August’s book club pick, Brave New World is a bit of a different pick for us. Rather than going for a pure entertainment standpoint with lots to talk about, this one was one of the first that we chose that is most likely read in high schools everywhere. Certainly a step up in the intellectually challenging department.
Brave New World is a book about a dystopic future where people drug themselves to happiness, don’t fall in love, don’t feel any major emotions. People are manufactured and conditioned to be in certain social castes, literature is banned, entertainment is only in the form of the “feelies” which are movies that engage all senses. It’s a distressing story of what the human race could eventually become. After documenting the society and its control throughout the first half of the book, Huxley switches things up a bit, and adds a character that resembles humans in society today, who is of course appalled by what he sees. Discussion of art, individuality, and true humanity ensues.
Even a month after finishing, I can’t decide what I think about this book. It was definitely weird, and certainly made me think. It’s unsettling and bizarre, but says a lot about humanity, and the fact that it was written in the 30s says a lot for Huxley’s imagination/perception of the future.
4, I would read it again... I think.
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