#81 Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (Vintage)

“Our library,” says a character in Brave New World in reply to a question as to whether the shelves have any Shakespeare, “contains only books of reference. If our young people need distraction, they can get it [elsewhere]. We don’t encourage them to indulge in any solitary amusements.”

It’s a paragraph which sums up Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s classic view of a future in which the majority of people have not a care in the world, where war and conflict has been eradicated – but where people have merely become automatons. The contrast is provided by the savage reservations, where people have complete freedom but are forced to live primitively, forcing the conclusion that with technological progress comes a loss of liberty – a concept with which any Blackberry user would quickly concur.

Appropriately enough for this blog, literature features strongly in Brave New World. The title of the book is taken from The Tempest (Shakespeare is prominent throughout) and reading itself is a form of rebellion.

The beauty of Brave New World is its satirical subtlety. Huxley could have laid his vision of a Dystopian future on with a trowel, but it’s the smaller points which have the greatest impact. The founder of the new world order is Henry Ford, who has become a religious icon, so people exclaim ‘Ford!’ instead of ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ and make the sign of the ‘T’ (for the Model T Ford) instead of the cross.

The most disturbing elements relate to the reproduction techniques now being used by civilised society and the promiscuity which is so prevalent, but rather than portray black and white, Huxley makes sure to paint many of the alternatives just as bleakly. It’s a book, like HG Wells’ The Time Machine or George Orwell’s1984, which poses many philosophical questions and is rather short on hope.

To that end, many claim some of Huxley’s writings have already become true. We have not yet got individual helicopters, but what’s ‘soma’ if it’s not Prozac or similar drugs, while amid recession we are encourage to embrace consumerism (“ending is better than mending; the less stitches, the more riches”).

If I had one criticism of Brave New World, it’s the ending. The plot – much criticised upon publication, apparently - isn’t exactly pulsating with life, and things come to a conclusion which is too neat, if still dreadful.

Overall then, Brave New World is on the ‘classics’ list for a reason. And you can read what the Friend of the Wench made of it here.

So, rating time:

#81 Brave New World, By Aldous Huxley (Vintage) - 8/10

Next up: The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler (Vintage)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating