Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning, that are combined to make a utopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.
Huxley followed this book with a reassessment in essay form, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962), the utopian counterpart. The novel is often compared to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World as #5 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003, Robert McCrum, writing for The Observer, included Brave New World chronologically at #53 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time."
While well known as one of the common books you gotta read for some sort of high school English class, I actually was initially introduced to this book through my sister who said I might like it. After reading, I realized I'd read one of my new favorite books. A long time ago, a time before October 5th 2024, I'd just read really quickly with no intention of rereading anything and so I read a lot of stuff without fully comprehending it. What drove me to begin doing these every-word reads was primarily just my desire to really understand and completely love this book for everything it had to offer. So shoutout this book, I guess. As for the actual thing, it's really really good. Just with the language used, it's actually a surprisingly tough read, albeit nothing super challenging. They talk a lot about drugs and that I think is pretty cool. Great book. I love dystopians so this means nothing of course. The thing John does at the end (if you know, you know) and his final speech are probably my favorite part of the entire book as well as one of my favorite literary passages ever. Really peak.
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