Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

98 reviews

mayze's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

e_l_k's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The fact that so many people reduce this book to "drugs make people happy" is a disservice to the eerie prescience Huxley demonstrated in this book (even if parts were heavily inspired by previous writers). The social commentary in 'Brave New World' is so layered and ahead of its time, I'm half-convinced Huxley was a time traveler. (Perhaps it was the psychoactive drugs...) However, I am glad I never had to read this in high school; the prose is varied and active to a point of potentially introducing confusion from its formatting alone. If you're concerned, I highly recommend trying the audiobook version, as it helps clarify some moments where the speaking character may not be clear. The final few chapters in particular were my favorites, as the World Controller breaks down the core philosophies and debates present in the book, which serves to not only elucidate the subtext of the rest of the story but to present tantalizing food for thought that stuck with me long after finishing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Racism

Minor: Sexual content and Violence

mahamsiddiqui's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Rape

growintogardens's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Well... that was something. It's an interesting premise, but I didn't like it or think it was a particularly good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ellwell's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

jemappellecat's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

divyaaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

somelitreference's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

A book with a deeply disturbing start yet with little payoff at the end. Predictable. At times boring. The sexism and racism age this book very poorly. There are some artfully produced lines, but they're far and few. Wouldn't recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

pleu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It's a classic for a reason and I found it very thought-provoking in an enjoyable way. I didn't care for the ending tho as it felt a bit like an "easy escape", on the other hand the essay by the author seem to indicate that he too didn't care for the ending as he grew older so I guess it's a pretty acceptable opinion.

Some part of the Swedish translation makes me wonder how this was received in it's original language, as some expressions seem oddly worded. I'm not sure if that's the author or the translation.

I did get a chuckle out of the Swedish preface by Göran Rosenberg, as it was from 2000 and clearly dated itself when he said that 1984 is now very unrealistic to him as information is free and open and it will be hard for any country to change that. In this day and age that part falls a bit flat but the text was still a good preface for the book. Currently available at https://www.rosenberg.se/frord-huxley if one reads a different edition of the book (only in Swedish).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Colonisation

Minor: Incest, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and War

The last chapter has a character "driven mad" were he's flogging himself and eventually ends his own life, he's driven on by a big crowd of people and it's very dehumanizing.

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment