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qkt's review
3.0
I took a utopian studies class in college where we read an excerpt from this book. I decided to read the full book and it was about what I was expecting. While it was great to get Huxley's view on utopia/dystopia, I felt like the story suffered from unexpected pivots from the story. However, given that the entire point of the book is the exploration of utopia (and other topics) it's easy to go along with the story.
quercus707's review
4.0
I liked this collection of essays about the issues raised in BNW and 1984 better than I liked the novel itself.
deflowd's review against another edition
5.0
The overpopulation stuff he was off about but almost everything else...pretty bang on and this victory lap is well earned.
domkoo's review
3.0
I figured it would be best to read this shortly after Brave New World while my mind is still fresh, but I really hadn't needed to. I'll admit, I found this to be a bit of a slog. I'll admit that i'm less of a fan of non fiction.
I went into this book thinking that it was Huxley breaking down the novel and exploring why he chose to focus on these themes and how relevant it is to when he wrote Revisited. This is in some ways what he does, but it has far more emphasis on explaining how in certain aspects what his novel got right, but mostly the author expressing his alarm at the state of the world he was currently living in. If only he could see how the world is today because it outdid what he could imagine...
Still, it felt like more a complaint of the world at the time he wrote this rather than having much relevance to Brave New World. What surprised me was that there were quite a few comparisons to the novel 1984 which I have yet to read, so some aspects were most likely lost on me. I'm sure many people will be intrigued by Huxley's comparisons of Brave New World and 1984's ideas and predictions. I suppose I expected this to be more of a breakdown of the novel rather than an explanation of what he got right and how worse he predicts the future will become.
Still, I think this is still an important read because we have an examination of how the world has worsened since the time the book was written and how it compares to present day. The points Huxley make are eye opening in the face of modern day instant gratification via social media and the manipulation of the mass through consumerism and false news. The rapidness of technology has also meant an increased risk of people's mental freedom. It's hard to say if we make choices nowadays or if it's a choice that is subconsciously suggested to us because we're always exposed to the tv and the internet.
Be aware that Brave New World Revisited is less about an examination of the novel and more of a warning of how it can come true if we let it happen. Although not everything predicted was correct, in some cases Huxley wasn't even able to imagine how quickly we have reached the fears he has expressed. This is a book to awaken one's senses and see what we can do before it's too late.
I went into this book thinking that it was Huxley breaking down the novel and exploring why he chose to focus on these themes and how relevant it is to when he wrote Revisited. This is in some ways what he does, but it has far more emphasis on explaining how in certain aspects what his novel got right, but mostly the author expressing his alarm at the state of the world he was currently living in. If only he could see how the world is today because it outdid what he could imagine...
Still, it felt like more a complaint of the world at the time he wrote this rather than having much relevance to Brave New World. What surprised me was that there were quite a few comparisons to the novel 1984 which I have yet to read, so some aspects were most likely lost on me. I'm sure many people will be intrigued by Huxley's comparisons of Brave New World and 1984's ideas and predictions. I suppose I expected this to be more of a breakdown of the novel rather than an explanation of what he got right and how worse he predicts the future will become.
Still, I think this is still an important read because we have an examination of how the world has worsened since the time the book was written and how it compares to present day. The points Huxley make are eye opening in the face of modern day instant gratification via social media and the manipulation of the mass through consumerism and false news. The rapidness of technology has also meant an increased risk of people's mental freedom. It's hard to say if we make choices nowadays or if it's a choice that is subconsciously suggested to us because we're always exposed to the tv and the internet.
Be aware that Brave New World Revisited is less about an examination of the novel and more of a warning of how it can come true if we let it happen. Although not everything predicted was correct, in some cases Huxley wasn't even able to imagine how quickly we have reached the fears he has expressed. This is a book to awaken one's senses and see what we can do before it's too late.
erin1096's review
5.0
Somehow both nonfiction and sci-fi. Huxley's retrospection examining the time between the publishing of BNW and his post-WWII present is absolutely fascinating. Huxley's examination of his own predictions against the overlay of the fascist reality that was to come is a poignant and thought-provoking time capsule.
