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a study tracing the career of the brilliant novelist of the twinties and thirties, creator of Brave New Worlds. ... Read more

Product Description
A guide to reading "Brave New World" with a critical and appreciative mind encouraging analysis of plot, style, form, and structure. Also includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

A Portentous Masterpiece
Brave New World may be the most important novel of the 20th century.Huxley's work envisions a future society trivializing itself to death.What is sad is that we are well on our way to this brave new world and that most of your reviewers just don't get it. Soma is everywhere----television, Hollywood, politics as entertainment, etc. Read this book and try to understand what Huxley was saying.Brave New World is all around you.

Brave New World: A Perception of the Future
Creating a depiction of what the future can hold is a task that Aldous Huxley tackled in his 1932 published book, Brave New World.It tells the story of two main characters, Bernard Marx and John ?the Savage.?The rebellious Marx is filled with an inner hatred towards the Utopian society.John is an outsider with many dissimilar views on Utopia.Both live in a controlled world that divides humans into a caste system.The story begins 632 years after the brave new world (Utopia) has existed.Babies are born in test tubes, a person?s future is determined before birth, the state police control the people?s freedom, Soma is a substance that prevents the people from opening their mind, and the new world is ruled by dictators called World Controllers.Huxley enlightens the reader with a curiosity for the new world but does not give Marx or John the influence to change Utopia into democracy (or sanity).Marx is merely a thinker; he does not show any action towards his belief on society.I believe the intensity of the climax would be greater if Marx took initiative with John to spread the word of freedom and democracy.Although John tries to teach society of open-mindedness, he fails and ends up being in the hands of the people.The novel would serve a better purpose in change than in persistence.
With the climax not being fulfilled to my expectations, Huxley does create a forecast when writing about the topic of overpopulation.This is only one example in the novel where Huxley is picked out as a predictor and makes me speculate where our society could be headed.In the 1930?s economists were afraid that the population of life on earth was outgrowing the availability of natural resources (Paul, Warren. Brave New World-Cliff Notes).Huxley foretold this bold statement.In his novel, the depiction of the state police keeping track of how many infants were born and the plan of social role before birth, was comparable to the problem raised in the 1930?s.Issues like overpopulation and human restrictions add great curiosity to the story, making Huxley brilliant at his work.He leaves you wondering what this world may come to if our freedom is ruled by a higher dictatorship.I recommend this novel to anyone seeking a possible outlook on the future of our society.

Everyone is happy now
Huxley's classic Brave New World is a study in happiness.He starts with the concept of making everyone happy and then shows us that there is always unhappiness in humanity no matter what we try to do to abolish it.In eliminating all of the things that cause us pain, this society also eliminates all that could cause joy.Stripped of all emotion, they are left with a sensual world.This novel is not a prediction.It is a study of human nature."To err is human."Therefore, we must accept our nightmares if we want to have dreams.There is no such thing as a human utopia.

Please don't be stupid.
I read a review someone gave of this book that said Brave New World is "boring" and "absurdly weak."The review stated that "the general portrait of the future is very brief and full of lacunes, [and] one of the characters spent the entire book just quoting Shakespeare."I disagree strongly with this view.I did not find this book to be at all boring; in fact, I thought it was extremely well composed and amazingly detailed in its view of a dystopian future.The above mentioned reviewer's statement that The Savage quotes Shakespeare too much is absurd.Huxley cleverly uses Shakespeare's writing to show the distinct difference between our society today (or how it was in the 1930's, rather) and this anti-utopia that he has created.Shakespeare is known as the greatest writer of all time in the English language for a reason: he wrote about the nature and lives of people in such a way that we can all relate to it.Shakespeare so gracefully characterized human nature; the point that Huxley is trying to make with Shakespeare is that this "Brave New World" has been so dehumanized that they can no longer even relate to basic universal truths such as love, jealousy and unhappiness.It is an extremely powerful way of making his point about his dystopian society.While Huxley's character development is not his strong point, the picture that he paints of a future society is frightening.Ignore the reviewer I referred to.Read this book.

brave new world: not helpful
i did not find the BNW review to be helpful in my study of the novel.It was lackluster in details and proved to be no assistance. I do not recommend wasting precious dollars on such inflamatory work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ends or means the question is justification
The chapter on 'Religious practices' make interesting reading for a multifaith vistas.

