Review: Brave New World

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brave New World / 0-06-092987-1

While "Brave New World" may lack the narrative punch of other dystopias such as "1984", I cannot help but feel that for sheer prophetic rightness, Huxley hits the nail on the head where others fail. Where Orwell sees an oppressive government that frightens and tortures its populace into submission, Huxley envisions a world where government control is total and yet unnoticed, simply because the population does not care.

Why care about your government when there is so much more fun stuff to be doing? There's soma - a happy-pill that counters all sadness, doubt, and anxiety - to take, romances to conduct, entertainment to consume, and so many other more interesting things to think about. And don't we see that today, in the news media (I second the reviewer who mentioned Postman's wonderful "Amusing Ourselves to Death"), with reports that are more focused on entertainment than on the dissemination of information.

Huxley's insightful book is an individual wake-up call to us all - a reminder never to become so complacent that we simply stop caring about the greater world around us.

~ Ana Mardoll

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