December 2019 pick: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

1

Brave New World is a classic dystopian novel, often considered complementary to 1984. But this is a soft dystopia, where people live lives of comfort and satiety, eugenically bred to be happy with their lot.

Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...

As well as being a classic of SF, it seems like a book that has some parallels with the world we see around us. Something perhaps to explore in our discussions?

And if that's not enough to whet your appetite, read Margaret Atwood's comments on the book.

Comments

  • 0
    Looking forward to reading this one
  • 1

    This 'soft dystopia' idea will be interesting to discuss. As anthologist John Joseph Adams describes it, a dystopia will seem like a utopia to some, but not to others, and society as a whole often doesn't realize what it has given up.

    From his introduction to his Brave New Worlds anthology - an anthology named after the book we are about to read - here's John Joseph Adams:

    Nineteen Eighty-Four, Fahrenheit 451, and, of course, the book this anthology is named for—Brave New World—are the cornerstones of dystopian literature in novel form, but there has never, to my knowledge, been an anthology collecting all the best, classic works of dystopian short fiction in one volume. This book aims to do exactly that, spanning from 1948 to the present day, from what is perhaps the classic dystopian short story—“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson—to stories just published in the last two years but which will surely stand the test of time.

    The roots of the word dystopia—dys- and -topia—are from the Ancient Greek for “bad” and “place,” and so we use the term to describe an unfavorable society in which to live. “Dystopia” is not a synonym for “post-apocalyptic”; it also is not a synonym for a bleak, or darkly imagined future. In a dystopian story, society itself is typically the antagonist; it is society that is actively working against the protagonist’s aims and desires. This oppression frequently is enacted by a totalitarian or authoritarian government, resulting in the loss of civil liberties and untenable living conditions, caused by any number of circumstances, such as world overpopulation, laws controlling a person’s sexual or reproductive freedom, and living under constant surveillance.

    Whether or not a society is perceived as a dystopia is usually determined by one’s point of view; what one person may consider to be a horrible dystopia, another may find completely acceptable or even nigh-utopian. For instance, if you don’t care about procreating, then living in a world in which the birth rate is strictly regulated wouldn’t seem very dystopic to you; to someone who values that very much, however, having society tell you how, when (or how often) you can procreate would seem like something out of a nightmare. Or a person who doesn’t enjoy reading or intellectual thinking might not care if books are banned… or even hunted down and destroyed, as in Fahrenheit 451, whereas you, dear reader, would probably care very much.

    Many societies in fiction are depicted as utopias when in fact they are dystopias; like angels and demons, the two are sides of the same coin. This seemingly paradoxical situation can arise because, in a dystopia, the society often gives up A in exchange for B, but the benefit of B blinds the society to the loss of A; it is often not until many years later that the loss of A is truly felt, and the citizens come to realize that the world they once thought acceptable (or even ideal) is not the world they thought it was. That’s part of what is so compelling—and insidious—about dystopian fiction: the idea that you could be living in a dystopia and not even know it.

    Dystopias are often seen as “cautionary tales,” but the best dystopias are not didactic screeds, and the best dystopias do not draw their power from whatever political/societal point they might be making; the best dystopias speak to the deeper meanings of what it is to be one small part of a teeming civilization… and of what it is to be human.

  • 1

    A free sampler from Brave New Worlds is available here.

  • 1

    I'm sure the subject of utopia / dystopia will come up, as will a comparison to 1984 and perhaps The Handmaid's Tale. And then still think about how the ideas in the book could relate to gaming.

    It's been a while since I've read the book, so it'll be interesting to see how the book compares to both my fuzzy recall and the popular perception of it.

  • 0

    This extract from Brave New Worlds

    "This seemingly paradoxical situation can arise because, in a dystopia, the society often gives up A in exchange for B, but the benefit of B blinds the society to the loss of A; it is often not until many years later that the loss of A is truly felt, and the citizens come to realize that the world they once thought acceptable (or even ideal) is not the world they thought it was"

    reminded me very strongly of Logan's Run, a film I haven't watched for a long time.

  • 0

    I was reading through a biography of Aldous Huxley and discovered that he was born on the outskirts of Godalming, Surrey - a town where I live from age roughly 10 until I left the parental home. How odd that I had never realised this while living there or since. For those of a musical bent, the Peperharrow Road area where he lived is just down the hill from Charterhouse School, best-known as the place where the prog rock band Genesis was formed back in 1967!

  • 1
    I wonder if Genesis referenced Brave New World in one of their songs? Get Em Out By Friday maybe?

    I’m listening to an audio version and it’s a bit surreal to hear Michael York pronounce ‘gametes’ so it sounds like ‘gay meats’. Is that a common pronunciation in the UK?
  • 1
    I've never heard that pronunciation before... I'd expect the gam bit to rhyme with ham. I have checked with my other half, who is biologically better-informed than I, and she has also never heard that pronunciation. Must be a personal idiosyncracy...
  • 1

    I've posted some questions about the book in the Brave New World discussion category. Have fun with them!

    And I hadn't realised that I'd be posting these questions on a day of such widespread reflection on what has gone before, and what might come to be. So, no pressure, Neil!

Sign In or Register to comment.