h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley - A87772251
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

A Flea Market Rescue
The original is: A34875958 by BeowulfShaffer U10890736

I've not done a Book Review before, and of all the books to start off with, I'd only go and start with a controversial one like 'Brave New World'...

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I find it amazing that hootoo doesn't have an entry on Henry Ford. I may have to write one.
Meanwhile I may pick up a copy of the book at our Public Library.

by the time this one hits the front page you may be asking yourself
"Why was I ever decanted?"

The first section states Each caste are colour-coded and programmed from birth not to mix, except Alpha males often take Beta females as sexual partners.
The Promiscuity section states:'everyone belongs to everyone else'. It is expected for people to have intercourse on the first date, have multiple partners and frequently change partners. Do you mean everyone within your caste? The two statements seem to contradict each other.

Good point there, Shagbark – although who said a dystopian society can't contradict itself if it wishes
The World State certainly openly promotes the idea that 'Everyone belongs to everyone else' while also secretly encouraging people of higher castes to look down on the lower castes to ensure that in practice they wouldn't want to mix.

I've added a little explanation.

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In the section on Setting it would be advisable to have a paragraph on the "Reservation". The reservation and the outside world are dysfunctional in opposite ways. On the reservation they still marry, give birth, get old and fat and ugly. They are trapped by electric fences and not allowed past them without special permission. Yet, they have their traditions, and are not plagued by the blandness, and boredom that are pandemic in the more advanced society.

I would also add that it is the attempts of the media to circumvent this pandemic blandness and give some spice to life that leads up to the tragic ending of the novel.

I could say more, but someone said that one definition of spamming used here is to hog the conversation. So hopefully someone else will join this conversation so it doesn't look like it is just the two of us.

Yes, that is very true Shagbark. It is far better to allow BlueBottle to reply to each of your points before introducing a further comment.


Hi BB! Gosh this is more of an essay on the book than a review However, I think you've done the book justice. It's many years since I read it, but what you say rings true.

Re the male/female interactions. I think your comment that maybe there are no alpha females in the book is correct. It might reflect society at the time, where women were supposed to be wives and mothers rather than captains of industry. Without reading the book to check this out, it may be that Huxley is using the expectations of the society of the time to grasp this implicit message.


The Director of Hacheries and Conditioning

One of the most influential people in London, he is Bernard and Lenina's boss and a colleague of Mustapha Mond. Though he appears to be a model citizen of the World State, while on a trip with a particularly pneumatic Beta female named Linda, he unintentionally impregnated her and fathered John despite the World State's strong taboo against vicarious animal reproduction. This horrific scandal forces the Director to resign. His first name is Thomas.

>>> You end this paragraph with the short sentence 'His first name is Thomas'. Is this all we know about the Director's name? If so, I'd open the para with [Referred to only by his first name, Thomas, or by his official title 'The Director' he is one of the most.....]

You're also slipping between tenses, I recommend you stay firmly in the 'historical present tense' throughout.


Linda

The mother of John. Once a young, attractive and particularly pneumatic blonde Beta-minus, on a trip to the Savage Reservation she fell, lost her way and was taken to Malpais, a Savage village in New Mexico, already pregnant with John. For 18 years she raised John while drinking heavily and encouraging the sexual advances of the men of Malpais and earning the resentment and hatred of the local women.

>>> You don't need to have that first sentence. You're already explained who John's parents were.

Linda is a young, attractive and particularly pneumatic blonde Beta-minus woman. While accompanying the Director on a trip to the Savage Reservation, she becomes lost and is taken to Malpais, a Savage village in New Mexico. Finding herself pregnant, she raises John but drinks heavily throughout. Her encouragement of the the sexual advances of the men of Malpais earns Linda the resentment and hatred of the local women.


contraceptives adopted into a highly desirable fashion icon. Typo > adapted

Even Lenina, a Beta female who is criticised for not being promiscuous enough, has had physical relationships with numerous Alphas including Henry Foster, Bernard, the Resident World Controller's Second Secretary, the Ford Chief Justice, the Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Europe, the President of the Industrial and External Secretions Corporation, Benito Hoover, George Edzel, Jean-Jacques Habibullah, Benito Hoover and Bokanovsky Jones.

>>>Remove the repeated names. Stay in the historical ( narrative) present when describing the plot of the book.


Let's be frank, although now considered a 20th Century classic, on its release the general public were at best lukewarm and it bombed with the critics.

