Day 28: Brave New World First Impressions

My second classic from the book haul a couple weeks ago is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. So far its looking very interesting. Part 1 went by in a flash. The way Huxley throws so much at you in so little time is incredible, I've never read anything quite like it. Line-to-line jump cuts assault the reader with three or four different perspectives at once, and every subject is at once alien, and eerily close to home, making you think twice about every single line.

A factory where humans are produced is the first setting Huxley swings with, leading the plot smoothly into lives of the people who were born and live there. He focuses on the highest class, and has yet to show more than a glimpse of the lower castes, people that were purposefully harmed during fetal development to make for a better servant. The state controls people's lives from their very inception through chemical and hypnotic means, implanting core morals into each and every citizen. Their values are essentially the opposite of every pious value that someone could have had when the book was published in 1932, from promiscuous, sex obsessed, consumption driven lifestyles, to the complete death of family life, and absolute faith in the state, Huxley has done everything possible to make this world a perfect nightmare.

I can't wait to dig into this book and read the rest, because I'm certain it will make a powerful point by the end. In many ways, it already has in just the first act. Huxley's style is quite unique as well, and I think I can learn a lot from the way he writes. It reads like a TV show that cuts between many different shots occurring at the same time. It's something I had considered before but didn't think was possible to do in writing. Its going by pretty fast, so I'll probably have the full review ready by Monday.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley