Brendan
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Post by Brendan on May 11, 2016 10:50:35 GMT
Avengium Thank you so much for this information. Now I know the tone of Lenina when she expresses "I'm glad I'm not a Gamma". I'm not sure if I like her character but I think I need to hold judgement until I get further into the book. 
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 11, 2016 11:10:06 GMT
For me the character of Lenina is very superficial. She only cares about beauty and pleasure.
For me is only likeable as a female-object. I thinks someone refers to Lenina in some situation as "pneumatic" or something like that. I am wrong? I read the book more than 5 years ago.
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ezzz
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Post by ezzz on May 11, 2016 22:15:32 GMT
Okay, my exams finished yesterday so I spent this afternoon finishing Brave New World. I apologise for not being able to be so active during this months bookclub, in hindsight it probably wasn't the best month for me to be doing this but at last I have finished it. How far into the book are you Brendan ? Here are some of my own thoughts on the book: Regarding soma, I agree with Avengium that it is definitely supposed to be a way of avoidance, suppressing emotions and escaping to a better place. Although I also think that it is not only for the purposes of creating a more comfortable, easy life for all of the people but I also think that it is used as a way of controlling the people. If a person gets unhappy about something, they take a soma to make themselves feel better until they forget or no longer care. Unhappiness with a certain situation can often be a catalyst for change - so making the people so dependent on soma to relieve the negative feelings of a bad experience is a way of making sure that the people don't stray from the system and stick to their caste, if that makes sense. As mentioned before, Bernard is supposed to represent a free-thinking individual in a society conditioned to live in a particular way. I like that he questions everything that is going on around him and is not appalled by the prospect of a different way of life. However, I don't want to say too much because I'm not sure how far in brendan is at the moment, but I don't think that Bernard is as free-thinking as he likes to think he is. Or perhaps he is, but cares more for his own reputation than freedom. To be quite honest, I started to dislike Bernard a little towards the end. My favourite character, besides John the Savage, is probably Helmholtz. He seems more rebellious in his actions than Bernard to me, despite still holding some of the beliefs that he was conditioned to have, for example about natural births. I agree with Avengium again about Lenina; she is incredibly superficial but I don't think that she is a bad person, and she does seem to display some empathy. I think that she is simply a product of the society that she grew up in, and does not know any better - much like most other characters. I have a few other things to say but I will wait until we know where everyone is at. |
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 11, 2016 23:44:11 GMT
Helmholtz is the civilized protagonist of the book, he is on the book from the beginning.
I want to know how much people read the book and how much want to comment it.
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Brendan
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Post by Brendan on May 12, 2016 8:32:05 GMT
Great post @ezzz I absolutely loved reading your thoughts. I'm on chapter 7 with 40% I will be definitely be reading some more.  I like reading parts then come on here with my thoughts because you guys really help me to understand the book a lot better. You guys make it sound so much more thrilling and exciting even thou I'm enjoying it I like to make sure if I'm getting the story right but as far I think I'm doing alright. I was just wondering when does this character John the Savage coming into the book? because I think couple of you guys were stating he was the protagonist of the book. |
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 12, 2016 10:23:48 GMT
I can tell you about. But i don't want to make a spoiler. In the future, in planet earth exists some "Wildlife reserve" with wildlife, plants, rainforest and indigenous people. These indigenous people are very, very isolated from the civilization. And they live like centuries ago.
How would live one of these indigenous in the Brave New World? |
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ben545
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Post by ben545 on May 27, 2016 15:06:19 GMT
Just a post to say I've finished reading the book now and I'm ready to start discussing it. Really enjoyed it by the way.
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 27, 2016 20:12:41 GMT
Just a post to say I've finished reading the book now and I'm ready to start discussing it. Really enjoyed it by the way. i'm ready to discussing it too. I want to know if Becky, @ezzz, Brendan and other members of the bookclub are ready too. wannabeyourmonster and Dillon are in the bookclub list too. |
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ben545
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Post by ben545 on May 28, 2016 16:44:24 GMT
Just a reminder that it's my turn to choose the next book and I still can't decide which one to choose....
