Brave New World

What’s the book?
Our inaugural Book Worth a Look is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a 20th century work of art that really appeals to fans of diverse tastes. You may remember it from high school as the book you didn’t read that was something like 1984 (that is really the point of the Book Worth a Look segment—giving you a collection of suggested reading that you may have missed earlier in life). And if that’s what you remember, you would be partially right. Its main characters Bernard, Lenina and John live in a dystopian world that is very believably constructed and remains relevant decades after it was written. Crosses have been replaced with T’s for the Model T, given an almost religious respect in its place as the first product of a mass production society. But the book is a lot more than science-fictiony cautionary tale, which is why it earns the spot as this Friday’s Book—and it’s a perfect book for a weekend, because as a read it is more intriguing as your Saturday night was going to be if you went out. In addition to being a dystopian satire, it brings considerable literary merit to the table with both terrific, economical writing, and a provocative approach to life post-original-sin.

What’s it about?
Bernard and Lenina live in what their people consider a utopia at a genetic engineering plant. Bernard has a slightly critical view of the world, and is a bit more curious than his society appreciates. John lives in what Henry Ford would have called “God’s great open spaces,” but his life is interrupted by a visit from Bernard and Lenina, from the civilized world, who extract him from his savagery and take him to their technologically advanced homeland (John lives in what was once America, his new friends are from London, a rather interesting commentary about the direction in which the world was/is headed).

Why should you read it?
Well, we have already enumerated its virtues as a great combination of science fiction and hard literature, executed with solid writing. More so than that, it is pertinent to both America’s contemporary questions of funding genetic engineering and to America’s recent experience with a coercive government. It also has a lot of humor, for those readers who enjoy a little comic relief in their literature. There is drug use, sex, and a bit of violence, for fans of the lower-brow genre fiction. As a work of literature it offers a constant sense of questioning, and perhaps most importantly, in the LitHuman’s opinion it compares favorably to 1984. Not to take anything away from that 20th century classic, but Brave New World offers a whole lot more thematically than its relative in plot, provoking thought about not only a Big Brother type government, but also about life, sin, freedom, and technology. It is definitely worth a look, and it should appeal to fans of a wide variety of styles and subject matter.