3,5/5
Ya era hora de que leyera una de las distopías más importantes de todos los tiempos... Después de haber leído unas cuantas la verdad es que la impresión no es la misma, pero aún así plantea tantísimas cosas interesantes y que dan para reflexionar que la he disfrutado mucho.

No, you are not mistaken. I have in fact finished a book I was reading. Applause now please.

Libros así valen la pena leerlos mil veces. La mejor distopía de todas.

¡Magnífico libro, ha sido una gran sorpresa! Personalmente, pienso que Un mundo feliz es un libro que supera en todos los aspectos posibles a cualquier distopía publicada hasta el día de hoy, incluyendo al famosísimo 1984 de George Orwell. Sí, decir este tipo de declaraciones puede tomarse como una gran imprudencia de mi parte, pero, después de analizar cada aspecto de este libro he llegado a esa conclusión y estoy completamente seguro de lo que digo.

En Un mundo feliz, Aldoux Huxley, nos presenta un hipotético futuro en el que prácticamente todo lo que conocemos ha sido alterado de una forma muy radical. No hay religiones, familias, nacimientos, emociones, amor, silencio, soledad, se desconoce el pasado, la ciencia ha sido eliminada, el conocimiento ya no es importante, etc.; pero también es un mundo donde no existe el sufrimiento, ni la pobreza, ni el hambre, ni las guerras, y en el cual las personas tienen mejor salud —incluso viven muchos años más—, no le temen a la muerte, etc. Esas características convierten este libro en una distopía y utopía a la vez, por lo que por momentos sentiremos que es un futuro horrible el que nos presenta Aldoux, pero también observaremos que vivir en un mundo en el que no existe la miseria tampoco es tan malo como parece. Por lo tanto, la premisa que nos ofrece el autor es muy interesante porque nos hace preguntarnos: ¿Preferirías vivir en un mundo con ciencia y conocimiento pero atiborrado de guerras, muerte y tragedia, o preferirías vivir en un mundo pacífico y estable, pero totalitario y lleno de ignorancia? Como pueden notar, elegir cualquier opción nos brindaría muy buenos privilegios pero asimismo grandes desventajas. Y no, no se puede erradicar todo lo negativo de un futuro porque se necesita un equilibrio, por lo que por ejemplo para que existan los milagros se necesita que exista el sufrimiento, o la presencia de la ciencia llevaría irremediablemente a la desconfianza, miedo, guerras y autodestrucción: Es algo inevitable.

En cuanto a los personajes, son seres que están completamente trastornados pero que viven plácidamente en esa época. Esto ocurre porque todos sus pensamientos y comportamientos son manipulados desde antes de ser creados, por lo que son como un estilo de «máquinas programadas» que fueron hechas para pensar y actuar de una manera específica: Son personajes muy bien diseñados a pesar de su excentricidad y anormalidad. Naturalmente no me encariñé con ninguno pero tampoco los aborrecí porque es comprensible su forma de vivir. Puede que para nosotros ese estilo de vida pueda ser contraproducente, pero cada generación de seres humanos ha crecido bajo un entorno, vocabulario, cultura, profesiones y sueños diferentes, por lo que es natural ese rechazo hacia un estilo de vida contrario al que llevamos. Es por esta razón por la que nuestros abuelos se quejan de nuestro mundo actual, pero a la vez subrayan las virtudes de la época en que nacieron, y de esa misma forma nosotros actuaremos en el futuro cuando tengamos más de cincuenta años. La humanidad nunca dejará de cambiar por lo que seguramente para cada generación Un mundo feliz será diferente. Los personajes de este libro viven en Un mundo feliz, los piratas vivieron felices en el mar, quienes creen en Dios viven felices orando, los reyes vivieron felices con sus comodidades y su poder, los campesinos no cambiarían el campo por nada del mundo, los guerreros sin una espada serían desdichados, etc. Por ello, el nombre del libro me parece súper correcto porque presenta justamente lo que anuncia: Un mundo feliz.

