BRAVE NEW REVISITED

by Aldous Huxley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 1958

In this brief, controversial and stimulating book Aldous Huxley surveys the world of today in the light of his 27-year -old novel of a mythical future society, Brave New World. In which the actions of millions were automatically controlled, sex was the tool of dictators, and babies, born in bottles of artificial insemination were by means of sleep-pills and other forms of thought-conditioning indoctrinated from birth with the ideal of living and working only for their masters. No longer does the author feel his prophecies are fantastic. Babies are not yet born in bottles. But through a controlled press and other forms of mass communication men age being led increasingly to believe what their masters desire; in China and Russia, mass brain-washing is practiced on entire populations; in America television with its singing commercials uses children for purposes of propaganda, subliminal advertising and ""sleep-teaching"" are in actual use, and the ""will to order"" has brought forth ""organization men"" and attempts to control even the sex-life of employees. It is not easy to combat the menace of mass control by the few; Huxley's answer is less concrete than his accusations: the limitation of burgeoning populations, the increasing of food supplies, the broadening of the realization that freedom and self-government lead to greater happiness than life under dictatorships. Brilliantly written by one of the world's foremost novelists and critics the book, not aimed at the light- minded, should appeal to thoughtful readers of all breeds, economists, government experts, clergymen, teachers, politicians, even television producers and viewers. Opponents of Communism should cherish it; opponents of birth control will deplore it.

Pub Date: Nov. 12, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION