“When the individual feels, the community reels.”
Why Did I Read This Book?
I decided to read this book because of the newly released TV series of this book which is now available on Sky. After watching the advert, I was surprised to learn that it is based on a book written during the 1930s.
“Everyone works for everyone else.”
What Did I Think?
Now, fantasy and especially science-fiction isn’t usually my kind of thing. I have read 1984 before and I really struggled with the story and spent most of the book well and truly confused. So I knew going into this book, I would probably struggle but I wanted to test out something outside of my comfort zone.
So no surprises here that this book was not for me. I really liked how it looked into the dehumanising aspects of scientific progress and was quite ahead of its time being written pre-WW2. The book was especially interesting in how it focused on people relying on drugs for happiness and how there were still social rankings, even during a time when people were born from test tubes.
I found it hard to stay motivated to read this book and even by the end of the book, I was none the wiser. There wasn’t a lot of back story to how the world ended up like it did in Brave New World and there were some unusual and random scenes where I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
This book wasn’t for me but I may still end up watching the TV series to see if I enjoy that more than the book.
Brave New World
Publisher: Penguin
Published: Originally in 1932 (my copy 2004)
# of Pages: 229
Genre: Fantasy/Science-Fiction
Trigger Warnings: Drug abuse, sexual scenes
Links: Goodreads, Amazon, Blackwells
Stuck In The Book 
I read this recently as well and noped out at the guy reminiscing over repeated abuse all throughout his childhood. I did find reading 1930s sci fi interesting though even if just to see how a 1930s author would view science and technology of the then future. A good read? No, but interesting.
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Yes I would definitely agree! Although the story itself isn’t that great, it does offer a really interesting insight into the thinking of the time!
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Seems to me like there’s a lot in this book that is timeless. Don’t you think a lot of people around you are focused on being happy – and that they don’t want to think or feel too deeply, lest they jeopardize happy ignorance?
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I’ve been considering reading this book for a while. I didn’t know that there is also a series. Sorry to hear that you didn’t like it and hope you enjoy the series more!
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I would say definitely give it a go because it’s still a really interesting book but it just wasn’t for me!
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I didn’t know there is a new series. The book is very much a product of this time but prescient too. It’s not the kind of book you ‘enjoy’ as such but the way it’s presented is very interesting.
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