His predictions for the future and his attempts to guess or anticipate how various technologies and social adaptations would be adopted for the sake of governmental overreach were out of step with the reality that would come, but there is a valiant effort and there are smacks of relevance sprinkled throughout, more so sourced from an understanding of human nature than an actual ability to foresee the dastardly side of developing technologies
The retrospection in this book is much more valuable than the predictions that come later in the book. Huxley latches on to several advancements in technology and psychological theory and predicts how they could be adapted by the government for nefarious purposes. With the benefit of 70 years on my side, I'm able to pass some judgement on the accuracy of his predictions and most of them fall short of any practical relevance. These predictions are more reminiscent to the fable-esque elements of Brand New World while being repackaged in the form of sociological analysis. So that section did lack the same punch as the retrospective portion of the book, in my opinion.
The book itself is not without flaws, but the experience of reading it though, is what garners it a 5/5. It's thought-provoking, of course, but the analysis is written from such a unique perspective in such an individual time and place, that reading it is really an *experience* and that is where I gained the most value from it. The position that Huxley was in, having written a dystopian fable centered around seemingly innocuous government control and then soon after see a dictator of unseen proportions rise to power in Germany and commit atrocities on an unfathomable scale; it's a fascinating perspective and one of nuanced self-critique.
His predictions for the future and his attempts to guess or anticipate how various technologies and social adaptations would be adopted for the sake of governmental overreach were out of step with the reality that would come, but there is a valiant effort and there are smacks of relevance sprinkled throughout, more so sourced from an understanding of human nature than an actual ability to foresee the dastardly side of developing technologies
The retrospection in this book is much more valuable than the predictions that come later in the book. Huxley latches on to several advancements in technology and psychological theory and predicts how they could be adapted by the government for nefarious purposes. With the benefit of 70 years on my side, I'm able to pass some judgement on the accuracy of his predictions and most of them fall short of any practical relevance. These predictions are more reminiscent to the fable-esque elements of Brand New World while being repackaged in the form of sociological analysis. So that section did lack the same punch as the retrospective portion of the book, in my opinion.
The book itself is not without flaws, but the experience of reading it though, is what garners it a 5/5. It's thought-provoking, of course, but the analysis is written from such a unique perspective in such an individual time and place, that reading it is really an *experience* and that is where I gained the most value from it. The position that Huxley was in, having written a dystopian fable centered around seemingly innocuous government control and then soon after see a dictator of unseen proportions rise to power in Germany and commit atrocities on an unfathomable scale; it's a fascinating perspective and one of nuanced self-critique.
ddl98's review against another edition
5.0
Very interesting book in which Huxley unwraps Brave New world without the fictional elements and essentially presents his argument for why we will end up there.
I was already convinced though, Huxley shows his intelligence and I’m shocked this was written so long ago considering how right he is and how much the problems are bang on for today.
Some feel unavoidable and unsolvable, where are we going as a species and what is our end goal? I don’t know if this filled me with hope or dread, I guess both.
I was already convinced though, Huxley shows his intelligence and I’m shocked this was written so long ago considering how right he is and how much the problems are bang on for today.
Some feel unavoidable and unsolvable, where are we going as a species and what is our end goal? I don’t know if this filled me with hope or dread, I guess both.
emmamorelli's review
1.0
DNF and am not planning on picking it back up anytime soon. This book was gross and unoriginal, and it doesn’t help that Huxley actually AGREED with some of the ideologies in this book. Maybe someday I will get around to finishing it since it is a Classic, but I just can’t understand why when there are so many better Dystopian novels out there.
authorjbr's review
4.0
The first half is good and the "so what" ending, even if the latter half is a little dated. Still, the fact that people were worried about these things in the '50s makes the present all the more worrying. How do we overcome propaganda and overpopulation? I don't know. I guess it warrants more thought.