Brave New World is a book with several problems, problems which make the book unenjoyable to read.  Many of the problems lie in the writing and construction of the "novel."  Indeed, we have already hit upon the first of the problems.  For Brave New World is clearly an essay, disguised by the thinnest veil as a novel.  The story opens with a ten page discussion of what this new world is like, but because it is ostensibly being said by a teacher to students, it comes across as - as it indeed is - a lecture.  This technique is employed by Huxley several times throughout the novel, and one is lead to question the control he had over his writing, or the time he spent thinking about how to construct such a story.  Although Huxley does begin the novel with interesting literary techniques - the lecture is interspersed throughout with two different plot lines, which do create an interesting plot - he abandons them after the first chapter, and uses the characters only as a medium to show the reader what such a utopian world could be like.  The consequences of this decision are obvious: the characters are static and lifeless, merely moving props to explain a world, and the reader does not - indeed, cannot - make any connection with them.  And then, somehow, Huxley manages to switch protagonists halfway through the story, from a civilized man at odds with society, to a savage who comes into it and looks at it with a different prospective.  Huxley's reason for doing so is obvious - he uses the savage to discuss the horrors of this utopian society - but the effect upon the book as a novel is devastating.  The change in characters breaks any sense of unity, coherence, or integrity the book as a novel had up to that point.  Even were one to address Brave New World as an essay about the consequences of our current obsession with science and power however, one would be disappointed.  Huxley's predictions seem improbable and poorly thought out.  For history tells us that a totalitarian government such as the one established in this novel would not be benevolent, endeavoring to make everyone happy, but tyrannical and oppressive.  But within Huxely's own framework, it seems clear that he gave the implications of his society little thought - for why, in a utopian society brought about through mind control and genetic engineering and designed to make everyone happy, would you maintain an economy?  Not only would it become unnecessary, but the capitalist system clearly breeds hardship and unhappiness for those without a certain amount of income.
  Perhaps Brave New World suffers primarily from the fact that it was published in 1932.  It is dated.
  My advice, in short, is: read Animal Farm or 1984 instead, Orwell did it better.
Brave New World is a book with several problems, problems which make the book unenjoyable to read. Many of the problems lie in the writing and construction of the "novel. "  Indeed, we have already hit upon the first of the problems. For Brave New World is clearly an essay, disguised by the thinnest veil as a novel. The story opens with a ten page discussion of what this new world is like, but because it is ostensibly being said by a teacher to students, it comes across as - as it indeed is - a lecture. This technique is employed by Huxley several times throughout the novel, and one is lead to question the control he had over his writing, or the time he spent thinking about how to construct such a story. Although Huxley does begin the novel with interesting literary techniques - the lecture is interspersed throughout with two different plot lines, which do create an interesting plot - he abandons them after the first chapter, and uses the characters only as a medium to show the reader what such a utopian world could be like. The consequences of this decision are obvious: the characters are static and lifeless, merely moving props to explain a world, and the reader does not - indeed, cannot - make any connection with them. And then, somehow, Huxley manages to switch protagonists halfway through the story, from a civilized man at odds with society, to a savage who comes into it and looks at it with a different prospective. Huxley's reason for doing so is obvious - he uses the savage to discuss the horrors of this utopian society - but the effect upon the book as a novel is devastating. The change in characters breaks any sense of unity, coherence, or integrity the book as a novel had up to that point. Even were one to address Brave New World as an essay about the consequences of our current obsession with science and power however, one would be disappointed. Huxley's predictions seem improbable and poorly thought out. For history tells us that a totalitarian government such as the one established in this novel would not be benevolent, endeavoring to make everyone happy, but tyrannical and oppressive. But within Huxely's own framework, it seems clear that he gave the implications of his society little thought - for why, in a utopian society brought about through mind control and genetic engineering and designed to make everyone happy, would you maintain an economy? Not only would it become unnecessary, but the capitalist system clearly breeds hardship and unhappiness for those without a certain amount of income. Perhaps Brave New World suffers primarily from the fact that it was published in 1932. It is dated. My advice, in short, is: read Animal Farm or 1984 instead, Orwell did it better.