This is yet another classic I knew very little about. I knew it was about a "utopian" society where babies were made in test tubes, but there was a character who was "born" naturally. Before reading (and sometimes during reading) I thought of the movie Gattaca, where genetic engineering is at the forefront of the plot.

I have to admit, I was almost tempted to give up on this shortly after picking it up. The beginning was really difficult for me to get into. I understand why there needed to be some exposition at the beginning, explaining the way the society was set up, how the babies were "created," etc, but it was just really hard to focus on. Also, it started jumping around from character to character so quickly that it was beginning to get really confusing. It also took a while for me to figure out who the main characters were going to be. I thought from reading a brief synopsis that Bernard was supposed to be the central character, but it took a while for him to actually fill that role. Then once we hit that stride, he kind of faded into the background once John was introduced. The same goes for Lenina. It was just kind of weird, and hard to get used to for me.

I don't really know how to write this review. There were parts of the story I liked, and there were parts I didn't exactly dislike, I just found myself quite confused and conflicted. I liked reading about the society, and seeing Bernard's negative feelings toward the conformity and brainwashing. I liked Lenina and Fanny's discussions about men. I liked John's naiveté and eventual loathing of the society he's heard about his entire life. I liked the talk of helicopters and the invented sports (I still want to know what electromagnetic golf is like, as well as the other sports referenced but never explained). I liked the infusion of Shakespeare, including John's changing perspective on the "brave new world." I liked the discussions of religion. I thought the author really had the whole society thought out well. I liked Michael York's narration (even if I kept finding myself thinking of Gilmore Girls...) and the various voices he did for the different characters.

Overall, I can't really think of many things I didn't like, beyond the feeling of confusion. I guess I didn't like how it skipped around a lot in the narrative. I wanted to know more about how Ford (I'm assuming Henry???) came to dominate and change the political and cultural landscape of the world. I always feel that way with dystopias, but I rarely get an answer (and usually when one is given, it kind of sucks - I'm looking at you, [b:Allegiant|18710190|Allegiant (Divergent, #3)|Veronica Roth|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395582745s/18710190.jpg|15524549]...). It didn't really matter when it came to understanding or enjoying the story, I just wanted to know. Also, this might be me being naive, but at the end...When they were all converging on John and he was freaking out over Lenina and they were shouting "orgy porgy," did that involve sex? Or was it just a wild ruckus? That whole bit at the end was wild indeed, and came to a rather depressing climax. I also thought it was interesting that television was in the forefront of society, since this novel was written in 1932, when television was in its infancy.

This was a really difficult book for me to rate and review. I didn't LOVE it, but I certainly didn't hate it. So, I think I've settled on a 3.5 rating. It's not a favorite classic, but it was pretty good.

Brave New World - Likewise Book Reviews

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