Brave New World

This book is amazing!!!!!! Even though it was published in 1932, it seems like it addresses many modern issues. I would say that it should be part of any middle school curriculum, but it does cover many sensitive and mature topics (Birth Control, Drugs, Casual Sex, etc). In the book, almost ever characters uses a drug called "Soma" to dull the pain, stress, and loss. If you are a parent make sure you are prepared to talk to your kids about these sensitive issues. Even with all of these mature topics, this book is an incredibly important read for all older middle school and high school students.

I love reading Dystopias! This book was really interesting. I read it when I was 13. It really depends on how mature you are, a mature 13 year old or a 14 year old should be ok with this book. I read it in less than a day and should probably re-read it to totally understand it.

It is doubleplusgood!!! We saw a depravate society,where drugs and sex are glorified. The book is not extremely violent,but a middle-school kid can not read that,but it would mandatory on high-school.

I loved the book, I thought it was really interesting. Bernard is such an interesting character, I love it when authors make the main characters kind of pathetic. It's refreshing. In general, I like how Huxley explores the idea of truth and happiness being incompatible

Brave New World is set in a Dystopian future (roughly 600 years from now) where humans are genetically engineered to fit in a social order, There is no family structure because of this. Each human has a purpose in the ladder of society, if they don’t or if they speak out of line (against the narrative) they will be exiled. The way humans maintain happiness is by a synthetic drug called ‘Soma’ and hyper sexuality. On top of this if a person isn’t socially/sexually active they are shunned by their peers. The book starts of with the main character being Bernard Marx, an alpha male that seems a little out of line. Bernard wanted more from life and frankly would do anything for a more fulfilling purpose. He and a woman (Lenina Crowne) he was interested in took a trip to America to visit a reservation. Reservations were places where people had maintained the old way of living. In an attempt to garner notoriety Bernard was able to take one of the “savages” back with him and this is when the main character shifts to John the Savage. Together they navigated the public response of the world an eventually it all came crumbling down on Bernard. This book left little wanting and it tied up nicely. All sexual references are very modest and there is no cursing. Brave New World was an amazing read.

This was a really good book but you do have to be a more mature reader just because it is a deep and heavy book that requires some thought to fully digest. There is a lot of talk of sex but not in a gross and messed up/ intimate way, more of a matter of fact way. This is also a book that gets better everytime you read it, like 1984 or animal house.

The first time I read this book was as a fifth grader and although it was interesting, I stopped reading before the middle because it was difficult for me to comprehend and I could tell it wasn’t made for kids my age. I definitely think it’s better for teenagers and adults.

There was so much talk about sex and the process of cloning people through a very sexualized process. There is way too much talk about sex for younger people. I have to read this book for school. Why would they choose this?!?! This is just way too inappropriate for schools. There are a couple of scenes of an orgy too. Not good. Very disappointing book. Also contains lot of drugs and alcohol.

The book has a strong dystopian message not touched on enough by other authors. It’s unique because of how it revolves around themes not seen in other fictions. It advises readers about the dangers of a utopian society, that finds our happiness over our freedoms, and why humanism is important. These themes Huxley based the book around could not be more important. We see dystopia as something obviously bad, like the Hunger Games, when something that seems so perfect is as dangerous, if not more. In brave new world, almost everyone sees everything as perfect, due to chemical happiness, which leads to almost nobody having a personality, or their own opinion. The book itself was quite difficult to follow, and though it was tough to get through, it was satisfyingly worth it in the end. There was lots of sexual exaggeration, but it made the message more powerful. Smaller kids shouldn’t be reading this though. Overall, it was a learning experience with a good theme, although it was a slightly difficult read.

It is an amazing book. Huxley expertly portrays the dangers of a right wing extremist/fascist society.