Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley. It was written in 1931 and published in 1932 (during the Great Depression). It is fictitious and the general premise is that humans are all born in labs and conditioned to be leaders or workers in their sleep.
In Brave New World the basic synopsis is that there is this guy named Bernard who is like almost all other people, born in a lab and conditioned to be what the Director's want them to be in their sleep. Bernard doesn't really fit in, because he is odd, he is at the risk of being shipped off to an island. In order so save his career he brings back a savage that is a Director's son. This particular Director is Bernard's "prosecutor", he quits and Bernard is free to stay where he is. The savage, who is a naturally born person, doesn't adjust well to this strange place. He and Bernard are eventually sent off to different places and the savage elects to be isolated. I think this is a thrilling and oddly captivating book tat I would recommend to really anyone who has somewhat matured.
2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
I believe that really anyone from high school on till death should find this book to be a damn good and interesting read. There are many, many, strange and adventurous themes carried within th depths of its pages. But I believe the people that will truly enjoy this book are people that find something wrong in society today and society throughout time. People who have felt like they don't belong, more specifically, people who think they're the only people that don't belong. But there are people that feel like they don't belong in the world we live in, and therefore they are not alone, they do belong (just with people who feel like they don't belong).
People who feel like there can never be a perfect place, a perfect way to run things might get a kick out of this book, people who enjoy freaky things and equally scary ideas, will definitely love this book. People who like sex, lots of sex, will probably be very happy with this (large) aspect of the book.I liked this book, it was, as I've said, a scary yet truly enchanting novel. So ,if you happen to be like me, however rare this is, you'll probably like, and at the same time, not know what to think of this book.
All in all, I think as long as you aren't opposed to listening to controversial ideals and are old enough to tolerate a lot of talk of "erotic play". If you're old enough to handle the concepts of death and sexual themes, as well as the theme of what I think is "dehumanization", you will probably enjoy this book.
3. What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?
The major weakness of this book is for suuure the ending. I didn't like the ending at all. It wasn't the plot, I understood what happened, it just seemed like it wrote it really, really fast, because he had to make a deadline and forgot to make a better one. Another thing that confused me is that if the Controller is this all powerful/wise person, why wouldn't he send John somewhere completely isolated? I mean, if he's close to a city someone's bound to see him as they fly over or something. I get the authors point that he doesn't fit in anywhere, but it just doesn't fit right. Even if he hadn't moved John farther away, I thought people were conditioned not to like being out in the countryside, why were those people that first spotted him out there?
I really wish I could ask the author if he rushed the ending. It just ended so abruptly and the last chapters setting changed so quickly, without even a decent heads up. It was just like, I'm flying, okay now I'm in the countryside at a lighthouse. Seriously? And why a lighthouse? Aren't tall objects easy to spot? Did John pick the spot? Did Mustapha pick the spot? If John picked the spot and truly wanted to be alone, why the hell did he pick that lighthouse instead of some private island or something like that?
Anyways, that was definitively the weakest part of the novel. Nothing else really stuck out out me. So all in all, compared to most movies this was a relatively sensible read.
8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.
Bernard Marx was the character that interested me the most. Sadly, I identify with him more than I do with any of the other characters except I'm not that conceited or that much of a tool in general. What I find interesting about him is that he seems to be one of three people in the book that find something funny with their Brave New World. But what I like about him is that he is a very modern (as in right now) person. I could see a person like Bernard living in our world, I do see people like Bernard living in our world. People that will curse the world they live in when they are unhappy and when they gain their popularity they will fight to the bone to keep it, and along the way usually loose what little dignity they had.
Bernard is definitely one of those people. Forgive more of my slang but he is a complete tool. He's easily manipulated and when he becomes popular he loses interest in the little things about society that tickle him the wrong way. He stopped his conversations with John and Helmholtz and then he of course went back to them when he lost his popularity (which was only based on the savage, John). I find him interesting because he is a well developed and relevant to people living in our modern age.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Book Letter 3
The ending confused me a little. It wasn't the plot, I understood what happened, it just seemed like it wrote it really, really fast, because he had to make a deadline and forgot to make a better one. Another thing that confused me is that if the Controller is this all powerful/wise person, why wouldn't he send John somewhere completely isolated? I mean, if he's close to a city someone's bound to find him. I get the authors point that he doesn't fit in anywhere, but it just doesn't seem right. Even if he hadn't moved John farther away, I thought people were conditioned not to like being out in the countryside. Whatever, I'll save it for the monthly review.
I don't know of much else to say that I already haven't or I'm saving for the monthly review. It was a good book, it was freaky and scarily close to a possible reality, especially for the time period it was written during. Their were well developed characters, who by some odd means out grew some of their conditioning one way or another. It was a very scary alternate reality. I was thinking about doing this for the monthly review of the book (as well as a very brief summary of the answers):
2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?):
Anyone really, but in particular people who find something wrong with society
3. What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion:
The ending
8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth:
Bernard
I don't know of much else to say that I already haven't or I'm saving for the monthly review. It was a good book, it was freaky and scarily close to a possible reality, especially for the time period it was written during. Their were well developed characters, who by some odd means out grew some of their conditioning one way or another. It was a very scary alternate reality. I was thinking about doing this for the monthly review of the book (as well as a very brief summary of the answers):
2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?):
Anyone really, but in particular people who find something wrong with society
3. What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion:
The ending
8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth:
Bernard
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Book Letter 2
In this section the "Savage" is fully enveloped in the "civilized" culture, and it's too much for him to take and him along with Bernard and Helmholtz are sent to islands, at least Bernard and Helmholtz are going to be. I don't know about John. They still haven't said how Bernard and Helmholtz came to be oddballs, and I don't think they will, but they should be much happier on their islands among other people that don't fit in with the rest of society. The character Mustapha Mond is fully introduced and him and Bernard start a very intriguing conversation about religion and other aspects of society and happiness and history, this definitely clears up why the civilization is the way it is.
