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Brave New World Revisited
Brave New World Revisited | Aldous Huxley
In 1958, author Aldous Huxley wrote what some would call a sequel to his novel Brave New World (1932) but the sequel did not revisit the story or the characters. Instead, Huxley chose to revisit the world he created in a set of twelve essays in which he meditates on how his fantasy seemed to be becoming a reality and far more quickly than he ever imagined. That Huxley’s book Brave New World had been largely prophetic about a dystopian future a great distress to Huxley. By 1958, Huxley was sixty-four-years old; the world had been transformed by the events of World War II and the terrifying advent of nuclear weapons. Peeking behind the Iron Curtain where people were not free but instead governed by Totalitarianism, Huxley could only bow to grim prophecy of his friend, author George Orwell, (author of the book 1984). It struck Huxley that people were trading their freedom and individualism in exchange for the illusory comfort of sensory pleasure--just as he had predicted in Brave New World. Huxley despairs of contemporary humankind’s willingness to surrender freedom for pleasure. Huxley worried that the rallying cry, “Give me liberty or give me death” could be easily replaced by “Give me television and hamburgers, but don’t bother me with the responsibilities of liberty.” Huxley saw hope in education; education that could teach people to see beyond the easy slogans and efficient ends and anesthetic-like influence of propaganda.
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Jari-chan
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Pickpick

Careful, this is not a sequel, nor a prequel, nor a novel. It's non-fiction and despite the age of the book still read-worthy! Huxley compares his novel with the society he lives in about 30 years after BNW was published. And we still deal with all the topics he mentions: overpopulations. surveillance, ressources. While I reading I often had images of recent events in mind and I wondered what Huxley would say to the world at its current stage.

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Gina
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I find stuff like this fascinating. It makes you wonder how these minds might have influenced each other if at all.

I did read that Orwell sent a copy of 1984 to Huxley who said he liked it but felt his (AH) version was more likely to come true...

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PagesAndConstellations
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Pickpick

Amazing book! Read this in practically one sitting (a rarity for me!)

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Krisjericho
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GO READ BRAVE NEW WORLD REVISITED. I can't believe Huxley wrote this so long ago.

Laura317 Wow! Talk about seeing ahead! 8y
Leniverse Yes. People keep bringing up 1984, but I believe Brave New World is ever so much closer to current reality. 8y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk Yiiiiikes. 8y
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maximoffs
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Important.

BookishFeminist And The Handmaid's Tale. 8y
CocoReads I agree 💯 8y
Sue @Izai.Amorim and I had this same exchange not long ago. 8y
Izai.Amorim @Sue Right! Huxley is kind of forgotten, but who needs Big Brother if we have Hedonism, Soma, and all those gadgets to keep us busy? The essay on language in 1984 is brilliant, though. 8y
mom2bugnbee I first read 1984 in 7th grade... In 1984. 😶 Even at that age, we understood the importance & brilliance of that book. Still one of my all-time faves. 8y
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Mtroiano
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Found this gem at a thrift store. It was written sixty years ago but almost could have been written yesterday. The same fears that Huxley had back in the 1930s, when he wrote Brave New World, and in the 1950s, when he wrote this follow up,are still relevant. #litsyAtoZ #letterH

MrsMalaprop BNW is one of my all time faves. I didn't know there was a "revisited"! 8y
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Eugeniavb
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Mehso-so

This started out very interesting and then got a bit boring for me. Still, if you can read it after Brave New World it gives a lot of great insight into how our society is screwing itself up (basically.)

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Eugeniavb
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"In 1931, when Brave New World was being written, I was convinced that there was still plenty of time..." #firstlines
(Bless coffee and books. How would we deal with jetlag otherwise??)

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StephBengtson
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My first adult book that I can remember reading. It's always been my favorite. #funfridayphoto #funphotofriday

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