Algo curioso de este libro es que la trama principal pasa a un segundo plano. Es tan atrapante conocer más y más detalles sobre el lugar donde viven los personajes, que en realidad el destino de ellos importa muy poco. El argumento es simple y predecible, y quizás podría ser el punto más bajo de esta nóvela, pero en una distopía/utopía eso es algo normal porque en este tipo de libros lo verdaderamente interesante es la visión futurista que nos presenta el autor. En este caso, esa visión futurista el autor la realiza de manera magistral, y lo mejor, es que el autor no escribe con odio. ¡Eso me encantó! Recuerdo que cuando leí 1984 el libro me pareció muy interesante, pero el autor escribió con tanto odio hacia la sociedad, que irremediablemente asocie esas similitudes con tantas protestas e inconformidad que se vive actualmente en la mayor parte del planeta; pero aquí, Aldoux presenta un libro sin una pizca de rencor u odio, a pesar de reconocer en el prólogo que está completamente en contra del totalitarismo. Y ya que menciono el prólogo, tengo que reconocer que esa parte del libro es excelente. En esa sección el autor realiza una gran explicación sobre la creación de su historia, errores, personajes, etc., pero contiene spoilers por lo que recomiendo que lo lean al finalizar el libro y no antes.

La prosa también ha sido adecuada lo que permite que esta novela se lea rapidísimo; aunque, el inicio fue un poco lento y confuso debido a la terminología relacionada a los genes que personalmente me pareció muy difícil de asimilar: La genética no es mi especialidad. Aun así, Aldoux ha sabido jugar muy bien con el estilo de la obra y me ha gustado mucho la forma como lo ha hecho. Mi parte favorita de la prosa fue una sección donde se presentan tres conversaciones simultáneas y tan solo separándolas por párrafos, logra un efecto de adrenalina y un ritmo frenético que puede dar a entender que efectivamente si nos repiten excesivamente una información, puede que empecemos a usar esas ideas como si fueran nuestras, a pesar de que solo las han implantado en nuestra mente. Asimismo, la parte final ha sido espectacular porque nos da una cátedra sobre la sociedad impresionante. Prácticamente cada una de las frases usadas allí son dignas de destacar porque son muy profundas, sencillas de entender y pueden convertirse en una información muy importante para cada uno de los individuos de una sociedad, es decir, para todos nosotros. Entre esa información, se destaca la necesidad de que exista en una sociedad las clases sociales, ya que sin ellas lo único que ocurriría sería un caos total. Hay muchísimas frases para destacar, pero solo haré mención de dos porque descubrir esas frases hace parte del premio de quien se anima a leer esta obra:

n  «Bueno, si usted quiere, puede llamarlo un experimento de reenvasado. Se inició en el año 73 d.F. Los Interventores limpiaron la isla de Chipre de todos sus habitantes anteriores y la colonizaron de nuevo con una hornada especialmente preparada de veintidós mil Alfas. Se les otorgó toda clase de utillaje agrícola e industrial y se les dejó que se las arreglaran por sí mismo. El resultado cumplió exactamente todas las previsiones teóricas. La tierra no fue trabajada como se debía; había huelgas en las fábricas, las leyes no se cumplían, las órdenes no se obedecían; las personas destinadas a trabajos inferiores intrigaban constantemente por conseguir altos empleos, y las que ocupaban estos cargos intrigaban a su vez para mantenerse en ellos a toda costa. Al cabo de seis años se enzarzaron en una auténtica guerra civil. Cuando ya habían muerto diecinueve mil de los veintidós mil habitantes, los supervivientes, unánimemente, pidieron a los Interventores Mundiales que volvieran a asumir el gobierno de la isla, cosa que éstos hicieron. Y así acabó la única sociedad de Alfas que ha existido en el mundo.»n

El párrafo anterior no hace referencia a conformarnos con la vida que nos tocó, sino hace referencia a que cada individuo en una sociedad es igual de importante, y todos seremos felices cuando encontremos nuestro verdadero lugar en ella. Los seres humanos somos sociables por naturaleza, y aunque nos duela aceptarlo, somos más felices cuando encontramos personas con quien hablar sobre nuestros gustos, sueños, etc. De la misma forma como una construcción necesita de buenas columnas, bases y muros estables, una sociedad necesita de todas las clases sociales para que exista un equilibrio, pero para que exista ese equilibrio se necesita que el pueblo se sienta satisfecho constantemente para que no afecte la estabilidad de la nación. No es bueno tener muchos líderes, pero tampoco es positivo no tenerlos.