I can't really see where this civilization is similar to ours, but I could see this actually happening, I mean, the premise is totally believable. The things I do notice that are similar is the materialism, when somethings old, you don't fix it, you throw it away. Fairly true today. The people these days aren't as promiscuous as they are in the book, but I know a lot of people wish it was that way. A major difference would be the lack of solidarity in this society. Everything is done in public, I guess they're conditioned to have no shame as well.
There are really too many differences with this culture to mention, but I think I covered most of the similarities. Here's one more. There are loners, people who don't fit in, who believe that there is something greater than themselves and their society. Which I believe is one of the most important similarities, it provides a sliver of hope that this very strange way of life could be altered so as not to be so controlling. Which is what Bernard, John, and Helmholtz are after, and maybe by the end of the book things will change.
I can't really see where this civilization is similar to ours, but I could see this actually happening, I mean, the premise is totally believable. The things I do notice that are similar is the materialism, when somethings old, you don't fix it, you throw it away. Fairly true today. The people these days aren't as promiscuous as they are in the book, but I know a lot of people wish it was that way. A major difference would be the lack of solidarity in this society. Everything is done in public, I guess they're conditioned to have no shame as well.
There are really too many differences with this culture to mention, but I think I covered most of the similarities. Here's one more. There are loners, people who don't fit in, who believe that there is something greater than themselves and their society. Which I believe is one of the most important similarities, it provides a sliver of hope that this very strange way of life could be altered so as not to be so controlling. Which is what Bernard, John, and Helmholtz are after, and maybe by the end of the book things will change.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Book Letter
I find this book to be very strange, yet still incredibly interesting. The erotic play between little children is just a tiny bit creepy. And it isn’t only among the adolescents and children. It’s among everyone, there’s a constant stream of sex and talk of sex coming out of this book. And it’s all seemingly second nature to these “people”. Another thing I find odd is the Bernard Marx character. He’s the only person in the story to have old-fashioned human emotions. He seems to be one of the only people to be unhappy with their “utopia”. The reason behind this will probably be revealed later in the story, but until then, it remains a mystery to me.
There also seems to be an underlying thought or emotion bubbling up inside these people that they themselves cannot explain. I think it may be the same reason that Bernard and Helmholtz have their little conversations, and why Bernard is so unhappy with and appalled at the society he lives in. When he talks to Lenina about these thoughts she feels them to but covers it by telling him not to talk about it and has some soma to get her mind off of it. So everyone feels it, but they’ve been taught to fear it or cover the emotions. In fact, they’re supposed to take one whenever they feel bad or unhappy, only burying the issues present and creating another strange thing about Brave New World.
There also seems to be an underlying thought or emotion bubbling up inside these people that they themselves cannot explain. I think it may be the same reason that Bernard and Helmholtz have their little conversations, and why Bernard is so unhappy with and appalled at the society he lives in. When he talks to Lenina about these thoughts she feels them to but covers it by telling him not to talk about it and has some soma to get her mind off of it. So everyone feels it, but they’ve been taught to fear it or cover the emotions. In fact, they’re supposed to take one whenever they feel bad or unhappy, only burying the issues present and creating another strange thing about Brave New World.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
BitTorrent and Copywrite
I'm sick of artist complaining that they don't make money anymore because people download music for free. Truthfully, they probably loose a lot of money due to free downloading but if they're famous, who cares? They already get paid bagillions of dollars. And if you're and artist struggling to get by, people aren't going to buy your music anyway. If they can get it for free you're going to get more publicity and make money at shows, so can it whiny artists. Plus, if I really like an artist and think they deserve my money, I'll go buy their CD. Which I guess is a dying breed because of the bit torrent craze, I don't think so, I buy more CD's now that I can download free music. And when I have iTunes money, I'll spend all of it fast. I have no problem with buying music and I assume most people are the same way, I just use Bit Torrent and Limewire to expand my musical horizon, which is always encompassing more and more artists that I now have the chance to buy music from. Therefore, these are very beneficiary programs, for everyone, artists can become more popular, if they deserve it, and the listeners don't have to spend money.
So really it's a win win situation. And again for those big artists, most of the bank in the biz for you is coming from ticket sales, and with an expanded fan-base because of DOWNLOADED MUSIC!!!! the amount of people going to concerts must be increasing. So yeah, and how permanent are CD's? They aren't. One scratch that's big enough and that music is gone forever. If you download it, as long as your hard-drive doesn't crash you still have the music and even if it does, you can just download it again, for free! So really though, free music definitely should not be unlawful. Movies on the other hand, I can understand, but that's a totally different story. To the record companies and artists, I'm sorry if you can't buy a luxurious jet and have to get a smaller one because of downloaded music, but for the good of the people, let it be.
So really it's a win win situation. And again for those big artists, most of the bank in the biz for you is coming from ticket sales, and with an expanded fan-base because of DOWNLOADED MUSIC!!!! the amount of people going to concerts must be increasing. So yeah, and how permanent are CD's? They aren't. One scratch that's big enough and that music is gone forever. If you download it, as long as your hard-drive doesn't crash you still have the music and even if it does, you can just download it again, for free! So really though, free music definitely should not be unlawful. Movies on the other hand, I can understand, but that's a totally different story. To the record companies and artists, I'm sorry if you can't buy a luxurious jet and have to get a smaller one because of downloaded music, but for the good of the people, let it be.
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