Brave New World Paperback – 6 December 2007

Excellent book...Great insights by Huxley how the modern world is going to shape up...Written in 1931,but very much a reflection of today's world...No wonder it is rated so highly...Everyone should give it a go...

The title of the book is taken from a line in Shakespeare’s The Tempest – “O brave new world, that has such people in it!” – uttered by the character Miranda who has grown up in an isolated society and sees a large number of people for the first time. Huxley’s Brave New World is about the clash between the Miranda-like protagonist, John (who incidentally has read only Shakespeare while growing up), who lives in an isolated settlement, and a world where humans are engineered in labs to lead a perfectly contented life.The first third of the book describes the dystopian World State where everything, ranging from procreation to employment to recreation, is created and controlled artificially in line with its motto of “Community, Identity, Stability”. Humans are artificially produced in batches and divided into a caste system ranging from Alpha Plus to Epsilon Minus, conditioned from the embryo stage. They (including the lower castes) lead a happy life driven by technology, promiscuity and a drug called “soma” – overall a “civilized infantility” as Huxley puts it. Henry Ford seems to be the presiding god of this world, possibly in line with his famous assembly line system of manufacturing.The second part deals with the exploration of a “savage” settlement, where people live the old-fashioned way, by Bernard Marx (an Alpha Plus but one who does not wish to conform to the ideal world, like his friend Helmholtz Watson) and his date of the moment, Lenina Crowne. They meet John, a naturally created offspring of a senior functionary of the World State, but one who has grown up oblivious to it. The final part is about John, like Miranda, trying to blend in the World State and the inherent conflicts that it creates. The highlights of this part, in my view, are the discussions between John and Mustapha Mond, the controller. It’s about the eventual salvation of Bernard and Helmholtz and the only possible conclusion of John’s story.Brave New World, like 1984 published 17 years later, discusses a dystopian world and the perils therein. But the books’ approaches to this end are significantly different – the latter explores control through fear while the former sees pleasure as a tool for control. Brave New World is an interesting and short read about the clash between those who want to “get rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it” and others who would like to “claim the right to be unhappy”, while simultaneously discussing issues such as racism and casteism.It's easy to see that it would have been a radical book in 1932. It obviously is significantly less so today which makes this book seem obsolete at times. But if one can get past it or if possible, read this book through the lens of a 1930s reader, the book is an extremely interesting and rewarding read.Pros: Fascinating setting, using Shakespeare as an interesting metaphor, easy readCons: May seem a bit outdated now

Over the last two or three weeks, I’ve read three dystopian novels, each depicting society in different ways. The common thread connecting them is the loss of individuality, reduction in human thought, coupled with complete control by an unknown master, or set of masters.Each book possesses a unique flavor, depicting different aspects of futuristic societies. Aldous Huxley set “Brave New World” in 2540 CE, or AF 632 (After Ford). Management students may recall that Henry Ford changed production methods in the early years of the 20th century, reducing workers to automatons. A modern emerged between owners, managers and workers, creating a modern class system with unbreakable barriers between them.Modern production systems and society create false utopia, with the majority falling prey to superficial feelings of delight. Aldous Huxley’s cynical view of the marvels of technology inspired him to create a dystopian novel set in the future.The Directors divided society into distinct castes, ranging from Alpha to Delta. The Alphas sit on top of the pile, whereas the Deltas lie at the bottom, doing menial labor. Technological advances have converted human procreation into a mechanized process, distilling and sorting babies into their respective castes. Mustapha Mond, the controller, devised education systems teaching babies to seek simple pleasures (sex etc), and to fear anything that could reduce their productivity (nature, for instance). People use soma to induce pleasure, reduce stress, or to spend their leisure time.Love does not exist, and no one has a permanent partner. Everyone lives in a numb, blissful state, controlled by the state.Enter an Alpha, Bernard Marx, who takes his love interest, Lenina Crowe, to a savage reservation, where they find a long-lost woman, the ex-companion of the Director. The pair find her, and her son, John, whom they call John Savage.Bernard tries to use John Savage to boost his social standing, and Lenina appears to fall in love with him. John’s growing anger with society forces him to rebel and he escapes to a lighthouse to live alone. I shall not reveal the end.Many readers may consider the novel to be unrealistic. We may not consume soma, but we allow social media, alcohol, etc., to rule us. Lives and relationships have become superficial, and we are losing our connection to ‘the real world,’ including nature, which we fear.Aldous Huxley’s novel is brilliant and prescient and is a book we must read.

Wah!