Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't sound too bad
Review: This book isn't so much a story as it is an interesting essay on the future, morals, society, and humanity in general. I really loved this book, but I am afraid it had the oposite of Huxley's desired effect. I was not turned away from this Brave New World. It sounded rather appealing. Maybe living in a society where truth is rationed and ignorance is bliss would not really be that bad. Some things would be missed; reading excellent books, stimulating thought, progressing by means of ambition. But all in all, who needs these things? We could just take a gramme of soma...
Rating: 
Summary: How New Is It?
Review: Have you ever imagined what the world would be like in the future? Aldous Huxley gives you a scary glimpse into his future in the novel Brave New World. He describes a world that is so remotely bizarre, it's almost unbelievable. This thrilling saga is an example of the serious science fiction that examines the darker side of the changes in the twentieth century.
The book quickly caught my attention when it boldly described how babies were born, or rather decanted, in the laboratory. The scientists of the future used a procedure known as the Bokanovsky process. One female human egg can be made into 96 children on average, all of them completely identical in feature, form, and brainpower. When the babies are "decanted", they immediately get classified into a caste. The caste system consists of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons, each caste having subcategories ranging from Minus to Plus.
Throughout the novel, Huxley describes everyday circumstances in which these people take part. For example, the standard movie theater has been replaced with special presentations called "feelies", a type of moving picture that will give actual physical stimulation comparable to what the characters in the "movie" would be feeling. Spearmint gum has given way to sex hormone chewing gum- the favorite of one of Huxley's minor characters, Benito Hoover. The population eats grams of soma, a non-hangover-producing drug, every single day. The development of the soma was quite intriguing. In the civilization, Soma became not only a thing to add to life, but in fact the only reason for living. The idea of God has been dissolved to make way for their choice of worship, Ford, and his book "My Life and Work" has become the new Bible.
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's predictions of the result of a completely organized society, the scientific caste system, the abolition of free will by systematic conditioning. The people take regular doses of chemically induced happiness, and nightly courses of sleep-teaching called hypnopaedia.
This book made me take a step back and question reality. The entire time I read the book, I wondered if the world could actually fully function in the way the book depicts. In today's society, we believe that prosperity is more important that happiness, that working hard for success in life is the ultimate goal. In Brave New World, Huxley shows how it might be if people began to think differently, but perhaps he shows which way of life society might already be falling towards.
Rating:
Summary: BNW - a window to the present and future
Review: Brave New World is one of the more unique and surprising novels around. Surprising for the fact that although it was written about 70 years ago, so many aspects of the society in the novel that are reality today that Huxley could have no way known about. Without giving too much of the plot away, much of the technology in the book exists today, or vey close, in a way that the author couldnt have known about. Huxley also does a good job giving his characters true human feelings for the right situations, but does not explain why people feel this way, which would have made the book perfect. There are also parts where the story slows to almost a halt, and becomes tedious to read. Other than that, Brave New World is definately recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Far from outdated . . .
Review: Stunning! I have read the book, and now re-read it, and it only gets better. But the question always comes up: which is better, Brave New World or 1984? Well, first off, both are good, if not great works in themselves. But it seems that people always choose 1984, and just 'cause it's more "storyish." Well, this may be true, but I wouldn't count out Huxley's little masterpiece too quickly. There are three main points to make about Brave New World in supporting its excellence, and possibly superiority to 1984 . . . 1. Huxley writes with an unending intelligence, but his genius is relayed subtly to the reader. Just check out the names of his characters for instance - Marx, Bakunin, Engels, Popé, LENINa (all names of socialist/communists and/or busts on religion) - and the list goes on and on. Huxley's satire is unique, if not all the more biting in the fashion it is presented. The best example of this lies in the Solidarity Service, a direct slam at the practice of Communion.
2. Like any great writer, Huxley knew Shakespeare, and incorporates his works into the novel. Just read the book through once and see if you don't agree that John the Savage is the penultimate Shakespearean tragic hero.
3. Huxley doesn't have to be as blunt as Orwell with his terrifying vision of the future. He doesn't force us to label this aspect or that aspect of his dystopia as "black" or "white," "right" or "wrong," but rather allows us to determine what is horrible and what is possible. All in all, it is only those without patience and those unwilling to stimulate their minds who label Brave New World as "bland" or "outdated." For those who claim that it is "wrong" in its predictions, just think about the permeation of sex into everyday life or just how close we are to "test tube babies" right now . . .
Rating:
Summary: Scary and Important
Review: Huxley's "Brave New World" depicts the world as some leftists aspire it to become: it is composed of a World Government that determines what our destinies will be at birth, conditioning them to be that, repressing religion, all concept of God, science, family, art, etc., all in attempt to squash the reality of truth or perception of difference among others. It is, in short, a socialist Utopia whereby all people and things are engineered to be equal. Huxley's portrait is terrifying in that it is not all that far-fetched. Entire institutions are based on such concepts, and Huxley portrays the characters here as fully in-tune and accepting to this reality. The lone exeption is, ironically, a character Huxley names "the Savage," a Native American who, despite a lack of formal education, raises serious questions about the Brave New World, leading to tragic consequences. "Brave New World" is a bit disturbing at times, but forces the reader to think and see the world differently. It is indeed a book that changes one's view of government and people, and appears to remind us that it is government that serves people and not the other way around.
