Mount TBR 2021 discussion

I always wanted to read Brave New World, because I love science fiction. It has been on my TBR mountain for year. Does anybody want to buddy read? I'm free in April. (I've no experience with buddy reading so far, but I'd love to give it a try.)

I’d be down!

Cool! I'm looking forward to it. :-)

Renee, it seems like it's just the two of us. I hope to start Brave New World tomorrow. Do you want to discuss your thoughts while reading?

I finished the first chapter last night. (view spoiler)[ I found the hatchery spooky and disturbing. (I guess in Brave New World all humans come from hatcheries and there is no natural birth.) Interesting that they would manipulate the babies characteristics by physical stimulation rather than genetic engineering. But I guess that wasn't invented when the book was written.

Also this book is full of notable quotes. The first words of the first chapter already impressed me:
"Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrong-doing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean." (hide spoiler)]

Hey guys, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'd like to join your buddy read if it's not too late. I'm currently trying to get through it, but I am having a hard time, so I'm hoping that maybe a buddy read will help?

Thanks,
Beverly

Hello Beverly, of course you can still join. I'd love that. :-)
In which chapter are you? What are your thoughts so far? (Please mark spoilers.)

Thanks,
I'm listening to the audiobook version of it. I'm a little ways into Chapter 5. It's......to say the least. I'm divided on it. I like it for it's different premise, but some of it is WAAAAAYYYY out there too. I noticed from the previous posts that you aren't too far into it, so I won't say too much so I don't ruin it for you. I don't mind to wait for you to catch up if you'd like. :)

Honestly, to me, the entire premise of the book has a spooky feel to it. I don't know how else to explain it. It's surprisingly modern given the time it was written in.

I find the novel surprisingly modern, too. In parts it reminds me of the utopian/ dystopian novels by H. G. Wells (like Men Like Gods or When the Sleeper Wakes). Even though Brave New World clearly follows a darker approach. But maybe that's just because they are from a similar time.

I just finished chapter III and hope to catch up with you soon. I'm glad Huxley established some characters now. The end of the last chapter with the different scenes told parallelly was difficult to read.

Yeah, that was difficult to follow with the audiobook too. I think the parallels are definitely interesting though. It adds another layer to the story.

I haven't read those HG Wells works. I think the only thing I've read of his is The Time Machine. I may definitely look into those others though when I get this one finished.

I read a lot of Wells a few years ago. He was my introduction to old
Science fiction books.

I continued Brave New World and just finished chapter IX. What do you think of Bernard and Lenina so far? I find Bernard kind of relatable.

I think the most interesting thing about those two characters specifically is that they are kind of paradoxical to each other. Lenina embraces the culture while Bernard is very critical of it.

I definitely agree with you in Bernard's relatability. Out of all of the characters so far, I have to say that I've found Bernard the most relatable.

Although, at the same time, I also kind of feel sorry for him. My main question with him is whether he's so bitter because he was stunted (for lack of better word) before he was decanted or because of his disapproval of the entire system. Some of the things he says makes it sound like its the first option, but then at other times, it almost sounds like it's the latter.

Maybe we will learn more about why Bernard is the way he is later in the book. Although I don't believe we will, because it's somewhat elegant if the answer to this question is left open. (I just started chapter XV.) (view spoiler)[We know that somehow Bernard's conditioning is incomplete. Maybe it is because of something in his blood-surrogate. Maybe it is just his character. (I wondered about that too while reading.) Either way it's a part of who he is now and it makes it difficult for him to function as a part of the utopian society.

For me the story so far is about not fitting into the world around you. Bernard, John, Helmholtz and Linda all face this conflict. I think, that making someone like Bernard a main character, was a clever choice. Because he struggles with the rules he provides a good window for the reader into this crazy utopian/ dystopian world.

Linda's story was especially moving to me. First she was left in Malpais, where she was not accepted due to her conditioning. (Did the D.H.C. left her there on purpose because she was pregnant?) Then (horribly ill, at least from the perspective of the Utopians) she finally returns home only to drown herself into soma until she dies. In her soma induced sleep she imagines Popé (who was horrible to her in Malpais), because maybe what they had was better than what she has now. So horribly sad. (hide spoiler)]

I finished Brave New World!

It was intense. I need to collect my thoughts and hope to write a few more worlds about it later.

I just finished Brave New World. I definitely like how the later chapters explored John Savage's conflict. I definitely agree with your premise (for lack of better word) that the story is about not fitting into the world around you. I definitely think Huxley did a good job of showing how Bernard didn't fit into the civilized world in the beginning and then flawlessly switched to demonstrating how John Savage didn't fit into the civilized world.

As far as Linda goes, I definitely felt sorry for her. Although, I think the not fitting into the world around you can definitely apply to her as well. She spent so much time in Malpais dying (no pun intended) to get back to London because she just didn't fit into the reservation world. Then, when she finally makes it back to the civilized world, she finds she doesn't really fit in there anymore either.