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A review by dexterovna
A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book starts as a satirical look at a "utopia" where in women and men have sex regularly, a caste system is thoroughly enforced with subliminal messaging, drug use is regular and encouraged, and to be different is to be a Problem. Everything you would expect a book written in its time to consider bad and evil.
And then it turns into a disjointed novel about an indigenous man wrestling with this supposed utopia hes only heard about and the love of a woman who has fully subscribed to it and a man who was born into this world, critiques it with every fiber of his being, only to in the end cowar at the idea of anything different.
Aside from the all to vasual rascism, both inside the narrative/characters and the author himself, this book is hard to read because it follows no discernable plot atructure. It is interesting for its world building, but it seems to build up all of these Bad Plot Beats to end in just...one Bad Plot Beat. Its obviously trying to say "Hey lets not make the world like this one" but at what cost to my nrrative intrigue?
The chatacters barely change, there is a Ton of monologuing and proselytizing, and the story is just sad. Im sure for its time it was an incredible book, full of new concepts and conversations. But for today, it reads like a much too long high school novel in its first draft. The saving grace is the interesting world building itself and the knowledge that this book is a blueprint for the dystopian genere as we know it today.
And then it turns into a disjointed novel about an indigenous man wrestling with this supposed utopia hes only heard about and the love of a woman who has fully subscribed to it and a man who was born into this world, critiques it with every fiber of his being, only to in the end cowar at the idea of anything different.
Aside from the all to vasual rascism, both inside the narrative/characters and the author himself, this book is hard to read because it follows no discernable plot atructure. It is interesting for its world building, but it seems to build up all of these Bad Plot Beats to end in just...one Bad Plot Beat. Its obviously trying to say "Hey lets not make the world like this one" but at what cost to my nrrative intrigue?
The chatacters barely change, there is a Ton of monologuing and proselytizing, and the story is just sad. Im sure for its time it was an incredible book, full of new concepts and conversations. But for today, it reads like a much too long high school novel in its first draft. The saving grace is the interesting world building itself and the knowledge that this book is a blueprint for the dystopian genere as we know it today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism