Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

An early trip to the United States was the inspiration for what Modern Library sees as one of the best English language novels of the 20th century. Aldous Huxley's 1931 dystopia grew out of a disgust for America's youth, business enthusiasm, and narcissistic attitude. Brave New World tells of an evil world-government using reproductive technology and sleep-learning to enslave the ignorant masses.

To be frank, I neither enjoyed the novel, nor bought into its ideas. The first third of the book describes in great detail how technology and conditioning are used to create a rigid class society where people are stripped of their individuality. Ironically, when I read the book I discovered a perfect world with no disease, no poverty, and where everyone is happy, even if "superficially" so. Huxley's satirical depiction of a promiscuous, secularized, and consumerist society is so exaggerated that it only ends up being different. His dark portrayal of humans being grown in factories, and sex being used solely for recreation might have seemed dysmal when he first conjured it, but since the characters described are so satisfied with their lives it's hard to feel sorry for them. The future world's perpetual happiness is essential to the story because Huxley figured that the only way a government could enslave the whole world would be to make its citizens love their servitude. So the greatest dark and dystopian novel is about a world where everyone is really happy with their totalitarian rulers...

About halfway through the story the main character is introduced to set the record straight. The Savage, as he is known, grew up outside of society, learned English on his own by reading Shakespeare, and wants more from life than just comfort. He wants god, poetry, danger, freedom, sin, and the right to be unhappy. At this point, I'm not even sure what Huxley is trying to communicate. Suffice it to say, I'm glad this book was relatively short.