Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

Description

Brave New World is a novel with a science-fiction theme written by bestselling author, Aldous Huxley, and was first published in 1932. It is set in the far future, in 2540 AD and features a utopian view of the society at that time, with a lot of material dedicated to sleep learning, reproductive technology, and classical conditioning. The title is derived from a line in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The book begins with a lengthy introduction, detailing the author’s views of how he thinks the entire world will function in the far future, in a global society that he terms The World State. The individual story only begins in the 7th chapter, where the reader is properly introduced to the story of Bernard and Lenina, two inhabitants of the World State.

Bernard has a single friend in life, whose name is Helmholtz Watson. Bernard and Lenina go on a holiday to New Mexico where they meet John the Savage and Linda, both of whom have lived hard lives due to being ostracised by all the people they lived with.

It is decided that John and Linda would accompany Bernard and Lenina back to the World State when they return, and the rest of Brave New World covers the events that occur on their return journey.