>> I appreciate that this is a FM rescue, but this sentence, taken from the original, sticks out like a sore thumb from the style you're using, and gives the text an uneven quality. I'd really suggest you rewrite this so your voice is consistent.

Apart from that there are a few instances where you capitalise words such as Happiness and so on. Maybe you should write thematic words such as this in quotes ie 'happiness' to emphasise your point?

Lastly, you mention the Brave New World Revisited earlier in the Entry, but expand on it sufficiently later on. As I got to the first mention, I googled the 'revisited' as I'd not heard of it. So maybe a footnote here to point the reader to the later mention in the Entry itself would be helpful?


I have to say though BB, that your writing style is becoming much more polished as you take on different subjects to write about, and it was a pleasure to read this.

Many thanks.

Yes, great stuff.

'Bernard Marx is, of course, named after Karl Marx.' > with a bit of Shaw?

Hello all – thanks for all your comments.

A paragraph on the Reservation is a very good idea – I've added a very rough draft but will write something more later tonight (I've not got my copy of the novel to hand).

I've also added a bit on the pandemic blandness and the media in the 'happiness' section.

Personally – if you've thought of a good and important point, I'd like you to tell me. I don't see how keeping something which may well improve an article I've written to yourself just because you've already commented on something else will be of benefit to making the article better. I'd much rather have lots of comments then none at all.

Gosh this is more of an essay on the book than a review
I did say it was my first attempt at a book review – I'll try to be more reviewy next time

I've re-written the Director of Hacheries and Conditioning and Linda sections – hopefully it makes more sense. Sorry – I wasn't taught grammar or 'historical present tense' at school.

Typo > adapted
There's always at least one typo somewhere....

>>>Remove the repeated names.
I've relegated them to a footnote. I think Huxley was trying to make a key point about sex being no substitute for love in his World State by describing Lenina's sexual habits by listing so many names and describing her as not being 'licentious enough'.

Let's be frank, although now considered a 20th Century classic, on its release the general public were at best lukewarm and it bombed with the critics.
>> I appreciate that this is a FM rescue, but this sentence, taken from the original, sticks out like a sore thumb from the style you're using, and gives the text an uneven quality. I'd really suggest you rewrite this so your voice is consistent.

The difficulty with FM Rescues is that when I find a little thread that needs a fix, I give it a tug, unintentionally unravel half the article and end up tempted to re-write the whole thing from scratch, when I aim to polish up an already attractive article that for some reason or other has been lying neglected in the Flea Market. So I do keep reminding myself to try to keep bits of the original in. As with most things, it's trying to keep a balance.

I've tried to convert capitalisations to quotes where I've spotted them, and have also added a footnote about Brave New World Revisited too.

George Bernard Shaw is also added – I thought I'd included him

I'm glad you enjoyed reading it – if you spot anything else, let me know!

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New reservation section added.

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This is a good and comprehensive article on 'Brave New World'. I'm not sure it matters if it's not 'reviewy'
I read the book ages ago, but found your article brought back memories. It's the sort of book you don't forget.

One or two typos:
The sentence beginning 'Not only are they so backwards' should continue 'as'.

In the sentence beginning 'As a beta...', it should say 'than the Alpha'.

In the sentence beginning 'Almost all of the inhabitants...' it should say 'their world'.

In the sentence beginning 'The media's attempts..' it should say 'monotonous life cause the novel's ending'.

In the sentence beginning 'The principle female', the spelling should be 'principal'.

I particularly liked your sentence
<> However it shouldn't be in the paragraph on John. Move it up to the paragraph on the reservation.

the sentence "This is a large, nearly worthless section of land in New Mexico that is allowed freedom from the World Controllers and kept in a state of technological backwardness" didn't seem to show up in Pliny.

Thanks Minorvogonpoet – spelling errors corrected.
Shagbark – the sentence was moved – are there any problems with its display now it has been moved?

<BB<

no problems, the sentence looks good.

Just a side comment. As a result of reading this I have started an entry on Henry Ford
while not complete, you might like to look at it the address is A87773179

If I've helped play a part in inspiring this article, I'm honoured indeed. I look forward to seeing that in Peer Review!

Definitely a figure that the guide deserves an article about.

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If this article makes it to the FP while the Ford article is still in PR we could put a link to this article in the Henry Ford article.
the article mentions how Huxley has peopkler coming off an assembly line.