Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | Penguin Vintage Classics

                                                          

Strangely, Brave New World was not on any reading lists of my English classes, hence I never read it, even though at the local bookshop it was placed on the shelves headed as 'Intermediate Readers' - whatever 'Intermediate Readers' mean.  Does that mean children who are not old enough to read Young Adult fiction can/should read Brave New World?

Still I was happy to finally have the chance to read Brave New World, purely for the pleasure of reading it and not having to write a report as homework after reading it.  But here I am, writing about it after reading it...

Written in 1931 almost a century ago (and I dare say there would be some commemoration on the centennial of this book), Brave New World reads like a horror story to me and I had to keep reminding myself that it was written at a time when it was impossible to predict how humans would live their lives a century later.  I also wonder if it was a right decision to classify this book as an Intermediate Reader.

The World State city described by Huxley at the beginning of Brave New World might have been far-fetched and incredible in 1931.  Today, in vitro fertilization offers hope to couples unable to conceive.  The deliberate deprivation of nutrients to embryos and conditioning of the different classes of children certainly allude to eugenics.  The description of how infants/toddlers/children are conditioned to 'accept their lot' in life is especially horrifying, and brings to mind feudal practices or in cultures that emphasize obedience and subordination solely for the reason that leaders of the cultures so desired.

Citizens of the World State cities are highly dependent on a drug soma that allows them to escape into a holiday bliss and away from any harsh reality (not that there was any).  Supposedly soma increases happinessness in the citizens and keep them contented with their lot in life.  Freakishly there is a drug that is now marketed as soma - carisoprodol - which treats MSK conditions by blocking pain sensations.  Does that not sound like soma in Brave New World?  Soma is the primary reason Linda so wanted to return to the Brave New World even putting up with ridicule, in order to escape from the reality of her situation.

Mustapha Mond had a conversation with John towards the end of the book, where he explains to John (and also to readers) the basis of the Brave New World.  Mond is fully aware of the sacrifices the Brave New World has taken to maintain the seemingly harmonious society its citizens had taken for granted.  

What is very unsettling is that while Brave New World was written  in 1931, the world has not changed much from Huxley's imagination of the Brave New World.  There are still states and contries where a decision taken for the benefit of the entire society is done by a small select group of elites who believe (rightly or wrongly) that they know best and have the society's best interest at heart.  Cue Cambodia.  It might not have exactly been a very forward-looking or fantastically rich country by modern standards, but what happened to Cambodia in the mid 1970s certainly set the country back a tremendous lot.