Rating: 
Summary: Scary book!
Review: A great book. It will scare you -- read it now. And then read my Brave Nerf World.
Rating: 
Summary: Soma Holiday
Review: Huxley was right on about some of his ideas of the future. Embryo farms where humans are bred like Catfish;subliminal advertising;in vitro fertilization.Thank Ford that some of his thoughts have not materialized and art and religion are still accepted by todays society. Huxley is more philosopher than novelist and his visoions are brilliant. No wonder his paranoia with the threat of Facism and Communism beginning to assert itself in Europe and the Great Depression casting doubts on the succcess of free enterprise.
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Summary: The future of the past
Review: I think it's exiting to read a book from 1932, because it shows the fears of that time. Although the beginning is very difficult to read, it is enjoyable. Only people who dislike novells about a bad future shouldn't take care of it.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: Brave New World is a classic, a must have for heads and scifi fans.
Rating:
Summary: Eerily Prescient
Review: Brave New World is a phrase taken from Shakespeare's Tempest: Brave New World O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!) It depicts a dystopia (the was word coined in 1950s, two decades after the book was pulished -- meaning a place directly opposite of Utopia). Huxley paints a bleak, dark place, situated in remote future, where humanity has chosen the wrong course for its progeny. Brave New World surprised me by both by its brilliance and -- in some areas -- its shortcomings. For example, in this book, published in 1932, reproduction is carried out through in vitro fertilization. This process also employs another technique, called a rather tongue-twisting bokanovskification, whereby one zygote is treated to churn out up 96 clones (How eerily prescient, taking into account that the first mammalian clone, the famous sheep Dolly, was created not before 1997. Current record of producing most clones from a single cell is still a paltry 9 mice). Some scenes in the book even remind one of the rows upon rows of test-tubes humans in the recent movie The Matrix. This process of reproduction was so fantastic that the great science fiction writer Isac Asimov could not visualize it even in 1957! While writing his scifi classic "The Naked Sun", he depicts a colonized planet Solaria, where humans had become so reclusive that the presence of any other person in their close vicinity is absolutely abhorrent -- they meet each other through a 3D holographic device. But however nauseating the presence of any other human being near them, even those hermits produce babies in the good old fashion of us mortals! I'm sure Isac Asimov didn't read Brave New World, did he? But on the other hand, the characterization of Huxley leaves much to be desired. All characters are one-dimensional and stiff. Lenina (the heroine), Bernard, Linda, the director and others are as life-like as street-shop mannequins. And I found the character of the Savage - champion of the cause of freewill and old-fashioned humanity -- the most unbelievable. I fail to comprehend how a person who lived all his life in an almost pre-historic environment and who never read any book in his life except the works of Shakespeare (how did he manage to understand him is another matter!) can be so erudite and so thoughtful as to engage in philosophical discussions on history, psychology and human behavior? I think this is a big flaw that mars an otherwise brilliant book. It would be worthwhile here take into account another great 20th century dystopia "1984" by George Orwell. Although it's hard to compare these two novels but in my opinion 1984 is much more terrifying and Orwell's future world is much grimmer than Huxley's. And his characters, too, are more believable.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly terrifying!
