was imagine Huxley's vision as it would be incarnate. When I think of future societies I am given to thoughts of Fritz Lang's Metropolis but, when least expected, Huxley would throw in the countryside, savage reservations, and, unexpectedly, a lighthouse. I understand that these elements demonstrate a world that strives to be perfect but suffers from underlying problems (the people are kept happy by use of recreational drugs rather than any utopian positivity) that mean it is still a burgeoning dystopia rather than fully realised with its wheels completely greased. Overall, it's an attractive novel, full of ideas, but one that suffers from a lack of organisation with them.
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A reviewer (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
This science fiction novel by author Aldous Huxley is considered by some to be "The greatest novel of the future ever written." Why? Because as the late, great philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "It is all likely to come true."
Huxley through one of his characters early on makes this startling statement: "[T]he secret of happiness and virtue [is] liking what you've got to do. [Techniques have to be developed so] people like [or love] their non-escapable social destiny [of servitude]."
In this novel, this "love of servitude" has been accomplished through suitable scientific techniques. The result is an antiseptic new world where "[t]he world's [socially] stable...People are [artificially] happy; they get what they want, and never want what they can't get. They're well off; they're safe; they're never ill; they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they're plagued with no mothers or fathers; they've got no wives, or children, or lovers to feel strongly about; they're so conditioned that they...can't help behaving as they ought to behave. And if anything goes wrong, there's the [universal, pleasurable drug] soma [as well as recreational sex]."
Conditioning is the technique for establishing desirable behavior patterns. "Soma" in this novel is a powerful calming and hallucinogenic drug without any serious side effects.
There's "no mothers and fathers" because a foolproof system of eugenics (the movement for improving the human species through control of hereditary factors) has been mechanically designed to standardize humans in places called "hatcheries." This mechanical standardization of humans has been pushed to fantastic though, I feel not impossible, extremes. The system of mechanical eugenics in this novel enables humans to be "processed" into classes based on intelligence.
This novel is filled with numerous interesting concepts and ideas. For example, the time this novel takes place in is 632 "A.F." A.F. stands for After the Death of Ford. This refers to Henry Ford (1863 to 1947) who was a US auto manufacturer and developer of the assembly line. (This means this novel takes place in the late twenty-sixth century.)
There are basically two storylines in this novel. The first is about a person who was "born" in a hatchery but rebels against this new world's social order. The second is about a person who was actually born to a woman and thus now has trouble fitting into this new world.
Generally, the entire novel is about how the advancement of science affects human individuals.
This novel is excellently written. I have to admit I had difficulty at first because Huxley plunges right into his futuristic society (thus younger readers and impatient readers may have difficulty with this novel). However, I kept on reading and discovered that everything comes together by the end of the novel.
Finally, after reading this novel, I recommend the thought-provoking science-fiction movie Gattaca (1997). I also recommend the non-fiction book authored by Huxley entitled Brave New World Revisited (1958).
In conclusion, this is a fantastic, futuristic novel whose ideas will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. It is also a prophetic novel because many of the ideas presented may now be starting to come true!
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1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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