n  «Actualmente el mundo es estable. La gente es feliz; tiene lo que desea, y nunca desea lo que no puede obtener. Está a gusto; está a salvo; nunca está enferma; no teme a la muerte; ignora la pasión y la vejez; no hay padres ni madres que estorben; no hay esposas, ni hijos, ni amores excesivamente fuertes. Nuestros hombres están condicionados de modo que apenas pueden obrar de otro modo que como deben obrar. Y si algo marcha mal, siempre queda el soma. El soma que usted arroja por la ventana en nombre de la libertad.»n

Al iniciar el libro creí que sería una obra recomendada para que los adictos a las drogas dejaran de consumir esas porquerías, pero después de avanzar entendí que sería malísimo que una persona adicta leyera este libro porque justamente se sentiría orgulloso de su proceder. Por lo tanto, si tienen un familiar o amigo que en este momento tiene problemas de ese tipo, por nada del mundo les mencionen este libro porque podrían terminar de corromperse.

En resumen, un libro corto pero muy profundo e interesante sobre el comportamiento humano, la sociedad, las clases sociales y la religión, que seguramente no olvidarán nunca y querrán repetir varias veces porque sinceramente es una obra maestra en todo el sentido de la palabra. Es una novela que me ha encantado en todo momento, la volveré a leer en el futuro, quiero seguir analizándola, e incluso siento el deseo de realizar un podcast sobre este libro —a pesar de que nunca he hecho uno— para seguir profundizando y hablando sobre esta obra, que me ha parecido bastante, pero bastante interesante. Libro súper recomendado, excepto si tienes una adicción y quieres superarla, en ese caso, léelo en otro momento.

"Brave New World" is, of course, a brilliant book. Written so many years ago and foreshadowing many issues to come. It is, more than anyone realizes, a tribute to the values of individuality, of freedom, of selfhood, and of monogamy. It is a voice in the wilderness crying out against conformity, consumerism, marching in lockstep, promiscuity, and drug-influenced bewilderment.

Huxley created a world of genetic design, a world where the only goal is happiness, where there are no families, no marriage, no creativity, and no individuality. It's a world where everyone belongs to everyone else and the common good is all that matters. Mass production is important. Romance, literature, religion have all been abolished. Drown yourself in the drug soma, disposable clothes, free love, and sex hormone chewing gum.

Yes, everyone is happy, but nothing matters anymore. No one needs to have ideas. No one needs to stand out. If you don't fit in, you are exiled to some far off island.

This book expressed concerns about how the world was changing, but it's not our world today. Individuality, freedom, family still matter. But the warnings are there about even the most benevolent dictatorship.

دنیای قشنگ نو رمانی علمی-تخیلی و دیستوپیایی نوشته آلدوس هاکسلی است که در سال 1932 منتشر شد. این رمان تصویری تاریک از آینده‌ای را ترسیم می‌کند که در آن پیشرفت‌های علمی و تکنولوژیکی، به جای بهبود زندگی انسان‌ها، منجر به ایجاد یک جامعه کنترل‌شده و بی‌روح شده است.

جامعه مهندسی‌شده
هاکسلی تصویری از یک جامعهٔ نجات یافته از جنگ ، فقر و ویرانی را نشان می دهد که در آن، تولد انسان‌ها به طور کلی تحت کنترل تکنولوژی و علوم زیستی قرار دارد. هنر، خانواده و روابط انسانی به شدت محدود یا حذف شده‌اند تا جامعه‌ای کارآمد و بی‌دردسر ایجاد شود. افراد در این جامعه به چهار دسته آلفاها ، افرادی که بالاترین سطح هوش و توانایی را دارند و معمولاً در مشاغل مدیریتی و علمی شاغل هستند ، بتاها، افرادی که هوش بالایی اما کمی پایین‌تر از آلفاها دارند و معمولاً در مشاغل فنی و حرفه‌ای فعالیت می‌کنند ، گاماها ، افرادی که هوش متوسطی دارند و برای انجام کارهای تکراری و ساده طراحی شده‌اند و اپسیلون‌هاکه پایین‌ترین سطح هوش را دارند و برای انجام کارهای بسیار ساده و بدنی ساخته شده اند ، تقسیم شده اند .

