This wasn't an easy read. I appreciate Huxley looking back a few years later to see how society has changed, and assessing whether it has moved closer to his vision in Brave New World. I found this approach inconsistent at times, as he also focused on why society was closer to Brave New World than 1984, as well as describing his philosophical thoughts and observations in general.

I felt that the book was weakest when building a case for Brave New World over 1984. I am reading this with the benefit of an extra 60+ years of history having passed, but many aspects of Huxley's imaginary society still seem farfetched, while we see hints of 1984 on an almost daily basis.

I enjoy Huxley's novels, but I didn't find his philosophy and historical observations as engaging. The highlight of the book was definitely the discussion of propaganda. It's interesting to see the direct quotations from Hitler interspersed throughout the chapters and to see this linked to dystopian novels. This is the section that has aged the best in this book, as we can see many continued uses of similar tactics from other leaders.

The discussion of brainwashing and chemical persuasion was somewhat interesting, although Huxley acknowledges their limitations in most societies. Other sections, like the chapter on overpopulation and speculating about what the end of the twentieth century will look like, or the novelty of subliminal messages, obviously would have been more relevant in 1958. Overall, the book had its strong points, but it's definitely not for everyone.

O regresso ao admirável mundo novo é um conjunto de reflexões sobre o seu livro e contextualiza-o na necessidade de agir, antes que um maremoto de opressão assole o mundo, subjugando toda a população.
Assim, vou expor algumas ideias que achei relevantes de serem refletidas, acabando por concordar com elas:
Huxley acusa a sobrepopulação como um dos fatores para propensão a regimes fascistas, pelo mundo. Este aumento descontrolado, em que se controla a morte, mas se descontrolou a natalidade, causou claros problemas humanitários. A escassez de recursos humanos e instabilidade geral geraram-se naturalmente, fomentando uma economia precária. Todas estas condicionantes geram insegurança económica e agitação social, abrindo vaga para governos opressores, como temos visto atualmente.
A qualidade genética, devido à menor mortalidade, tem decaído, vendo-nos repletos de gente com Q.I. bastante inferior, pois a seleção natural já não os leva, expondo-nos novamente ao perigo dos governos autoritários.
Outro aspeto contributo para a ascensão de autoritarismo é o menor cuidado com a saúde mental, que leva para menor segurança, tornando a população mais infeliz, fiando-se em regimes autoritários para a solução dos problemas económicos e sociais.
Estas ideias que ressalvei adequaram-se, quase instantaneamente, ao nosso dia a dia, em que assistimos ao degradar da democracia, por termos uma sociedade pouco educada para a liberdade..
Acho uma leitura extremamente interessante, embora há várias ideias que colapsam com a minha forma de pensar e têm que ser lidas com o valor daquilo que são realmente, opiniões. Como bem sabem, a escrita do autor não é fluida, então, toma mais algum tempo, nomeadamente, pelo género, sendo um livro não ficção.

Cesur Yeni Dünya'yı bu kadar insanın okuduğu, bildiği, takip ettiği bir ortamda bu kitabı bilmemek, okumamak, haberdar olmamak inanılmaz geliyor bana gerçekten. Bu sitede sayılı türkçe incelemelerden birini yazıyor olmam bile ülkece kurgu dışı kitaplara ne kadar mesafeli olduğumuzun çarpıcı bir örneği. Buna kendimi de dahil ediyorum aslında. Ben de daha çok kurgu edebiyatı okuyorum.

ama...

Cesur Yeni Dünya'yı ziyaret bir istisna olmalıdır. Benim gözümde, Huxley'in bu masalının evreleri var.

Kitap birinci evre..(Cesur Yeni Dünya 1931)

Kiitaba sonradan eklenmiş önsöz ikinci evre.. (1946)

Cesur Yeni Dünyayı Ziyaret üçüncü ve belki en önemli evre.(1958)

Bu kitapta sadece bir distopik toplumun 27 yılda ne derece realize olduğunun ispatlarını bulmayacaksınız. Aynı zamanda böylesi bir eseri yarattıktan sonra, adeta feleğin çemberinden geçmiş bir "gerçek dünya" da yaşayan yazarın görüş ve fikirlerindeki gelişmeyi/gerilemeyi de okuyacaksınız. Evet. Dünyamız 1931-1958 arasında çok önemli toplumsal olaylara ev sahipliği etti. Koca bir Dünya savaştı. Diktatörler yaşadı, toplumları manipüle etti, etkiledi ve sonunda devrildi. Dünya farklı bir yaşam tarzına evrildi. Bu kitabın cevabını aradığı soru şu; Dünya Orwell'in 1984'üne doğru mu yoksa Huxley'in Cesur Yeni Dünya'sına doğru mu gidiyor? Yoksa bu iki farklı sistemin arasında, ikisinden de izler taşıyan üçüncü bir sistem olabilir mi? Bu kitaplarda yaşananlar gerçek olabilir mi?

