Title: Brave New World

Author: Aldous Huxley

Year Published: 1932

Kind of Book: novel/sci-fi

How Strongly I Recommend It: 8/10

My Impressions: The book is not written particularly well and the plot is nothing to write home about, however the ideas and themes Huxley explores in this novel are incredible. It is amazing how many things he was imagining in 1932 that have come true or are becoming more and more true every day (eg. Worshipping consumption, seeing people and things as being disposable, and searching for happiness and comfort rather than truth). This book made me reevaluate how I think about progress, pleasure, and consumption. I definitely would like to read it again at a later date because there is a lot here to ponder.

Date Read: February 2018 

Big Ideas

• To be excited is to be unsatisfied

• One writes better if the climate is bad

• Truth is at odds with happiness

• A society of all Alphas would be unstable and miserable

Because

• Alphas go crazy if they have to do drudgery types of jobs

• One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them

• Philosophy consists of looking for reasons to confirm what we already believe ie. Backwards Rationalization

Memorable Quotes

"ending is better than mending."

"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin."

"...no trace of agitation or excitement - for to be excited is still to be unsatisfied."