Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I might have read this book years & years ago--but can't really remember. I decided to do the audiobook and though it seemed to take a bit to get into it, thought it was an interesting future take on where the world might go, from back in Huxley's day. Everything meticulously engineered, clinical, controlled, expunged, carefully edited, geared towards keeping the plebes happy & juiced-up on what they call soma. Of course, Huxley paints a great picture of the contrasts with the modern, brave new world ("Oh, thank Ford!") and the old, quaint one of the savages--who are still stuck in special savage "reservations," where modern folks can go on vacations to get a taste of the old, disgusting ways & modes. "Mothers--who actually give birth to babies...and are married to one person exclusively??..." Disgusting to the moderns of the brave new world. Quite a sharp contrast in philosophy painted by Huxley as well--as we learn about the old philosophical literary works that are now banned. And a world where the deeply human, morally complexities of life as seen in literature by Shakespeare has been totally lost/abandoned. A world without God--where science rules. Really points out how vapid and lifeless things have devolved into, though touted as being better than ever now. I think there's some lessons for people in this day & age to learn. Listened to this on my iPhone; borrowed from the library.


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