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A review by lyzz
Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham, Aldous Huxley
3.0
Brave New World is a graphic novel adaptation of this classic. I am absolutely loving the trend in graphic novels to adapt classics into graphic novels to make them more accessible – 1984, Handmaid’s Tale, Great Gatsby are just a few that come to mind. I remember reading 1984 when I was 14 and not really getting it and never attempting Brave New World. I recently read the graphic novel adaption of 1984 so reading this after that was perfect timing as the novels contrast each other nicely.
Brave New World is set AF (after Ford) 632 (AD 2540 in Gregorian) in a World State of London where the emphasis of society is on science and efficiency. Emotions and individuality are conditioned out of the citizens from a young age through sleep hypnosis. Citizens are conditioned to be of a caste system to maintain order in society. Free love and use of a drug called soma are used to maintain order. The two main characters of Bernard and Lenina are the focus of the novel and begin by taking a trip to New Mexico to see natural-born people. The people they met on this trip change their views of the society and London.
Three words to describe this book: Ultimate Dystopian Classic.
Cover: I was attracted to request this graphic novel from the publisher based on the cover. I love the rainbow title and futuristic buildings.
Character Development: I found the character development in this graphic novel to be a bit weak. I had trouble distinguishing the characters of interest from other characters in the panes and remembering who was who. This could be an artistic choice as the goal of this society is to reduce individuality, but it made it difficult to follow at times.
World-Building: The best aspect of this graphic novel is the world-building. The reader gets a tour of London and how society maintains order.
Plot & Pacing: I felt that the plot was a bit uneven. The first third of the novel is spent world-building and then the plot picks up. The ending moved quite quickly and felt rushed.
Illustrations: The illustrations were colorful and crisp and captured the futuristic world of London. However, I am accustomed to graphic novels that use glossy pages and the use of matte pages seemed to dull this graphic novel.
Verdict: I would recommend if you have not read Brave New World before. It is a fascinating book that is the basis/inspiration for so much of the current dystopian literature. I did need to supplement it with additional reading to fully understand the story. I would be particularly curious to hear the views of people who read the original novel and compare to this adaptation.
The finished copy of this graphic novel was provided by Harper, in exchange for an honest review.
Brave New World is set AF (after Ford) 632 (AD 2540 in Gregorian) in a World State of London where the emphasis of society is on science and efficiency. Emotions and individuality are conditioned out of the citizens from a young age through sleep hypnosis. Citizens are conditioned to be of a caste system to maintain order in society. Free love and use of a drug called soma are used to maintain order. The two main characters of Bernard and Lenina are the focus of the novel and begin by taking a trip to New Mexico to see natural-born people. The people they met on this trip change their views of the society and London.
Three words to describe this book: Ultimate Dystopian Classic.
Cover: I was attracted to request this graphic novel from the publisher based on the cover. I love the rainbow title and futuristic buildings.
Character Development: I found the character development in this graphic novel to be a bit weak. I had trouble distinguishing the characters of interest from other characters in the panes and remembering who was who. This could be an artistic choice as the goal of this society is to reduce individuality, but it made it difficult to follow at times.
World-Building: The best aspect of this graphic novel is the world-building. The reader gets a tour of London and how society maintains order.
Plot & Pacing: I felt that the plot was a bit uneven. The first third of the novel is spent world-building and then the plot picks up. The ending moved quite quickly and felt rushed.
Illustrations: The illustrations were colorful and crisp and captured the futuristic world of London. However, I am accustomed to graphic novels that use glossy pages and the use of matte pages seemed to dull this graphic novel.
Verdict: I would recommend if you have not read Brave New World before. It is a fascinating book that is the basis/inspiration for so much of the current dystopian literature. I did need to supplement it with additional reading to fully understand the story. I would be particularly curious to hear the views of people who read the original novel and compare to this adaptation.
The finished copy of this graphic novel was provided by Harper, in exchange for an honest review.