یکی از مفاهیم کلیدی در این رمان، کنترل اجتماعی از طریق فناوری و مداخله در زندگی خصوصی افراد است. حکومت با استفاده از روش‌هایی ژنتیکی و داروهای اعتیادآور، انسان‌ها را به صورت سیستماتیک از احساسات و نیازهای واقعی دور نگه داشته. این رویکرد سبب شده که مردم خوشحال به نظر بیایند، اما در واقع، آنها از لحاظ عاطفی و روانی خالی هستند و به سادگی تحت کنترل قرار دارند.
سوما
برای اجتناب از چالش ها ، ناامیدی ها ، پریشانی و اضطراب و کنترل بیشتر ، حکومت از سوما که یک داروی آرام‌بخش و اعتیادآور است که به ساکنان جامعه داده استفاده می کند. در واقع، این دارو مانند یک مسکن عمل می‌کند که احساسات منفی را به سرعت از بین می‌برد و شادی‌ای سطحی و موقتی به وجود می‌آورد. مصرف سوما این تصور را به وجود می‌آورد که جهان عادلانه و خوشایند است و به این ترتیب، افراد تحت فشارهای سیاسی و اجتماعی قرار نمی‌گیرند.
این گونه حاکمیت به طور سیستماتیک افراد را به مصرف این دارو عادت می‌دهد تا نارضایتی‌ها و انتقادات را خنثی کند. با این شیوه، حکومت می‌تواند از بروز هر نوع قیام یا تظاهرات اجتماعی جلوگیری کند و ارادهٔ افراد را برای تغییر وضعیت موجود به حداقل برساند. در این جامعه، سوما نه تنها به عنوان یک داروی ساده، بلکه به عنوان ابزاری برای حفظ ثبات و کنترل ذهن‌ها عمل می‌کند . سوما همچنین بر روابط انسانی تأثیر می‌گذارد. از آنجایی که افراد همواره در حالت شاد و بدون نگرانی به سر می‌برند، هیچ ارتباط عاطفی واقعی بین آنها شکل نمی‌گیرد. این دارو احساسات عمیق عشق، حسرت، و حتی غم را تحت تأثیر قرار می‌دهد و به جای آن آرامش کاذب را جایگزین می‌کند، این گونه انسان‌ها همواره از واقعیت‌های عاطفی دور می‌مانند.
وحشی ها
وحشی‌ها ، به گروهی از افراد اشاره دارد که خارج از جامعه کنترل‌شده و مهندسی‌شده زندگی می‌کنند. این گروه در محیط‌های طبیعی و بدون تأثیرات تکنولوژیکی شهرهای مدرن وجود دارند و از بسیاری از امکانات و تسهیلاتی که در آن جامعه وجود دارد، محروم هستند. روش زندگی وحشی ها برای افراد متمدن به قدری جالب است که آنها برای استراحت به سرزمین هایی می روند که وحشی ها در آن ، البته تحت نظارت شدید ، زندگی می کنند .
وحشی‌ها را می توان نماینده ارزش‌های قدیمی و طبیعی دانست که بر اساس احساسات، روابط انسانی واقعی و سنت‌ و فرهنگ زندگی می‌کنند. آنها ، به قدرت عشق، خانواده و دیگر صفات انسانی اعتقاد دارند. وحشی ها در تضاد کامل با جامعه مدرن هستند .
محتوا و داستان کتاب
شخصیت اصلی داستان، یک آلفا است که احتمالا به دلیل یک مشکل تکنولوژی از سیستم حاکم چندان رضایتی ندارد. او احساس می‌کند که به گونه‌ای متفاوت از دیگران است و دوست دارد هویت واقعی‌اش را پیدا کند. مشکل او هنگامی به اوج می رسد که به گونه ای تصادفی با یک وحشی آشنا می شود . این آشنایی و کشف تفاوت ها ، هم آلفا را پریشان می کند و هم وحشی را . این گونه هر دو با دوگانگی‌ها و تضادهای ناشی از زندگی در دو دنیای مختلف مواجه می‌شوند .
دنیای قشنگ نو را می توان یکی از خلاقانه ترین کتاب های پاد آرمان شهری دانست ، هاکسلی در این کتاب به بررسی اثرات منفی مهندسی اجتماعی و کنترل روابط انسانی، هویت و معنای زندگی پرداخته. او جامعه‌ای را به تصویر کشیده که در آن احساسات انسانی و رابطه‌های واقعی به دلیل پیشرفت‌های تکنولوژیک حذف شده است. نوآوری دیگر هاکسلی ، تصویر دقیق و ترسناک از آینده‌ای است که تحت تأثیر پیشرفت‌های علمی و اجتماعی قرار گرفته. در کتاب هاکسلی می توان اثرات فناوری هایی مانند تولید انبوه انسان‌ها و کنترل عواطف و روحیه‌ها را دید .
سریال دنیای قشنگ نو
وجود زیبارویی مانند جسیکا براون فیندلی سبب شد چند سال پیش ، بدون خواندن کتاب ، سریال را ببینم . اما سریال با کتاب هاکسلی چندان مطابقت ندارد . تفاوت هایی مانند تغییر در شخصیت‌ها، ساختار داستان ، اضافه کردن عناصر جدید و تغییرات دیگر ، گرچه سبب جذابیت سریال شده اما برخی مفاهیم کتاب هاکسلی را نادیده گرفته .