Orwell bu hikâyenin neresinde derseniz, kendisi Huxley'in öğrencisi ve Huxley bu kitabında iki önemli distopyayı kıyaslama ve analiz etme yoluna gidiyor.

İşte bu sebeplerle bu kitabı mutlaka okumalısınız. Bu kitapsız bir Cesur Yeni Dünya sadece hayalci bir kurgudan öteye geçememektedir. Yazarın aklındakilere ve daha fazlasına bu ilave kitapla tam nüfuz edebiliyoruz. Kurgunun dışına çıkarken farkedeceksiniz ki, aslında "birileri" tarafından gerçekte oluşturulan bir kurguda yaşıyoruz zaten.

Ütopya'dan-------distopyaya,distopyadan-------- Gerçek Dünya'ya hoşgeldiniz.

Manual para el control de masas que perfecciona su anterior libro de Un mundo feliz

"Se prea poate și ca un om să nu fie deținut în închisoare și, totuși, să nu fie liber; să nu fie supus niciunei constrângeri fizice și, totuși, să fie captiv din punct de vedere psihologic... O victimă a manipulării mentale nu știe că este victimă. Pentru ea, zidurile închisorii sunt invizibile și ea se crede liberă."

Mă așteptam la o continuare ori la altfel de întoarcere în "minunata lume nouă", dar și aceste eseuri s-au dovedit a fi interesante, ca o mică incursiune in mintea autorului.

Huxley!

Beni çok korkutuyor, nasıl bilebilirsin bu kadar yahu? Distopyalarını okuduğumda, Huxley'in Orwell'den çok daha iyi olduğunu düşünüyordum. Şimdi çok daha fazla inanıyorum buna!

Huxley onlar nasıl argümanlar... Orwell'in diktatörlüğünün nasıl biteceğini, neden ceza değil ödül sistemini kurguladığını; soma denilen ilacın neden var olduğu gibi gibi kitapta düşünülmüş maddeleri tek tek başlıklarda açıklıyor. Sanılmasın ki bu bir kitap üzerine yazılmış bir deneme, bu politik bir essay aslında. Çok değerli buluyorum.

Kitaba düzgünce odaklanamadığımı düşünüyorum açıkçası, bazı fikirlerini tam olarak anlayamadım. Tekrar sağlıklı bir kafayla okumak istiyorum.

Alan kişiye de çokçokçok teşekkür ederim :')

Can’t really consider it a book since this is just visiting the concepts that Aldous Huxley incorporated into Brave New World. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not a good read (haha funny).

Although a lot of it could be acknowledged in a surface level and seeing it applied practically from reading the book, this revisited makes you understand why these concepts may be tools used in the present and future especially in the advent of science and technology.

So if you’d like a quick read of what Brave New World is about I’d say you could read this and if you read Brave New World definitely read this as it will certainly enlighten you on why he wrote what he did in his novel.

No Future.

Ensaio sociopolítico e asemade revisión da súa propia obra “Un Mundo Feliz” no que Huxley analiza cada un dos elementos que conforman a sociedade e como poderían evolucionar até derivar nesa terrorífica sociedade distópica do século XXVI.

Ao meu ver, os puntos máis interesantes da obra son:

- A análise da política de dominación e control de masas de Hitler.

- O axeitado da comparación dos procesos democráticos co consumismo máis simple.

- As comparacións entre 1984 e UMF coa interesantísima conclusión de que o primeiro constitúe a antesala do segundo.

Ler esta obra de Aldous Huxley supón estabelecermos unha triangulación temporal entre 1931 (creación de UMF), 1958 (obra analizada) e 2024 (momento da súa lectura). Todo iso, aderezado pola consecuencia lóxica da comparanza vantaxista de realizalo dende o futuro do autor.

Un libro que acerta na meirande parte dos seus prognósticos aínda que non atina cos seus agoiros sobre os sistemas comunistas e - como é lóxico nun home do seu tempo - non toca os outros dous elementos que conforman a sociedade actual: feminismo e ecoloxía.

Para rematar, gustaríame amosar a miña mágoa pola falta dun Huxley do noso tempo a analizar se o “soma” atopou o seu prototipo na dramática medra de consumo de ansiolíticos e calmantes varios en combinación co sempre presente alcol.

Que Huxley non sexa un dos principais expoñentes na historia da filosofía moderna non pode ser unha casualidade.

Unlike the original novel, this book is actually a collection of essays exploring the topics discussed in the original book Brave New World. This book was written 25 years later, and Huxley expresses his astonishment at not only how accurate much of his speculation/prediction was, but just how quickly things had changed.

This book makes more sense to read, of course, after the novel it is based on. It's fairly light reading, and I recommend it to anyone interested in the novel or in social science, science fiction, or American history of that era (as it seems to capture the prevailing sentiments well).

