Designer babies, genetic predestination and a life of hedonism... I'm not sure I've read anything more chilling than Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. The perfect companion to my earlier read of George Orwell's 1984, BNW extrapolated 20th/21st century Western Society's desire for instant gratification to a terrifying conclusion. Huxley deftly and intelligently paints a world where humans are not born but factory made, where 'Mother' is a dirty word and free will has been almost systematically eradicated, no brain washed, nay scoured out of humanity from our mental processes to our very DNA. The result, a near content and productive society, a world at peace... but peace at a high price.
Though I was initially wowed/terrified by the first half of this book I have to say it did not hold such intense interest as it progressed. The story arcs of characters I'd connected with drifted into uncertainty, while a central character I was only half interested in closed out the tale. That aside, I'm glad I read it. I can see why 1984 and BNW are hailed as the God Fathers of much modern Science Fiction and particularly dystopian imaginings. Most dystopian films and stories in recent years borrow heavily from one or the other. Though one explores an extreme manifestation of something that resembles socialism, and the other capitalism, I think both are relevant and challenging to the state of the world today. What do we value? What are we pursuing? What price will we pay for it? Who will hold the power in the societies to come and what role with faith, belief, religion play? What struck me about both futures was the lack (and at times aggressive annihilation) of the spirit and faith in God. Whether humanity is squashed under the weight of fear, paranoia and oppression, or numbed by the sensory overload of having every whim satisfied, both worlds seem grim, hopeless and without real life... Terrifying... Thought provoking...