ترجمه فارسی کتاب
تا سال پیش ، 1402 ، تنها نسخه فارسی موجود ، ترجمه سعید حمیدیان از انتشارات نیلوفر بود که صالح حسینی هم آنرا ویرایش کرده بود . این ترجمه که قدمتی بیش از نیم قرن دارد، چندان روان نیست و نمی تواند جذابیت و طنز داستان هاکسلی را به خواننده منتقل کند . اما از سال گذشته، ترجمه جدیدی از فرید دبیرمقدم از انتشارات مد به بازار آمده است که گزینه‌ای تازه برای علاقه‌مندان به آثار هاکسلی محسوب می‌شود.
در پایان و با وجود ترجمه نه چندان جالب کتاب ، دنیای قشنگ نو را باید کتابی دانست که هم به فلسفه پرداخته و هم به مسائل اجتماعی و سیاسی. هاکسلی در این رمان، با خلق جامعه‌ای آرمان‌شهرگونه، به نقد ایدئولوژی‌های حاکم بر جوامع مدرن هم می‌پردازد. او نشان می‌دهد که چگونه تکنولوژی و کنترل اجتماعی می‌توانند به قیمت از دست دادن انسانیت تمام شوند.

”I feel I could do something much more important. Yes, and more intense, more violent. But what? What is there more important to say? And how can one be violent about the sort of things one’s expected to write about? Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly--they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”

Aldous Huxley was prompted to write this book in the early 1930s because he feared the direction society was heading. The worship of material goods, the embracement of capitalism, the promiscuity, the growing ambivalence towards books, the self-medication to escape reality, and the overall vacuousness of people, in general.

The book begins rather awkwardly in the lab where people are being created. A massive, industrial, test tube baby factory with very little variety, after all, they have determined the very best specimens so why create anything else? Note to self: rewatch the movie Gattaca. We do meet Lenina in the lab, an uncommonly pretty woman, who feels a pat on a fanny by her supervisor is a reassurance that all is well. Note to self: #metoo movement needs a time machine.

Huxley read a book on Henry Ford, who was certainly the poster child for industry and capitalism. In this book, he has become a deity of sorts. ”Oh for Ford’s Sake!” a character thunders. Note to self: Start using Ford for Fuck and see if anyone has a clue where such a use of the word came from.

”We don’t want people attracted by old things. We want them to like the new ones.” Rampant consumerism is the only way to keep the merry-go-round turning. Fortunately, by using brainwashing techniques while everyone sleeps, they can implant the proper desires and prejudices that will make for a united and happy society.