As expected from Huxley, this is a brilliant collection of essays on our society and its future. I consider it a great supplement to any anti-utopian novel, to be read when initial shock is soothed and there is more room for clear thought.

The fact that it was published in 1959 and sounds, for the most part, like the work of a modern-day social philosopher, doesn't surprise me any more. What continues to impress me is the author's ability to stay away from imposing his own leanings on his prose. Of course, as a presentation of personal thoughts, this book is slightly more partial than Brave New World, but largely the author stays true to his analytical self and does not judge. He discusses, ever so eloquently, what is happening to the world (including the world in 2011), and what might happen from now on.

Another fact I greatly enjoyed is that, in Brave New World Revisited, Huxley has made such clear statements and has explained them so well that hardly any historical background is needed to understand his points. Yet again, it seems that neither pretentiousness nor confusing language is a condition for a powerful mind. Which is always good to know.

This book is a must-read for everybody, even if they're not too interested (like me) in politics or big bad global issues.

= New World Revisited

In this essay, Huxley updates some of the themes explored in his dystopia Brave New World and considers some other possible developments and embranchements in the future.

The contents :
1) Over-Population / 2) Quantity, Quality, Morality / 3) Over-Organization / 4) Propaganda in a Democratic Society / 5) Propaganda Under a Dictatorship / 6) The Art of Selling / 7) Brainwashing / 8) Chemical Persuasion / 9) Subconscious Persuasion / 10) Hypnopaedia / 11) Education For Freedom / 12) What Can Be Done?

A link to the online text :
https://www.huxley.net/bnw-revisited/

Soundtrack :
Fitter Happier - Radiohead

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Un complément utile aux mises en gardes déjà présentes dans Le meilleur des mondes.


Les thèmes :
1) Surpopulation / 2) Quantité, Qualité, Moralité / 3) Excès d'organisation / 4) La propagande dans une société démocratique / 5) La propagande dans une dictature / 6) Comment convaincre le client / 7) le lavage de cerveau / 8) Persuasion chimique / 9) Persuasion subconsciente / 10) Hypnopédie / 11) Être instruit pour être libre / 12) Que faire ?

Lien vers la version originale du texte en ligne :
https://www.huxley.net/bnw-revisited/

Bande-son :
Fitter Happier - Radiohead

In July it will have been two years since I read Huxley's Brave New World (see my review here). Like Orwell's classic dystopian book (1984), Huxley's was a real eye-opener. And it seems that both authors were clairvoyant, as we're currently living in an age where both principles are applied.

Big Brother (via smartphones, cctv, Windows, etc.) is watching our every move. Not only for so-called security measures, but also for commercial reasons (Big Data), which is what Brave New World was about, to a certain extent. Keep the masses happy through consumption of goods, instead of punishing them for not following the rules. Hence, a.o., the smartphones, the gazillion apps, the sh*t that's played on the radio and television (numb the minds instead of stimulating them).

So many years after BNW, Huxley wrote a non-fiction book on certain themes that were used in his fable. My edition has a foreword, about Huxley's life and works, by David Bradshaw. In the introduction, Huxley wrote that one should read his commentary - and I quote - "against a background of thoughts about the Hungarian uprising and its repression, about the H-bombs, about the cost of what every nation refers to as 'defence', about those endless columns of uniformed boys, white, black, brown, yellow, marching obdiently towards the common grave."

The chapters are to be read in order, as Huxley sometimes referred to a previous chapter when talking about a next theme. Discussed themes:
1) Overpopulation
2) Quantity, Quality, Morality
3) Over-organization
4) Propaganda in a Democratic Society
5) Propaganda under a Dictatorship
6) The Arts of Selling (also discussed in Philippe Breton's La parole manipulée)
7) Brainwashing
8) Chemical Persuasion
9) Subconscious Persuasion
10) Hypnopaedia
11) Education for Freedom
12) What Can Be Done?

No matter when Huxley wrote his afterthoughts, each subject is still of importance today, perhaps more than ever. Overpopulation (now there are x-times mores people on the planet than several decades ago, thank to better hygiene, better nutrition, better medicine, ...), but this also has its consequences (both positive and negative). Depending on who's in power, each discussed item can be handled for good or for worse. However, one can't deny that in today's day and age, there's manipulation everywhere; in the food industry, in the media, in marketing, ... We are constantly bombarded with (flashy) ads, news, bright colours, loud sounds, censoring, and more, which makes it hard to think critically and not accept everything blindly. But in some regions, the situation is improving for the better, little by little.

To cut things short, whether you liked Brave New World (the story) or not, read Huxley's afterthoughts and compare them with how we're living today and have been living for the last x-years. For some, it may confirm what they've been thinking for so long, for other it may indeed be an eye-opener. Orwell and Huxley were visionaries, that's a fact. Heavily recommended!