Original title: Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
Language Spanish, Castilian
Narrator: Christian Grosso
Playtime: 8h 1m
Publisher Steam Readers
Genre: Classics, Dystopia, Sci-Fi
First published 1932
Book description: Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist.
Review:
I loved the audiobook, it includes music and sound effects which makes it an amazing ride. I will still try to get my hands on a physical copy to add it to my collection. It shows a very particular society, and it presents the answer to:
What happens when the human race is given the ability to divulge into their every fancy (not necessity)?
What happens when the truth of humanity is sacrificed for the permanent happiness of the group?
It's hard to start this review. I devoured this book, and couldn't put it down.
This world describes a society that is divided into different levels known as Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. It's kind of hard to put into words. There were several aspects that I found shocking. Morality and ethics are of course set depending on a social construct, so their "normal" or expected comes as shocking, and yet it has hard to process. One of the hardest to grasp was sexual liberty, not sure liberty is what I would call it but let us label it as such. The idea is that everyone belongs to everyone. This means that having as many sexual partners as possible is expected. Being steady with a single person is thought to be worrisome.
There are even "native reserves" for people who have an idea closer to what our society looks like. With a join with marriage, raising your children with moral and religious belief. But that is treated like a circus and just curiosity. Those people get treated like savages.
The technological advances allow them to live longer, and suffer no sickness but they become obsessed with vain desires. Always looking young, compare everyone based on their economic or personal benefit. There is a break in almost all interpersonal relations - there are no families now, people don't raise their own children, no real friendships you are treated according on how beneficial you can be to the other person. Oh and not to mention there is no such thing as love or care for others, even children are expected to express their sexuality and if that trait is not present, preventive or corrective therapy is designed until the child mends their ways.
This book is an amazing ride, I highly recommend it to everyone. It's hard to believe how intense, over the top, and at the same time realistic this story can be, especially when we are surely already living in a very consumerism society. It's scary to see where we can end up at.
This was used for challenges:
Books in Spanish
Read classics
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