Ends and Means: Huxley's finest work
If you ever have a chance to get your hands on this book, do so with great haste.I have never really cared for most of Huxley's works but this particular essay has stayed with my thoughts for years and, in fact,changed the way I percieve things around me.I cannot summarize the bookin any manner but can only say that Huxley examines the human psyche andbehavior, and details it in such a way that one will feel ignorant forhaving not noticed many of his observations before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Distilling the biographer's art!
A perfect biography of one of the most celebrated and most interesting figures of the 20th century. The panoramic range of Huxley's genius is magnificently brought to life in this book. Everything is here- his historic antecedents, his famous family, his 30 yr. marriage to the beautiful Maria, the creation of his books, and not a little as well about his "psychedelic" period and his book "The Doors of Perception." Of course, Huxley is a marvelously inviting subject, intelligence and temperament combined in a man possessed ofextraordinary natural gifts.The keen intellect of novelist Bedford is the key element; a rich understanding of Huxley's singular dialectic and his notably uncanny inner aesthetics makes splendid reading.The whole book is warm and true; the affection of the writer toward her subject is clear, but never interfering, never common or cloying.Bedford generously lets the reader walk and talk, travel and sup with Huxley, and her narrative skills are perfectly honed for such a daring operation; after all, it's one thing to merely write a biography of note, and another to unsheathe someone down to pure gold.The latter would seem to be Bedford's forte in these pages; it is a miracle of literary biography and an extraordinary experience.Highest recommendation without reservation.

Prophet demystified
SB does a truly remarkable job of portraying Huxley as he really was; from the vantage point of a next-door neighbour who soon moved in with the Huxleys, SB slowly reveals the everyday life of a man who was regarded as aprophet in his lifetime and has now come to be acknowledged as one of themost erudite men of the last century while at the same time being ahumanist to the core. The book could have crossed over to being an eulogybut manages to maintain its balance and objectivity through its length andprovides us with a scholarly perspective on the man as now other book does.She has integrated the personal life and impressions of many of the peoplewho figured in Aldous's life with the works of the man and analyzes how thevarious experiences of his life influenced his books. It continues toremain the definitive book on Aldous Huxley three decades after its firstpublication. ... Read more

Product Description
In the moral vacuum and world of shifting values following World War I, Aldous Huxley was both a sensitive reflector and an articulate catalyst. This work provides a highly illuminating analysis of Huxleys evolution from skeptic to mystic. As Birnbaum shows, in a perceptive interpretation of Huxleys poetry, fiction, essays and biographies - what evolved in Huxleys moral and intellectual pilgrimage was not so much a change in direction as a shift in emphasis. Even in the sardonic Huxley of the 1920s and 1930s, there is a moral concern. In the later Huxley, there are traces of the satirical skepticism which delighted his readers in the decades preceding World War II. ... Read more

Product Description
Newly published essays and letters, edited and introduced by David Bradshaw, showing Huxley's transformation from a scourge of the masses in the 1920s to their compassionate spokesman by the 1930s, and including writings on art and literature, and letters to H. L. Mencken and H. G. Wells. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pivotal to understanding Huxley!
Certainly, Aldous Huxley believed in the rule of elites and had anti-democratic notions -- for a period of time. In these essays and letters it is a troubled Huxley that can't fathom the solutions to thesocial problems of his time that can be observed. He went through manychanges and was greatly influenced in thought by ocurrances which he had tolive through. This is a pivotal point to understading Huxley which has beenoverlooked as a consequence of the "claims" that his greatestnovels are a few that only reflect one period of his life (e.g. Brave NewWorld). Must read! Redeems Huxley as a thinker with great love and concernfor masses. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes a brief biography of the author, thematic and structural analysis of the work, critical views, and an index of themes and ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Idiots.
The last two reviewers are idiots. The book is Huxley's satire on modern society, and he criticizes the rampant sexuality of it. This Bloom's Notes book has excellent literary criticism to accompany its summaries, etc. Definitely use it for AP, IB English.

Brave New World:The worst book
I find that this book is horrible.It is boring and not enjoyable to read at all.I find it discusting in one scene the children were singing a song about orgies.In the book farenhieght 451 they talk about a world in whichall books are burned well I think every copy of this book should be burnedit is horrible and boring I only recommend this book for people who haveproblems sleeping.This book will get them to sleep if it doesn't givethem a headache first.

I like how all of the little kids got laid!
I like how all of the little kids got laid!

One of the finest books ever
A must read for anyone. Huxley brings us a world of advanced genetic engineering and a pre-determined class structure which is not at all out of our grasp. Although this book was mutilated by MSnbc's happy-go-lucky feelgood miniseries, it really must be read. Pick 1984 up while you're atit...nice compliment.
Warning: may cause awareness and thoughts topropogate through the brain. Also, may make you want to turn off your TV.

