Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Cibola County (Malpais), New Mexico

Okay so I know that the majority of this book takes place in England, but I really wanted to review this book (and didn’t want to “waste” by double-reviewing England). Also, I read Wild Indigo (a terrible book that takes place primarily in NM) and An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (which has lots of information about tribes in the Southwestern US). So…it’s not like I have never read a book that takes place in New Mexico.

This is such a cool book! I wish I read this in high school instead of 1984…although, honestly, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much back then. Back then I was too sheltered to realize capitalism is the root of all evil. But holy shit - this is an anti-capitalist novel! I can’t believe they all haven’t been banned/burned in the name of the American Flag. If you know of more anti-capitalist novels, please share them with me! And beyond being anti-capitalist, it was also anti-consumption! Oh my Ford!!!

The storyline of this novel is only so-so. The brilliance of this novel is really the world building. In this future, people have figured out how to mass-produce human beings. Embryos are produced on a conveyor belt and their development is shaped by what they will experience as adult workers. For example, embryos that will become people that will work in mines are exposed to various chemicals and low amounts of sunlight so that they are specially designed to handle being inside a mine (and the conditions outside of a mine are uncomfortable and/or painful to them). They are also altered so their brains develop less intelligence (can’t have the proletariat rising up, can we?). About 10% of people are are Alphas or Betas and live lives full of bodily comforts. They need not for anything, security, comfort, sexual freedom, etc. If they have to experience anything tiring, boring uncomfortable, disturbing - basically anything unpleasant, there is readily available Soma. It’s a perfect drug that makes everyone feel wonderfully with little to no side effects and no hangover.

I 100% could see this becoming a reality, if it weren’t for the fact that machinery and mechanization has come about. People will do anything and everything to keep the wheels of consumption going.

Spoilers Ahead

In terms of the actual story line, we meet some uninteresting characters, Bernard and Lenina, who travel to a Native American reservation in New Mexico for vacation. Sadly, the reservation is decrepit and the people within are trapped in terrible conditions (much like they were at the time the novel was written and in many reservations today). It would have been a nice counterpoint to the novel if the reservations depicted a way that humans could make their way in the world, like Native peoples did for thousands and thousands of years. But, I think Huxley was trying to depict two different ways that the government entraps people: one with barbed wire and with culture/brainwashing.

We soon meet Linda and John. Linda was on holiday at the reservation with a man about 20 years before the start of the book, but they were separated during a storm. Unbeknownst to Linda, she was pregnant, and by the time she was able to get back to civilization, she was showing and didn’t want to get an abortion (encouraged and widely available in this society). So she lived on the reservation at Malpais. Because of her “conditioning,” she had a hard time fitting in with the other people at the reservation. She didn’t know how to take care of herself, and didn’t have any skills. And she slept around freely with the men (including the married ones) of the tribe. She became ostracized, depressed, and addicted to alcohol. Her son John grew up to be a relatively successful man, but he was pushed away by members of the tribe for not truly being one of them.

Bernard is able to get a permit to bring Linda and John back to London. The rest of the novel comprises boring stories about Linda and John not being able to acclimate to the society, as well as Bernard struggling with fitting in as well. I really enjoy the long-winded chapter in which the World Director says in plain language why the government does things the way they do. I would love to be a fly on the wall in a similar situation with Jeff Bezos or a healthcare executive. There was something satisfying about hearing an evil person just plainly come out and say their intentions.

Overall, the story line wasn’t great, but I loved the book for its message and world building. I recommend (at least the first ⅓ of the book) to anyone and everyone!

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 5/5

Writing: 3/5

Message: 4/5

Plot: 2/5

Character Development: 2/5

Challenges Satisfied:

- New Mexico (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

- A Book Featuring a Man-made Disaster (2022 PopSugar Reading Challenge)

- A Classic You Haven’t Read Before (2022 Fully Booked Reading Challenge)

- Rory Gillmore Challenge (2022 Gotta Read ‘Em All Challenge)