Nothing much happens. That is the beauty of this story. Lucy Barton is a wonderful writer. She tells her story in memories as they come to her. The reader learns the things that are most memorable in Lucy's life. Is she telling us how things really happened? Who knows. Memory fades and your wishes and feelings over that moment often cloud your remembrances of life. Most of the story is told from the perspective of how Lucy felt or what she believed about a particular moment. The story unfolds like poetry and not through action packed verbiage. This is not a book for someone looking for an action packed adventure.
Huxley's futuristic dystopia depicst a world in which state power has grafted itself so throughly and so effectively to the psyche of its citizenry that the boundaries of exploitation and fulfillment seem irremediably blurred. Thw World State's professed ideal of social stability has been achieved through the proliferation of consumption and myriad sophisticated technologies. These include the State's monopolistic manufacture of human beings, enforced by making contraception mandatory and promiscuity a virtue. Each of five hierachically arranged social castes undergoes its own complex pre- and post- natal conditioning to encourage self-satisfaction. The desire for unattainable social mobility within the lowest castes is eradicated, allowing the controlling upper classs to maintian its power.
This hybridized philosophy of the World State draws on aspects of Plato's stratified Republic, and utlitarianism's focus on the concept of "happiness." The state facilitation of no-strings attached pleasure may strike some readers as counterintuitive, given the vehemence with which sexuality is marketed today as the ultimate expression of individuality. Yet the uncoupling og sex from taboo and reproduction dismantles its emotional significance, which aids the World State in eliminating all private allegiances that do not contribute to tightening its stranglehold. In the end, the indiscriminate cultivation fo what we might consider "adult" pursuits like drugs and sex renders them show more completely innocuous. For the childlike denizens of Brave New World, order is an end in itself, codified by the organized consumption of goods and services. But it is their conviction that they have been successful in achieving the fullest expression of human aspiration that should give contemporary readers everywhere the deepest shudder of recognition. show less
This hybridized philosophy of the World State draws on aspects of Plato's stratified Republic, and utlitarianism's focus on the concept of "happiness." The state facilitation of no-strings attached pleasure may strike some readers as counterintuitive, given the vehemence with which sexuality is marketed today as the ultimate expression of individuality. Yet the uncoupling og sex from taboo and reproduction dismantles its emotional significance, which aids the World State in eliminating all private allegiances that do not contribute to tightening its stranglehold. In the end, the indiscriminate cultivation fo what we might consider "adult" pursuits like drugs and sex renders them show more completely innocuous. For the childlike denizens of Brave New World, order is an end in itself, codified by the organized consumption of goods and services. But it is their conviction that they have been successful in achieving the fullest expression of human aspiration that should give contemporary readers everywhere the deepest shudder of recognition. show less
Considering how much I loved the Sparrow I had such high hopes for this book. It was very much a let down.The characters had so many names it was almost impossible to keep them all straight. It was a story about how WWII affected the Europeans. If you are looking for a book with action from the front line this is not the book for you. This is more of a behind the scenes look at the people left behind.