Brave New World
Brave New World
kate2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/6/05
#0Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 6:59pm
Has anyone ever read this book, by Aldous Huxley? We just started it the other day in my english class and i already love it, and I'm not really into reading. This book was a relief after reading Beowulf, which i hated.
#1re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:02pm
It's one of my least favorite books EVER, but I think I'm in the minority.
Ironically, I love 1984, which is sort of similar.
#2re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:03pmUgh, this was NOT my idea of a summer reading book, especially because I had to analyze it inside and out.
StageWhore
Broadway Star Joined: 11/11/05
#4re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:04pm
I've only read brief excerpts from it, but I loved what I read. However, I also loved Beowulf, so my tastes may be different than yours.
It shares some of the themes of 1984/Farenheit 451, but it digs a lot deeper. I think you're in for a treat.
"`I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.` What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"
"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."
He smiled. "That is from the `Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.` Here's another one. `In the room women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"
"Yeah -- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."
"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."
"Did you say, 'nonetheless'?"
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
#5re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:05pm
I always cringe when someone says "I'm not into reading".
what you really mean is you've not found subjects that interest you. To truly be not into reading would be sad, indeed.
I loved Brave New World, 1984, and Animal Farm..all very similar.
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
kate2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/6/05
#6re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:06pmThe Great Gatsby is my all time favorite book, but my English teacher hates it. We both like Brave New World though.
StageWhore
Broadway Star Joined: 11/11/05
#7re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:07pmHave you ever read any of Ayn Rand's works? They may interest you.
"`I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.` What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?"
"Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good."
He smiled. "That is from the `Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.` Here's another one. `In the room women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, sir?"
"Yeah -- it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women."
"My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot very much."
"Did you say, 'nonetheless'?"
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
#8re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:08pmI love Animal Farm, and 1984 is good as well, but Brave New World just didn't click with me. It's very sad that I haven't had a school assigned book that I've liked for months now. It used to make English my favorite class to go to.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#9re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:10pm
It's one of my favorite books ever. It also sparks a lot of interesting discussion.
My favorite part is the blatant juxtaposition of John's view of love and Lenina's view of love and how they can never meet.
#10re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:23pmI just finished reading the book for school a few days ago. It was...interesting. I found the book very good, but just so odd. Overall it was the best book assigned for my English class this year.
#11re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 7:27pmI love this book and have read it at least 4 times over the last 15 years or so. Each time I read it, I have a different take on the story. Some of it disturbingly makes sense, and the ending is always very unsatisfying.
"My dreams, watching me said, one to the other...this life has let us down."
#12re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 8:24pmI loved "A Brave New World." Throughout middle school it was my favorite book. I especially loved how it illustrated that without the bad, we would never be able to fully appriciate the good. Without pain we don't truly know what pleasure is.
#13re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 9:02pm
you all should try to find a copy of Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart. Written in 1949, it gives one vision of the future...and what amazes me is no matter how many times I read it, there is no way I can tell that it wasn't written today......
Earth Abides won the International Fantasy Award in 1951, is included in Science Fiction: The 100 Best Books by David Pringle (both editions), was included in Locus Magazine's All Time Best Science Fiction Novels in 1987, and was a Prometheus Hall of Fame Finalist in 1990.
Men come and go, but Earth abides
Ecclesiastes 1.4
1998 review of Earth Abides
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#14re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 9:10pmI enjoyed it well enough, but felt it paled in comparison to 1984 and FAHRENHEIT 451. I thought the book kinda fell apart towards the end.
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner
HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
DramaDork925
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/4/05
#15re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 9:20pmOh, I should read it. I loved 1984 and Fahrenheit 451....
Am I cut out to spend my time this way?
#16re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/1/06 at 9:28pm
I adore Brave New World!
Ayn Rand's works are great reads too.
http://avdagen.blogspot.com/
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
#17re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 1:28amI definitely enjoyed this book in a different way than I'd anticipiated. It was definitely a...quirky novel, and I mean that as a commentary on the writing itself as much as on the story. Well actually, it's not intended to depict life/the world as we know it, so I guess it was rather silly of me to state that. But, y'know. I would say it's an "acquired taste" of sorts. And the ending just kills me. I should read this again.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#18re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 1:31amYeah, Beowulf can be annoying. It's kind of weird that I took an Old English class, because I'm really not all that enamored of a lot of the literature of that era.
#19re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 1:46amIt's hard to say whether or not I liked it. It really is a concept book. Like, I love the idea, but the writing bores me. I think I enjoyed it overall though.
"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."
wickedrentq
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/6/04
#20re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 1:54am
I really liked it, but I never had to read it for school. For an English project I read a brief description of it and it sounded really interesting so I read it. I find I really enjoy these books so much more when it's on my own time and I'm getting out of it what I want.
That reminds me I started 1984 over the summer...I don't think I got past...chap 6? Bad me.
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
#21re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 10:12amRead it my Senior year of high school and really loved it, it held my attention and I loved gaining new insight while reading it and discussing it in class, I want to pick it back up again and reread it, it's been 7 years since I graduated High School and would like to read this book again and refresh myself on it, I remember the basic premise, but not much else.
You're always sorry,
You're always grateful,
You hold her, thinking:
"I'm not alone."
You're still alone.
-"Sorry-Grateful" Company
-"Sorry-Grateful" Company
#22re: Brave New World
Posted: 2/2/06 at 6:50pm
I love "Brave New World." It's a very provocative book, and I just really feel that I identify with John the Savage. Oh, and I love how Huxley weaves bits of Shakespeare in to the story.
Oh and it has one of the best lines of all time..."Impudent strumpet!" Yeah, I dunno...I just love that line.
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