small spoilers ahead

I don't really know what to make of this book. I loved Huxley's style and the way he presented the setting without ever having to explain it directly, rather he first made us look through the eyes of students, then through those of an outsider, both learning alongside with the reader. I also liked how basically every major character's name is some kind of variation of different historical figures of the writer's time.

However, after a first few chapters where I was hooked by the new society I was learning about, I found it pretty hard to keep reading. It wasn't clear where the plot was heading for way too long, pretty much until Bernand and Lenina's trip. The ending makes up for it though, I couldn't put the book down during the last 3 or 4 chapters.

One thing I absolutely loved about the societal system imagined by Huxley is that it is not really imposed in any way. In other dystopian novels, the hierarchy and way of things is often, even if silently, forced on at least some individuals. Instead, here the closest thing to a "big boss", Mustapha Mond, is only a mere Controller and he never tries to hide information from anyone. The worst punishment a citizen can encounter is being sent away, isolated on an island, but that only happens if they show signs of not fully agreeing with the way of the society, and in that case they are free to express themselves however they prefer in said island, where they will most likely find other people who share their ideas. The system is not oppressive, is more of a choice most people agree on.

The choice is between happiness, comfort and stability, on one side, and art, science, freedom on the other. The Controller's speech at the end sounds so convincing because he's not trying to force his ideas, and more importantly because he's not lying to anyone, he's just explaining the reasons behind his choice. That is the reason why, in the end, nothing really changes in how the world works, because people are, ultimately, content.

Huxley provides us with a spectrum of ways the different characters see and react to the two different worlds.

In Lenina's eyes, what she sees in the reserve in New Mexico is disgusting and antisocial, she is completely a "civilised" citizen, she doesn't understand John and doesn't try to when he doesn't want to be with her, how could he want anything different than her, when in her experience everyone always wants the same things, which ultimately lead to collective happiness? And yet she, too, is odd in a way, as she feels extremely drawn first to Henry Foster, then to John, even though it's "against nature" to form any kind of romantic bond. But for her, that is not really a deviance from the system, more like a peculiarity of hers.

In Bernard's eyes, at least in the first half of the book, the civilized world he lives in has many faults. He can't stand to see how women are treated like "meat", and how they don't seem to mind at all. Later, it looks like he might form a real friendship with John, a true desire in his heart to bring him and Linda back to England, show them his life. Unfortunately, I have to admit I was rather disappointed by him (which only really proves Huxley's ability in character writing, I know), as we realize the only reason behind his critiques toward society was his partial segregation from society itself, the judgment he constantly received for his "inferior" looks. As soon as, thanks to the attention John has brought upon him, he starts being treated by people like the alpha-plus he is, he seems to forget all of society's flaws. He takes girl after girl, and completely ignores and disregards John's feelings and needs. We find out he wasn't really thinking outside the box, he simply was resentful and full of bitterness from how he had been treated.

In Helmholtz's eyes, John actually is the friend he needed. He still is quite conditioned by the life he's lived, he can't fully get what Shakespeare writes about, but he still is a bit of a rebel, praising loneliness and wanting to write just for the sake of it, wanting to feel something. When faced with the sentence of being sent away on a distant isle, Bernand cries out, begging the Controller to spare him. Helmholtz, on the other hand, welcomes his fate, knowing that away from England and society he could be alone once in a while and write whatever he wanted.

In John's eyes, being an outcast in both worlds, the one he's been born into is the one that makes sense. In the end, once he speaks with the Controller and realises the society he despises has some roots to it, he still chooses to live life in solitude, according to the rules he learned growing up in New Mexico. But that still won't be enough, the "brave new world" has already poisoned him, and he won't be able to bear its pressure eventually. His story is maybe the saddest in the entire book, not only because of how it ends, but because of how it starts. He was so genuinely happy to have found a friend in Bernand, so eager and curious to discover the world his mother told him so much about, it's heartbreaking to see him so deeply disappointed and betrayed. And it's even more saddening once you see how he never loses hope, how he tries to "save" people from the emptiness of their existence because he is still convinced things could change.

In Linda's eyes, anything different than what she grew up in is savage and barbaric, no matter she lived there for two decades. She suffers from the fact she's treated like an outcast, but she makes zero efforts to integrate or learn the ways of the people who hosted her, criticising every little aspect of her culture. I believe she, out of all the relevant characters in this book, is the most attached to and conditioned by the "brave new world". She doesn't really love John, even if he's her son, the only acts of care towards him were actually her trying to condition him into being "civilised", so that she could have someone to share her sufferings with.

Ultimately, I found this book to stand out in the pool of all the dystopian novels, and although I really enjoyed the characters and the ending, I still feel like it doesn't deserve more than 3 or 3.5 stars.