Lenina has become hung up on a guy by the name of Henry Foster. She hasn’t been with another man for four months. She is dangerously close to being accused of monogamy. Her friend is appalled and reminds her that ”everyone belongs to everyone else.” A woman being “allowed” and even encouraged to be promiscuous would seem like evolution, but when it becomes an obligation to be promiscuous, it feels like just another form of oppression. Sex has become a plaything to keep the masses happy.

They also have soma, which is the ultimate happy pill. Anytime things become too real, they pop a tab of soma or three. ”Christianity without tears--that’s what soma is.” It bleeds all meaning out of life, leaving the user complacent and happy and completely oblivious to whatever had been bothering them in the first place. It feels more than a bit like the opioid epidemic that we are struggling with currently; only soma is made readily available to all who need it and seems to have been carefully manufactured to avoid overdoses. Overdoses would definitely be a downer that would create some of that much feared unhappiness. #opiodcrisis

What kind of life would it be to feel nothing?

Bernard Marx has been trying to get Lenina to do something with him for some time. He is a bit of an odd duck among these carefully designed people. A Danny Devito among a herd of Arnold Schwarzeneggers. Note to self: Rewatch Twins, just because it is such a hoot. There is much speculation that something went wrong in the lab, a bit too much of this or too little of that leaked into his test tube. Needless to say, he is testy about it. After all, why does he look like this while his siblings look like that? He finally convinces Lenina to go with him to an Indian reservation in America, where they meet the natives who have been untouched by technology. They get old. They get sick. They die young. They give birth. This is a #povertyporn trip similar to white westerns driving through African villages so they can point and say things like...can you believe people live like this? Bernard is there really to feel something. Lenina is there to become overcome by all the squalor and unfamiliar feelings of discomfort, but she is glad she came because she is going to rock her #Facebook page when she gets back.

Bernard decides to bring a white Savage back with him. He is the product of a lustful coupling by Bernard’s boss, and believe me Bernard needs all the leverage he can get with his boss. The Savage is reading, not only reading, but reading Shakespeare. Can you imagine a person learning to read from Shakesepeare being integrated into an uneducated society such as this? Note to self: Read Othello. The Savage is primitive and a thinker, and this will prove to be a dangerous combination. He will see the absurdity in everything. He will protest violently...how dare he?

”O Brave New World!”

Can one man bring truth to the masses? It will be a nearly impossible task, given that the masses don’t even know they need saving.

I had forgotten about all the humor in the book. Huxley is poking fun at nearly everything we hold sacred. Satire is the perfect vehicle for modern comedians like John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, and Bill Maher to make their political points and make their audience laugh as well. We seem to need our truths given to us with a dose of sugar. Even in this futuristic utopia, Huxley called it a negative utopia, the population still needs healthy doses of soma to keep up the pretense that everything is fine. The people who rebel are those who find integration to be a problem or, like Bernard, feel disadvantages from the very beginning of their life. One size does not fit all, even when everyone is manufactured to be the same. A society will always be judged by the tolerance it shows for those different than the majority.

If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/

Love the boldness and continued relevance of the ideas in this novel, but in this classic the characters, plot and prose in general are often a bythought
People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get.

Mind blowingly forward (and chilling) thoughts...
...that is the secret of happiness and virtue- liking what you’ve got to do
It seems serendipitous that I read Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow just before Brave New World; what our current day popular science thinks about the future fits (still) nearly seamlessly with the world Aldous Huxley painted in the 1930's.

Aldous Huxley paints a world wherein genetic homogeneity, embryonic editing, hypno- and Pavlov training reign supreme, all in order to guarantee maximal stability (and hence happiness) within society. Axioms from the French revolution have long been discredited (Liberty to be inefficient and miserable. Freedom to be a round peg in a square hole).
Society is stratified from moronic Epsilon menial labourers, bred in massive homogenic batches, to Alpha plus elites who run society. Drugs, called Soma, is ubiquitous to keep the populace happy and supplant religion. People are trained from birth not to see death as a frightful thing, so that no deeper reflections on life pierce the social body of the World State. Also introverts are hated, to facilitate social control, any solitary activity is distrusted, plus all family bonds and relations are, through rigorous training, cut asunder. If no one loves another fiercely, no one will be sad at that person dying, or be jealous or uncertain in respect to how their love interest feels.

