I finished Brave New World! It was a pretty quick and easy read compared to Cryptonomicon. The first couple of chapters are amazing. They paint a bizarre picture of a future where people are “manufactured” in a hatchery in large groups of identical people. These groups are manufactured to meet society’s needs.
The groups – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon are “made” to be happy with their role in society. Alphas are the “superior” caste that have the highest intelligence and are selected to lead the others. Epsilons have limited intelligence and are bred to be happy doing menial tasks. The Betas, Gammas, and Deltas span the gap between the Alphas and Epsilons. People are to operate socially within their respective castes. Sex exists, but no one is to be exclusive with another and reproduction is not supposed to happen outside of the manufacturing process. There are no close personal relationships as they exist in reality. People are created on a production line, so there are no mothers or fathers. Children are raised as groups and programmed according to their designated caste. No one grows old. They suffer a quick demise at 60 years.
The author, Aldous Huxley, gives many ruminations on sex, society, and religion. This book was published in 1932, so it had to be done very creatively. I am sure it was pushing censorship boundaries for its time. Its imagery is very tame by today’s standards, but the philosophies being discussed are still very relevant. Many have compared this book to Orwell’s 1984. Both books present a sort of future dystopia , but do so in very different manner. I think this book would make a great movie. I can’t believe it has not happened yet (apart from made-for-tv movies). Hollywood keeps recycling stories, some of which weren’t worthy of an initial telling. They ought to do this one. The CGI needed to create the “duplicate” people required for this movie is available now. This might have been something that prevented this movie from being made 20 years ago. I definitely recommend this book.
I am planning to start on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation next.
