As amazing as it sounds, this book somehow passed me by when we were studying literature in high school. It was on the list but for some reason my class didn’t read this one. So it wasn’t until I reached my fifties that I finally read it, and then for a book club in combination with that other dystopian classic, Nineteen Eighty Four.
It is definitely worth comparing the two and whilst the horror of totalitarianism is perhaps more viscerally illustrated in 1984, I am not sure that Brave New World isn’t perhaps the more disturbing for me. The endings in particular, whilst very strong in both, and more disturbing in Orwell’s work, is very poignant in Huxley’s horrific vision.
Of course, I am sure there are nuances of plot and symbolism that passed me by although I found the most profound and interesting section the Controller’s explanation of World civilization and particularly his discussion with John the Savage late in the novel. It is an interesting take on future society for sure and the intimation that we truly need suffering to be human is well taken here. Even though I sometimes feel that a few grammes of Soma would certainly be welcome, we all know that, with the drugs we do have, that isn’t the long term answer.
It was these messages, as well as the consumerism and the conditioning that I found more interesting than the “process” of producing children. I found the reverence for Ford, though, to be somewhat bizarre and whilst I understand this in terms of his production line approach, it just seems weird to me and a little forced, although perhaps this was AH’s way of suggesting that the introduction of the Model T was somehow the start of the descent into this dystopian nightmare.
More relevant to today’s horrendous descent into a modern day nightmare is what I fear is actually becoming true i.e a disdain and contempt for history and reading in particular and intellectualism in particular. It is pathetic and disappointing to me how many people never pick up a book to read for pleasure, spout the importance of one’s country and patriotism without the first idea of the major events in said country’s (or indeed any world) history. Today’s equivalent of the feelies in Brave New World is surely reality TV to which we are endlessly subjected when the information age should make learning easier than ever. I think that Huxley’s fear that nobody will want to read books is more prescient that Orwell’s fear that they will be banned, although the latter may well happen too.
There is a lot that is prescient here of course but it would be interesting to see what Huxley would write now, given an understanding of genetics and genetic engineering. However as one who generally believes in conditioning, this element of the novel is fascinating indeed. Also the guess that helicopters would still be the primary means of transport in 2450 seems off the mark given where we are with transport in 2018, many decades after this work was penned.
Very much an enjoyable read though, ultimately as I suspect is the intent, a bleak ending. I guess if one is looking for a happy ending then one has innumerable options from which to choose. This ending somehow strikes me as much more satisfactory and frankly, if such a society were to develop (as it certainly could) much more likely.