This book is the story of life as we don't know it.
This book can be related to today's society in many ways. If you don'tknow what is going on, read and learn. I am a young woman (17), and ittought me that I should always look for the truth. I can trully see ourgovernment manufacturing babies in the future. This book is real. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

�Community, Identity and Stability'
Aldous Huxley's `Brave New World' takes place in Europe, in 625 after Ford (people started a new era in 1908, the year in which the American industrialist Henry Ford produced his first Model-T car). There is a New World society. People are no longer born the natural way, but the state creates and conditions them. Humans are being mass produced and preconditioned to become members of one of the social classes, ranging from Alpha plus to Epsilon minus. People are going to work and get their soma. They get their education at their level and they get sleep teaching. It's a totally arranged life.

Aldous Huxley was born at Godalming in 1894, into a prominent family of scientists. The nearly blind man was educated at Eton and Oxford and writer of many novels, short stories, essays, drama and verse, but `Brave New World' has proved to be his most lastingly popular work. The title was taken from Shakespeare's `The Tempest', in which Miranda, when seeing the first glimpse of the world outside the island on which she grew up, speaks the words: "O brave new world that has such people in it."

In this novel-of-ideas and dystopia, or in other words, a savage criticism of the scientific future, the motto is Community, Identity and Stability. There is no love, no individualism and people do not have emotions. Everybody belongs to one big group. No one is alone, because everybody is the same. The motto is, off course, an ironic contrast with the battlecry of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. It's obvious that Huxley wants to point out the dangerous aspects of the advancement of science. People will abuse the results of investigations, which will make the individual disappear.

The link of the motto with the battlecry of the French Revolution is not the only one. Many of the character's names are composed by use of the names of historical heroes. For example Benito Hoover, is made of Benito Mussolini and Herbert Hoover. This way the writer is parodying all the time.

The story starts at the London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where the Director explains some students how humans are being made by the Bokanovski-process. Eggs divide again and again (sometimes even 96 humans are beings hatch from one egg). When the Director asks a student whether he knows what a parent is, he answers: `"Human beings used to be." he hesitated; the blood rushed to his cheeks. "Well, they used to be viviparous."'

Bernard Marx is different from others. Something went wrong when he was in his bottle. He turned out to be, although he is, too small for an Alpha. He doesn't look like and has more emotions than other Alphas, which makes him not belonging to the big group. He and his colleague Lenina, a very pretty girl, who is very popular among the Alphas, go to New Mexico, to the Savages. Here the people haven't been scientifically produced. They meet John and his mother and take them to their world, which John really likes. He would love to see the New World. John hasn't been manipulated, so he's still able to have strong feelings....

A real pessimist can only think of a world like this. Therefore I think it's amazing how Huxley made up this story. It's been a great pleasure reading it, and it makes you start thinking about what the world will be in the future. Next to that, there's another, an educational aspect in the book. People have to be aware of abusers of knowledge. Huxley sure makes clear what he wants to say. It's a perfect novel.

Everyone should be required to read Brave New World!
Everyone should be required to read Brave New World.Huxley provides great insight into the effects of science dominating the human race.He shows that life in the Utopia is more efficient in many respects, howeverit lacks the deep human emotions that give meaning to life other than"constant consumption."Although first published in 1932, it isamazingly close to reality of life today.Brave New World's vividdescriptions and lively commentaries will hold your attention throughoutthe entire book.Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down!

A Shocking Glance At The Future
This was a great book.Huxley's view of a future "Utopian" state is very shocking, and it says a lot about society and technology.It really makes you think, and I like that.It is also very straightforwardand it's hard to miss the point Huxley is making.If you like sciencefiction this book is a must!Definitely worth your time. ... Read more

Product Description
From Introduction: "Along this particular stretch of line no express had everpassed.
All the trains--the few that there were--stopped at allthe
stations. Denis knew the names of those stations by heart.
Bole,Tritton, Spavin Delawarr, Knipswich for Timpany, West
Bowlby, and, finally,Camlet-on-the-Water. Camlet was where he
always got out, leaving the train tocreep indolently onward,
goodness only knew whither, into the green heart ofEngland.

They were snorting out of West Bowlby now. It was the next
station, thankHeaven. Denis took his chattels off the rack and
piled them neatly in thecorner opposite his own. A futile
proceeding. But one must have something todo. When he had
finished, he sank back into his seat and closed his eyes. Itwas
extremely hot.

Product Description
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Bloom's Guides collection, presents concise critical excerpts from Brave New World to provide a scholarly overview of the work.This comprehensive study guide also features "The Story Behind the Story" which details the conditions under which Brave New World was written.This title also includes a short biography on Aldous Huxley and a descriptive list of characters. ... Read more