Some questions did occur with me during all this world building, like how are twins identical in thinking (nature/nurture discussion is a bit too easily precluded)? And is the population now not both massively more susceptible to both inbreeding and genetic defects (and pandemics) spreading like wildfire? And why does the state need epsilon morons if you have automation, computers and robotics? And why do people have last names if one egg can be replicated 16.000 times? We of Yevgeny Zamyatin is in that sense more progressive with its numbered workers.

...paired with clumsy execution
I’m interested in truth, I like science. But truth’s a menace, science is a public danger.
All of the above societal background is not relayed in a convincing tale but through a rather inelegant infodump in predominantly the first three chapters of the book.
The characters/talking heads of the first three chapters don't come back when we start to follow a bit too independent Alpha (who has heretic desires like being More on my own, not so completely a part of something else. Not just a cell in the social body) on his trip to a reservation of savages in New Mexico.
Our Alpha Bernard Marx finds a savage (conveniently called John the Savage) who has some relation to his boss back in London, and this momentarily leads him to console himself with society ( In so far as it recognized him as important, the order of things was good).
Also he does have a kind of friend, even though Huxley can’t refrain from showing a snarky sense of humour in depicting their relation as follows:
One of the principal functions of a friend is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies.

But soon enough shit hits the fan. The characters are chastised by one of the four World Controllers, a figure who effectively and eloquently drives home the principles underpinning the World State.
Rebukes John the Savage (who reads Shakespeare and has some old fashioned relationship ideas) addresses to the World Controller are met by responses like: Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true. But not, in the present circumstances, admissible.

At the end of this review I'll include some more quotes, I really liked this battle of the minds (and the grim ending afterwards). Finally I do see the massive influence of this book, like how David Mitchell used this vision to base his Somni-451 dystopian Korea setting in Cloud Atlas upon for instance, just more capitalistic.

A classic that still hasn't lost any of its relevance in our current social media conditioned world.

Quotes from the Resident World Controller of Western Europe, Mustapha Mond:
Happiness is never grand.

Happiness has got to be paid for.

But God doesn’t change.
Men do, though.
What difference does that make?
All the difference in the world.

As if one believed anything by instinct! One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.

Providence takes its cue from men.

Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle.

فكرة عميقة يحملها هذا الكتاب، مقابل المتع الجسدية يتم ذلك على حساب الحرية، الحرية بكل اشكالها.

كل شيء مخطط له من اختيار الجينات يتم تقسيم البشر حسب طبقتهم وإعدادهم للإهمال التي تناسبهم والاهم من كل ذلك غرس فكرة المجتمع الاستهلاكي في عقولهم.

لا يوجد أسرة ولا أمومة ولا اَي من العواطف البشرية، الحب، الغيرة، الشجاعة، الفروسية، ولا حتى دوافع نفسية كالشعرة والتميز الفردي، كلها صفات وتصرفات لا ضرورة لها في هذا المجتمع المسخر للعمل والاستهلاك واللهو.

حتى الاله لا حاجة له فكل الإحساسات يتم السيطرة عليها بواسطة العقاقير. وحوارات فلسفية رائعة عن الحياة والهدف من الحياة والموت والدين.

كل الكتب القديمة تم إخفائها فهي لا تناسب طبيعة المجتمع الذي يتشكل من وقت تلقيح البويضة في المعامل ، ويتم التلقين وحتى وهو في وضع الجنين بواسطة القراءات التي تهدف الى ترسيخ الأفكار المراد بها خلق هذا المجتمع.

A Motherless World

Aldous Huxley, with a satirical tone, introduces us to a society in which masses of embryos and fetuses are developed in artificial surrogate mothers; incubators. Where infants and toddlers, in controlled environments, are psychologically and emotionally manipulated in order to develop characteristics beneficial for the common good. A society that learns while it sleeps, through hypnopedia, during which the individual is thought to have an intolerance for: family, as they "stink" of emotions, monogamous relationships, which are primitive and indecent, as they are based on passion, and a hatred for nature, books, and the lower caste.

