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comment by cunicorn
cunicorn  ·  3189 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What book has impacted you the most?

I'll give you two: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. After reading each one, I had to sit in quiet contemplation in order to fully absorb everything I had just read. Brave New World challenged my understanding and science and culture as well as teaching me to view the function of religion in society. The Handmaid's Tale introduced to me Second Wave Feminism and was the first time I'd ever seen sex distorted and used as a means of control (hey, what can I say, I was very young the first time I read it).





goo  ·  3189 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I can definitely agree with Brave New World. I found it much more plausible than 1984. It's frightening to still be unsure if I'd rather remain in a cloud of happy ignorance, or be aware of it all, something I think really applies to our world today.

The Handmaid's Tale is on my list!

bigthommoladd  ·  3188 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I would probably argue that Brave New World is just an exaggeration of today, and for me that's where the power is. People are increasingly focused on the shallow and inconsequential, led that way by a media force that only seeks to exploit the limited attention of the masses for maximum profit. Bernard Marx and his surrender to the system is just a representation of modern protest - very little action is taken and very little change before their ideals eventually just cave in. I dunno if that's what Huxley intended or if I've just got everything wrong, but that's how I've always interpreted the book.

lelibertaire  ·  3189 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Brave New World was a revelation for me going into my senior year of high school. That book sucked me in like few others have and it is still a favorite of mine to this day.