Brave New World by Aldous Huxley | A Review

Of all the books assigned in English class over the course of my high school career, this is the only one I read in its entirety. I remember relishing the dystopian setting and praising Huxley for his scarily innovative views on what the utopian future would look like, considering he wrote Brave New World in 1932. 

I was less than halfway through this re-reading when I concluded it was less than satisfactory, and proceeded to simply endure the remaining hundred-plus pages. Like most "classic" novels, I could only read about a chapter or two in one sitting (about 30 pages), so this took quite awhile. Maybe it is because I am used to our on-demand world where a plot develops at lightening speed--be it on TV, in new fiction, or even in our own media-plastered lives--but I simply could not stand Huxley's tedious descriptions of irrelevant details, sometimes encapsulated in a single paragraph spanning over three pages. 

As for the plot, I did initially love its uniqueness. Huxley designed a mechanical utopia in London based on genetic engineering and social conditioning: there is no pain and no deep emotions, as each person is designed and conditioned to belong to a particular social caste and value their place in society. This perfect community is thrown through a loop when John, a "savage" from an uncivilized part of America, arrives. He was born and raised by a "mother", instead of being genetically engineered in a factory and knows only the ancient customs of the Indians on his home reservation.

I think John's arrival presented a fantastic opportunity to explore the shortcomings of an emotionless and family-less society through a character to which the reader can relate, but unfortunately this is not what happens. He fawns over a girl, desperately hoping she will be different from this conditioned society he has grown to abhor. It's no surprise when she acts in accordance with her conditioning, and he lashes out when she won't conform to his religious doctrines (it was at this point I began to loathe John). He seeks to escape this society and boycott their civilized inventions (after purchasing said inventions), exclaiming "That'll teach them!" I read this line and scoffed aloud. That's like me, in an effort to protest the meat industry, purchasing ten pounds of steak and throwing it straight in the bin: That'll show them! He also quotes Shakespeare in every other conversation, which quickly became exasperating. If it was Huxley's goal to present John as an ignorant outsider determined to shove his beliefs down people's throats and protest society in isolation which, reasonably, doesn't make any social impact whatsoever, then he succeeded. 

Final thoughts: the "utopian" society itself is intriguing. As a psychology student who frequently ponders how to subtly condition my future children into behaving, this is an innovative exemplification that takes this psychological strategy to the extreme. However, I hated John. In retrospect, it was this single character that ruined the book for me, so definitely take this review with a grain of salt.

This book is part of my "Book I 'Read' In School" Reading Challenge. Click here to view the rest of the books in this list.