Disgusts me to no end. How could people call this "dystopian" in any sense? At most has certain value as a half-assed, comical critique of his own era(social stratification etc.). Its projection of the future is just so pathetically bullshit. Advancements in technology has, and will continue to liberate and empower individuals, instead of creating a totalitarian and collectively mindless future as projected by the book. They say there is a mindless "consumerism" nowadays. That's partly true. But just reflect upon the time of Huxley! Weren't the vast majority of people living an even more controlled, uninformed, and mindless modes of life? Also, what the author intended to describe as "depravity" in the book are *exactly* the right, natural, and liberating things to do now (Even the word "depravity" itself, which is just a social construct specific to certain eras, in the same vein as "marriage" or "family", reeks of archaic hypocrisy and restraints on human nature). Such appalling conservatism against the liberation and empowerment of individuals, such stubborn aversion and even denial to the power of rationality over primitive emotions, are doomed and to be ridiculed. The proclaimed "moral" acts of the protagonists, if carried out today, will be deemed as nuts and detestable. Especially the rejection of the most natural of human behaviors, and subsequent violent assaults of "The Savage", on a female! A "dystopian" novel itself portraying anti-humanity acts in a kind of a positive light, that's just plainly horrible. I know the author intended that to be a tragedy, and probably a slightly exaggerated satire, but is there any "tragedy" more unnatural, uncalled-for and laughable than this one? That actually served as the best illustration of just how pervert, distorted and inhumane those conservative ideas are.
No wonder 1984 is so much more acclaimed than Brave New World. This book just comically confuses cheese for chalk, and is simply irrelevant to our world. Though saying so as a leftist liberal shouldn't come as any surprise. Just never thought this book could be so rightist beforehand.
------
Was reading Brave New World and struggled really hard to comprehend the astonishingly conservative and archaic values of the protagonists. It just doesn't make any sense, especially considering that this book doesn't sound very antique. Finally it occurred to me that it could have something to do with the history of contraceptives in relation to the time when the book was written. It seems that in the 1920s and early 1930s, condoms were still not in mass production and the mere notion of employing any contraceptive measure was quite blasphemous. No wonder. It's amazing how advancements in contraceptive measures have been able to bring about such a great liberation in a span of less than 100 years, that values which were expected to be the norm at that time can appear hilariously outlandish nowadays. The world at that time must be horrible to live in, though. As of the book itself, it looked to me more likely a critique of the author's own era(social stratification etc.) than anything of a "dystopian novel". At least for now, we can pretty much rest assured that advancements such as contraceptive measures, and, hopefully, the eventual abolishment of the institutions of "marriage" and "family", will empower and liberate individuals, rather than create a totalitarian future as projected in the book.
Pathetically Comical Conservatist Rant. 1984 is so
《Brave New World》热门书评
-
你还要些什么
794有用 49无用 drunkpiano 2010-03-17
2503年,一个婴儿养育室里。护士们在地板上摆了一堆图书和鲜花,然后把一群长得一摸一样的、8个月大的婴儿放到了地板上。婴儿们看到图书和鲜花,飞快地爬过去,拿起来玩耍。这时候,长官一声令下,护士长启动电路装...
-
美丽新世界——未竟的争论
289有用 10无用 逆转录猴子 2007-09-15
首先说,看这本书来自neil.postman的《娱乐至死》,后来才知道其与奥威尔的《1984》,扎米亚京的《我们》并称为反乌托邦三部曲,在postman看来《美丽新世界》和《1984》描绘的是两个相反的未来,而在读过此书后,我觉得这种相反反而只是表面上的。内在来看,他们描绘的都是又精英统治的所谓稳定...
-
《1984》与《美丽新世界》
220有用 12无用 yzw 2013-02-04
曾经有幸参加过一次读书会,主题乔治奥威尔,不外乎是谈《动物庄园》与《1984》。当时在场的更多人是更喜欢《动物庄园》,而我对那本书却没什么很深刻的感觉,只很喜欢《1984》。当然《1984》也是有不少讨论的,一片引申,而我却只在旁听与发呆,基本没有发言。只是现在回想起来,讨论《1984》竟然没人提到...
-
越少完美,越多自由
157有用 7无用 惨绿 2005-11-14
一直没有看到过这本书的中文版,也许是托了去年那本《娱乐至死》的福,重庆出版社在新近推出的一套名为经典重现的丛书中,收录了这本书的中译本。这套丛书还收录了一些在西方读者心目中地位甚高,但编者认为被中国读者忽略的文学作品,比如已出的《秘密花园》和《华氏451》,待出的《我们》、《禅与摩托车维修艺术》、《...
-
给那些在温水中愉快享受的青蛙们
83有用 8无用 North Laker 2005-08-19
看到对《1984》的评论,让我想起另一本书《美丽新世界》。对1984里描述的令人窒息的独裁场景我已不担心,因为从上个世纪末开始,我们这一代人已经开始翻过那沉重的一页,中国人正头也不回地掠过《1984》的阴影。这本书在二十年前对国人会有振聋发聩的作用,但在半个多世纪后的今天,这本书预言似的描述看起来更...
书名: Brave New World
作者: [英] Aldous Huxley
出版社: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
出版年: 1998-9-1
页数: 268
定价: $12.95
装帧: Paperback
ISBN: 9780060929879