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 28, 2016 17:06:49 GMT
Just a reminder that it's my turn to choose the next book and I still can't decide which one to choose.... in the list i think i'm the next. |
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ben545
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Post by ben545 on May 28, 2016 17:37:51 GMT
Just a reminder that it's my turn to choose the next book and I still can't decide which one to choose.... in the list i think i'm the next. Okay, cool. What a relief. I've got no idea what to choose. |
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Becky
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Post by Becky on May 28, 2016 20:04:50 GMT
Just a post to say I've finished reading the book now and I'm ready to start discussing it. Really enjoyed it by the way. i'm ready to discussing it too. I want to know if Becky , @ezzz , Brendan and other members of the bookclub are ready too. wannabeyourmonster and Dillon are in the bookclub list too. I've not read this one but my exams finish on Friday so I'll be joining in with the next book |
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ben545
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Post by ben545 on May 29, 2016 15:23:26 GMT
I think that what struck me about "A Brave New World" is that it was written at the time when we really were approaching a brave new world. What was a horse and cart economy just 20 years prior to this book's publication has changed more in the last one hundred years than in the previous thousand. It's easy to see how people like H.G Wells and Aldous Huxley anticipated utopian ideals in their books at a time of great change and social upheaval. It's also easy to see how people like the Nazis and to some extent Americans might be inspired by stories like these to throw the rule book out the window exploring concepts concerning eugenics in the immediate years proceeding the publication of these books. This is the most immediate and disturbing take on the book I acknowledged whilst reading it. Did you also sense the disturbing nature of how the book may have been interpreted? Would you like to live in the society created in the book? Personally, I find the idea of living in a society without want or ill health very appealing. The western world or developed world is constantly trying to achieve this ideal often at the detriment of other poorer countries.  |
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Avengium
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Post by Avengium on May 29, 2016 23:47:49 GMT
[....] This is the most immediate and disturbing take on the book I acknowledged whilst reading it. Did you also sense the disturbing nature of how the book may have been interpreted? Would you like to live in the society created in the book? Personally, I find the idea of living in a society without want or ill health very appealing. The western world or developed world is constantly trying to achieve this ideal often at the detriment of other poorer countries. Answer: i sensed the disturbing similarity with the reality and the actual world. Answer: i don't want to live in a "Brave New World" with permanent peace and no illness. |
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Post by ezzz on May 30, 2016 16:16:31 GMT
I think that what struck me about "A Brave New World" is that it was written at the time when we really were approaching a brave new world. What was a horse and cart economy just 20 years prior to this book's publication has changed more in the last one hundred years than in the previous thousand. It's easy to see how people like H.G Wells and Aldous Huxley anticipated utopian ideals in their books at a time of great change and social upheaval. It's also easy to see how people like the Nazis and to some extent Americans might be inspired by stories like these to throw the rule book out the window exploring concepts concerning eugenics in the immediate years proceeding the publication of these books. This is the most immediate and disturbing take on the book I acknowledged whilst reading it. Did you also sense the disturbing nature of how the book may have been interpreted? Would you like to live in the society created in the book? Personally, I find the idea of living in a society without want or ill health very appealing. The western world or developed world is constantly trying to achieve this ideal often at the detriment of other poorer countries. That struck me about it too, it was written in a period of such momentous change which hasn't really stopped since. When I was reading it I often forgot the year of its publication since it seemed quite in tune with a lot of modern day issues. As far as the possibility of a society akin to that in Brave New World, it is quite disturbing in that it is not entirely implausible. The example that you gave with the Nazi's is a good one. In a way some of it does fit quite well into modern society, for example replace soma with television or something of that ilk, as a lot of the time these outlets provide a bias or a distraction - though it takes a different form in the book, it has some of the same effects. I like the idea of living in a society without want or ill health to an extent, particularly a life without ill health, but the only way to create a society without want would be to control what the people want, which I suppose is what they do in Brave New World. I think characters such as John the Savage, Bernard or Helmholtz prove that there will always be people who want more, people who don't fit in or people who's idea of a better lifestyle is different to the majority. With regards to want in terms of food resources etc, the 'uncivilised' people do not live a life without these problems. I suppose if it were to be applied to real life it would be much the same as in the novel, where only some people get to live like that. You summed it up perfectly when you said ''the western world or developed world is constantly trying to achieve this ideal often at the detriment of other poorer countries.''  |
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SOTW #192.