Review: Reading any book for the sake of school can be a tedious and somewhat irrating task, however reading 'Brave New World' has made me change my tune. For the first time since 'To Kill a Mockingbird', I feel that I have read something with some merit, some worth, and a very obvious and startling lesson to teach. Whilst some believe that 'Brave New World' argues against the nightmarish anti-utopia ( or utopia depending on your perspective) presented in the book, I would infact argue that Huxley's intention was to hint at the benefits of a society positioned somewhere into between the blissfully ignorant stable environment of the Brave New World and complete individualism and creativity. After all, there are very obvious benefits in the new society; a lack of disease, an abudence of blissfully ignorant happiness, and more important a lack of suffering. Do we need suffering to achieve contentment? The book presents the idea that perhaps we do, though it gives no answers for any of the many questions it raises to the reader. The environment presented by the author is quite the paradox. You either face annihilation should you choose to ignore the strict codes of conformity, however the other option could be worse, a world without worth, emotions, a world which falls at the knees to science, though ironically sees the danger in science. The island, lying somewhere between the spectrum sounds brillant. The book has fault, but is intensly scary and thought-provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: We read Brave New World for sophmore history and when asked wheter we would like to live in the world so vividly painted by Huxley, the class was in a 50-50 split. Is huxley describing a Utopia or an anti-Utopia? The book challenges our notions of "happy", and our notions of a "hero". It forces to make a decision and come to our own conclusions.What makes this book so great is that very equivocalness that made the 50-50 split; it can be construed in many different ways. The book is good but be sure to have a dictionary near by unless you can readily define terms like "viviparos". Read the book slowly and look up theuses of words you don't understand because it is getting increasingly important that people read this book carefully. Our society is heading towards the society portrayed in Brave New World. There are many parallels to our society like the drug "soma". We too have drugs like soma, the biggest being alcohol. Perhaps we will be faced with a decision: either to live in the cold, efficiancy of the "perfect" government where we would live in blissful ignorance, or will we choose the imperfect society where we would be subject to suffering. Does happiness lose its meaning when we lose suffering?
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Summary: An amazing tale of a world far beyond what even our dreams m
Review: Would you like to see a perfect world? Can you even picture a perfect world? I have with the help of a book called "A brave new world" by Aldous Huxley. This is a science fiction that can take you on a trip hundreds of years in the future to a place where there is no suffering, depression, burdens, or poverty, depression is treated with grams of soma, violence and pain are left in the past and there is food and jobs for all. There is complete social stability. One cannot help but be happy in this perfect world. But a world that has no suffering, violence or pain is a bland world. This world really doesn't know happiness because it has never appreciated how bad sadness and pain are. Mr. Huxley knew that without the bad side of society the good side looses its flare. Maybe society is perfect being imperfect. A brave new world tells the story of Bernard Marx, a lower than average Alpha. Now babies are born in jars, and carefully cultivated and conditioned to accept their predetermined roles in life. Alphas are the highest level. They are intelligent, arrogant, strong and beautiful. Lower down are Epsilons, Betas, gammas, and deltas, lower level people who perform the more menial yet necessary functions of the society. Bernard is an abnormality, a rather weak and small Alpha, who has deep yearnings to break free of the society. Bernard gets permission to visit a Reservation, a place where progress has been banned. There he meets John the Savage, a white male who has been raised among the Indian's. He decided to bring John back to civilization. This book can open up your eyes but unlike the world it portrays it isn't perfect. This is a very complicated book with an incredible plot, theme and story line that have the potential for brilliance. Unfortunately the writing style does not compliment its brilliance. The characters weren't developed very well. You can never really get into their shoes and feel their emotions. This is also a very confusing book. It jumps to and from ideas and leaves gaps in its story line. In the beginning I was so lost that I almost put the book down but luckily I chose to read on and I am very glad I did so. If you are looking for an easy book to breeze through and just take up some spare time, this is not what you are looking for. If you are an advanced reader looking for something else to read, something that drifts from the sea of all the other bland books then I suggest that you read this book. You will not regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic?
Review: This book has a weak plot with no character development whatsoever. No longer does its social statements scare. Why is it still regarded as a classic? Beats me. It is fun to read though if you can stand the corny parody. There is one interesting aspect to the book. Huxely leaves mankind at least a chance by allowing the freer minded Alphas to live on islands separate from "civilization." Free to explore science without bounds and free from soma to commit war perhaps they would regain control in the future?
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It made me really think about what the future is going to be like and hope that it is not like the one in a Brave New World. It is full of very interesting concepts, especially since it was written in the 1930's or so. Overall, I would recomend it if you like to read for enjoyment.
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