Instead, people are thought to rejoice in order, synthetic music, consumerism, sexual promiscuity, and every pain, sadness or experience of naturally occurring moral dilemmas or human feelings are to be suppressed by pharmaceutical substances that can objectively shorten one's lifespan but subjectively lengthen its quality.

A world that employs the practice of eugenics in order to breed a superior alpha human for the sake of maintaining a quintessential community while variations of inferior human offspring’s are reproduced, by physically manipulating the development of the unborn during gestation, in the interest of creating a caste system that will maintain all features and elements of this utopian society.

This dystopian novel setting takes place in the Ford Era, 632 years after the Model T was first introduced. Huxley envisioned a future society in which Taylorism is engraved in every aspect of a functioning community and Freudianism a blueprint for childhood personality development. He designed a society governed by manipulation, not force. A culture that embraces machines, science, and sensory pleasures, but mocks religious rituals, beliefs, and spiritual values.

I found the Brave New World (1932) well-written with an engaging plot that strengthens as the story unfolds, nevertheless, some scenes were overstated. Also, the storyline was somewhat loose with not quite convincing characters that were only subsequently developed. But what I liked the most about the book is how Huxley quite accurately predicted the future.

Complete oppression reigns. So too does almost complete complacency. Humans are cloned, grown in institutions, and brain-washed from the fetal state. The family unit does not exist, books and nature are abhorred, and history neglected. It is few in this society that have the ability to question, but it is these few who could promote the undoing of the fragile structure this entire community is built upon. Or, perhaps, they will merely undo themselves in the process.

I found this such an intriguing insight to a world so very different and yet so eerily similar to our own. Many facets of the society it was penned in were transformed and their exact opposite became the norm, in this dystopian creation. For example, 'Erotic play' was promoted and the idea of monogamy abhorred. Whilst I could note the many idiosyncrasies prevalent, I could also appreciate how some of their projected ideals were no more or less outlandish than our own.

Central to the structure of this society was the complete lack of independent thought. Pills solved all unpleasant emotions and so happiness, acceptance, and peace prevailed. Those who did find fault in this world were unhappy creatures, plagued by their doubts, insecurities, and questions. It deeply disconcerted me that I could not divine my own opinion on whether the freedom of thought was worth the unhappiness it wrought.

In this capitalist and consumerist society, our own reality is also called into question. The promotion of new over old eradicated history, literature, mending, and so much more. It was a bleak insight to life devoid of art, emotion, and creativity.

Whilst I appreciated all this novel set out to call into question, and the many lenses that could be applied to it, I can't say it is a novel I had an enjoyable experience of reading. It is very much a novel built on a concept and this is its primary function. It was valuable to read the book and I have no doubt it is a novel I will return to at all stages in my life, for it is a book I believe can grow with its readership and will always have something important to teach them.

I would give it a 4.5 star rating.

"Brave New World" was definitely worth listening to!
It was an interesting dystopian classic with themes that one can still ponder today.

One entertaining aspect of listening to this novel on audio Brave New World (listen now) is to picture what other commuters or walkers might think when they overhear a few of the weird social norms of Huxley's book. What would they think if they heard "soma" and "feelies" in the same sentence on the bus or train with you?

Perhaps the idea of a society set up where people are kept under control through pleasure and conditioning is rather unsettling but at the same time intriguing. The narrator of this audiobook added to the story with the creepy, and just downright weird, feeling of potential dystopia it gave the listener.

This is one audiobook that will stay with you for days, even weeks, after listening. If you have not yet listened to Brave New World, I strongly recommend that you do so immediately. Social commentary, ethical dilemmas, and profoundly dysfunctional characters all combine to create nothing less than a masterpiece. I promise that you won't be disappointed.

من أجمل الروايات التي قرأتها، أو بالأحرى فكرة الرواية عظيمة، والتحليل فيها بديع .. وقدرة الكاتب على قراءة الحاضر ودراسة الماضي وبناء تصوّر للمستقبل رهيبة.
لولا بعض الملل الطفيف في السرد لصنّفت هذه الرواية مع الأعمال العظيمة الأخرى.
تستحقّ القراءة بكلّ تأكيد.