Rating:
Summary: The World After Ford
Review: I enjoyed reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and watching the lives of the characters unfold from the beginning. The growth and dismantling of the characters brings you right into their world. This world Huxley created 60 years ago is very similar to today. I was able to make connections between my life and the lives of the characters, which really brought this book to life. This is a fast read and great for a Sunday afternoon.
Rating: 
Summary: A futuristic handling of timeless themes
Review: A lot of people like to read this book as a doomsday chronicle, gloomily noting how close the present resembles the future Huxley describes. In their voices is a superiority, a sense of "I'm the only one who can see what's going on while the rest of you are duped." Rather a silly notion, since this is such a well-read book and so many other folks are saying the same thing. Furthermore, I am not yet convinced the world is going to hell; in fact, I'm not all that convinced it's any worse than it was a thousand years ago. Naturally I'm crippled in this judgement by the fact that I wasn't around a thousand years ago. Yet much of what Shakespeare wrote is hardly less vulgar, shocking, sensational than what's in the theaters today (especially in the context of his culture) and the same can be said of Greek literature (ever read Lysistrata?) And so I find the accuracy of his future predictions entertaining, amusing, but not exactly haunting or frightening. It's fun when he's right, it's even more fun to join him and proclaim our society "hurtling towards" the predictions that have time yet to come true. But the greatest effect the similarity between his Fordian future and our own society has is to help us relate to the universal, timeless issues that make this book interesting and almost a classic. Stability versus passion (remember Achilles choice?) Happiness vs knowledge (Adam and Eve...at least in literature), society vs individual, nobility vs indulgence. It's a little heavy-handed as it deals with these things, it lacks subtlety and complexity and eloquence, but that's probably why so many of us have read it in high school english classes. You have to start somewhere, and if you try to start with Homer, good luck. Some nice tidbits I particularly like: "For particulars, as everyone knows, make for virtue and happiness; generalities are intellectually necessary evils. Not philosophers but fret-sawyers and stamp collectors compose the backbone of society." (2) Philosophers, along with poets and prophets and anyone else trying to see a thing wholly, belong on the margins of society. A fit description of the television:
"Not so much like drops of water, though water, it is true, can wear holes in the hardest granite; rather, drops of liquid sealing-wax, drops that adhere, incrust, incorporate themselves with what they fall on, till finally the rock is all one scarlet blob." (32) "But everyone belongs to everyone else..." (46) Sexual communism! Maybe the best quote in the book:
Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness: it depends on the force of the current, the height and strength of the barrier...Feeling lurks in that interval of time between desire and its consummation. Shorten that interval, break down all those old unnecessary barriers." (51) "Progress is lovely, isn't it?" (118)
"Yes, and civilization is sterilization." (128) Another quote that is bigger than the book:
"One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies." (214) "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy." (288)
Rating:
Summary: If you think we are not already on our way
Review: ... Poeple like the politician in that news story use events to make sure everything you do is 'within' the lines, everybody is as homogenous as possible. Brave New World is not that far away - in the name of security, don;t be surprised if they come up with a machine to read your htoughts....
Rating:
Summary: a glimpse of the future
Review: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a surprising story written in its time period. It talks about the future where everything is "perfectly" manufactured so everyone is the same. There is a social hierarchy where your place in life is determined before you're heart even starts beating. Then according to your class, your mind is warped to think that you have the best life out of everyone even if you were the lowest rung on the ladder. Then after being coaxed into this life, the "savage" world comes to surface. This story tells about a shift in perspective when the truth comes to light.
This narrative was written in the 1930's when genetics and test tube babies weren't even known. Yet, the author has the imagination to think of ideas similar to this and the "assembly line" of human reproduction where it is a version of the assembly line that Gerald Ford used to build cars. The assembly line is a lot alike the test tube babies that we have today. In test tubes, genes are taken out that are unwanted and new ones are put in to produce a perfect person. The "soma" is also another aspect of the modern world's daily life. The soma of Bernard and Lenina's time is the depression medication of today. When you're feeling blue take a couple of these and you will feel better. It is what society depends on to be happy.
Most authors would write the future as hovercrafts, spaceships, and other distant planets. However, Huxley had a different point of view. This fascinating book tells the story of how the future might have been from the perspective of 1930. Surprisingly aspects of this book are so familiar with the everyday happenings of today.
Rating:
Summary: Frighteningly Truthful Sci-Fi
Review: Huxley's Brave New World is a classic sci-fi, which comes frighteningly close to reality. It is a marvelous psychological satire on humankind's social mores and behavior at its most extreme and corrupt. Sadly, preconditioned reflexes are also part of our modern society. Bombarded as we are by mind-bending advertising and fashion-influenced behavior, Huxley's Brave New World is closer than we think. If only we did think more about the world taking shape around us all, like Huxley must surely have intended when he wrote this powerful Sci-Fi critique. It sometimes seems we do not ponder enough. There are certainly very few such thought-provoking sci-fi books, which point a frank finger at our global society's thoughtless ways. However, I am glad to say that I did find such a new sci-fi. It is definitely for those of us who like to think a bit while reading an entertaining tale and are starved for such books. It is entitled, ACCUSED BY FACET-EYES (author C.B.Don) and it addresses our contemporary environmental challenges in a fantastic sci-fi format. Much like the enlightening Brave New World, this brand-new, 21st Century novel also left me with a lingering sense that a more thoughtful approach to our actions on this planet is badly needed!
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