7.26.2002
well... I finished Brave New World last night... It was a pretty ok book. I fear I have lost the ability to be blown away by a book anymore. BNW was interesting, had some cool ideas, but I just kind of got a ho-hum response out of it.
Good points:
The whole genetic engineering/conditioning thing. That was probably the part of the book that had the most applicable (need the book be applicable instead of stand alone as merely a book? maybe I strive to wring too much meaning out of things) to our modern days, what with all the hoopla over cloning and genetic engineering and all.
Bernard's struggle for meaning in life. I think that most people can identify with him. Everybody, no matter how conformative, I think feels seperate from the world. And like Bernard, I think that most of us are more a part of it than we would like to think. Even the most nonconformative of us.
All the shakespeare quotes. This book has inspired me to reread much of the shakespeare I have forgotten. It is good stuff. Puts into words the things we think but don't really have an outlet for.
Bad points:
The outlook on our technological future was poorly formed (by Huxley's own admission). He particularly mentioned the lack of things being nuclear powered, but I think that the whole nuclear thing was largely a fad. People of the post-WWII world thought that nuclear anything would solve all our problems quick and easy (like the way it won the war). Time has shown that nuclear technology is a two-edged sword at best and a liability and thing to be feared at worst. As an aside, however, I do think that we should put more effort into nuclear technology. As an energy source it has only been superficially tapped, and there are many advances being made to make it safer and more efficient... but that is just the engineer in me talking.
I realize that predicting technological advances is nearly impossible. The things that we have now did not even theoreticaly exist in Huxleys day, so it would have been too much to expect him to think them up.
The technology in this case I think played a very distant second fiddle to the main plot but was an issue nonetheless.
Another thing was the idea that all the conveniences and tools that people had took all need for long work or innovation away from them. We have seen that our technology only makes us busier and makes our lives more hectic, not more leisurely.
There was a lot of other stuff, but as i read through my post I realize how boring I sound so I will cut it short.
It was a cool book, but had some big flaws, which I noticed when reading and Huxely seconded in his Foreword. Just taken as it was, it was an interesting read and a good look at how our conditioning affects our outlook and our general perception of happiness.
And with that, I will shut up
jeff
Good points:
The whole genetic engineering/conditioning thing. That was probably the part of the book that had the most applicable (need the book be applicable instead of stand alone as merely a book? maybe I strive to wring too much meaning out of things) to our modern days, what with all the hoopla over cloning and genetic engineering and all.
Bernard's struggle for meaning in life. I think that most people can identify with him. Everybody, no matter how conformative, I think feels seperate from the world. And like Bernard, I think that most of us are more a part of it than we would like to think. Even the most nonconformative of us.
All the shakespeare quotes. This book has inspired me to reread much of the shakespeare I have forgotten. It is good stuff. Puts into words the things we think but don't really have an outlet for.
Bad points:
The outlook on our technological future was poorly formed (by Huxley's own admission). He particularly mentioned the lack of things being nuclear powered, but I think that the whole nuclear thing was largely a fad. People of the post-WWII world thought that nuclear anything would solve all our problems quick and easy (like the way it won the war). Time has shown that nuclear technology is a two-edged sword at best and a liability and thing to be feared at worst. As an aside, however, I do think that we should put more effort into nuclear technology. As an energy source it has only been superficially tapped, and there are many advances being made to make it safer and more efficient... but that is just the engineer in me talking.
I realize that predicting technological advances is nearly impossible. The things that we have now did not even theoreticaly exist in Huxleys day, so it would have been too much to expect him to think them up.
The technology in this case I think played a very distant second fiddle to the main plot but was an issue nonetheless.
Another thing was the idea that all the conveniences and tools that people had took all need for long work or innovation away from them. We have seen that our technology only makes us busier and makes our lives more hectic, not more leisurely.
There was a lot of other stuff, but as i read through my post I realize how boring I sound so I will cut it short.
It was a cool book, but had some big flaws, which I noticed when reading and Huxely seconded in his Foreword. Just taken as it was, it was an interesting read and a good look at how our conditioning affects our outlook and our general perception of happiness.
And with that, I will shut up
jeff
< 21:45 >< /j >
