I still to this day thinks that this novel surpassed The Hunger Games and 1984 in terms of dystopian genre.
The novel itself potrayed a lot of symbolism to our current modern world uniquely and more stronger than the other books.
Why isn’t it being discuss in the same level as hunger games or 1984? I’ve seen countless memes about 1984 than I do for the Brave New World.
Brave New World surpassed Hunger Games? Uhhhhh ya. Duh.
It’s pretty well known. BNW, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 are often cited as the three best classic dystopian novels. 1984 is the most well known of the three, perhaps because it was a not-so-subtle critique of Stalinism, and therefore originally had the most connection to then-current events. However, for that same reason it now seems the most dated, since Stalinism has been thoroughly discredited even in Russia.
I think The Handmaid’s Tale belongs in that pantheon
Well, he claimed to be a leftist, yes, but he didn’t just develop dislike in the war - the leftists in Spain basically all hated him lol. Which is probably why he literally had a list of communists ready to turn into the British government later, so he’s hardly a hero of the movement.
It’s one of the most well known and highly regarded dystopian novels out there…
It’s certainly discussed at a level that surpasses the Hunger Games. It’s pretty common fodder for high school and college lit/ political classes. I think your assumption just isn’t accurate
I have never once seen Brave New World and 1984 mentioned in the breath as The Hungers Games… It seems your generalisation is purely anecdotal.
for real… can’t really compare classics with the hunger games, come on…
I think it’s actually an interesting discussion piece. Are classics better just because their old? I’ve read many classics that are just bad or just haven’t aged well (HG Wells for example) and I’ve read a lot of modern books that are good and stuff that sucks. Are books like Harry Potter and the hunger games going to be considered modern classics or modern childrens classics like Alice in wonderland or tuck everlasting or just pop culture hits like on the road.
Longevity is what matters in the end, which is often based on perceived quality more than social popularity. Pop culture phenomenons sometimes fade away rather quickly.
I doubt that the Hunger games are a) still discussed much b) have ever been discussed on the same level of detail as bnw, 1984, fahrenheit etc. c) played a major role outside of the ya-/milennial- bubble
I’ve never read the Hunger Games but people use it to describe our current class struggles all the time. It’s a thing.
Really? Are they actually discussed as in “analyzing concepts and mechanisms shown in the books and applying them to current or historical events”?
Or rather as in “haha, look how fucked up our society is, I guess we will have the hunger games within 10 years max”.
Because that is just the very basic comparison that you can draw with more or less any dystopian setting that still caguely resembles our society.
It has been a while since I read the books. I didn’t remember them going beyond “government bad, rebels good intentions but shitty actions, upper/middle-class mindless consumers of media, lower class/districts fight for survival”. They were fun, but I’ve listened to punk-rock songs with a deeper message.
Sorry, I don’t want to sound smug. Maybe I didn’t catch a deeper level. I admit that I don’t follow the US-debate or anything on twitter or tik-tok closely, but I’d be really surprised.
Yeah, but you said it’s not discussed as much. It’s discussed all the time, on a regular basis.
No one said it’s superior to BNW, but it’s definitely part of the zeitgeist.
Ok, I see. I think I had a different interpretation of “being discussed”.
I’m not from the US, but from Germany. Here and, as far as I can tell, in Europe in general, we have college classes on bnw, essays and articles are written on “orwellian language”, comparisons are drawn between the current book bans and fahrenheit etc. (Not only those course. handmaid’s tale, clockwork Orange, the machine stops, the road etc. as well, but 1984, bnw and fahrenheit are definitely the big three.
Not every comparison is necessarily thought- or meaningful, but the idioms and themes are deeply ingrained within our discourse. Whereas the hunger games are widely seen as popular book series from 15 years ago that also had success at the movies.
Well, I guess TIL.
I understand, thankfully for you Germany has a much softer social safety net.
We don’t have paid family leave or strong unions or universal healthcare; it literally is more “Hunger Games-y” here. At least for wide swaths of the population. So maybe it’s a more pressing issue for us?
And I know BNW is an important book, it was required reading at my high school.
I see your point and the generalization I made based on my own experience was surely prematurely. Thanks for calling me out on that one.
However, while I understand how the theme of the books fits better to your situation, I fail to see what there is to discuss. If I recall correctly, the books offer little insight to how the whole situation evolved, very little on politics in general and a whole lot on survival, romance, coming of age and - granted - some media critique. I don’t want to belittle the books. I enjoyed them very much. It’s just…they didn’t seem to be exactly substantial to me. A fun, dystopian read, but that’s it. (And on the emotional level, Oryx and crake, the road or farherland had a much bigger impact on me, but I guess that’s totally individual.)
Did I miss something important? Or is it just the general vibes, the focus on dread, steuggle for survival that hit a nerve? What do you, or rather the discurse on society, get from it?
It’s not analyzed with the same rigor of BNW, that’s true.
It’s mostly seen as a useful metaphor for the way the poor and working classes fight amongst one another while being exploited by the wealthy.
It’s not very deep, but it’s not entirely inaccurate either. Like a useful shorthand.
THG (the first one) is now being taught in school in place of one of those three novel in many places.
people who don’t read books know 1984 by reputation , people who watch movies know the hunger games. Brave new world is a better book than both by far, but you have to read books to have heard of it.
BNW is an awesome book and I feel it’s the novel that most describes the reality I live in. But it’s narrative isn’t as compelling as 1984 or Farinheit 451. Both those novels have an antagonist that places the protagonist in life and death situations. That type of threat doesn’t exist in BNW and personally I feel that makes BNW the weaker story when compared to its dystopian peers.
i LOVE brave new world! i think about it all the time
We read it in class and it’s the only time an entire class has hated a book. Maybe that’s why? It’s definitely still overhyped though. 1984 and clockwork orange are much better dystopians.
Why do you think it’s not?
I mean, it’s one of the 2 most famous dystopian novels on the planet. Brave New World and 1984. Hunger Games? Hunger Games doesn’t even get to be in the running, it gets to fuck off to YA flavor of the month land with the rest of it’s ilk.
It’s very well known. One of the most famous in the genre, easily top 5 if not the 2nd most famous.
How much more famous do you expect it to be?
If anyone reading this is still not convinced of the relevance in Brave New World’s social critique you should consider reading Neil Postman’s classic “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, in which Postman builds an entire criticism of modern media (pre socialmedia) with his premise centered around Brave New World. In the text Huxley is right and Orwell wrong. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the Huxley fans commenting here have probably read it. Postman is pretty standard college reading, too.
I can’t say I’m a big fan of Huxley’s writing style but his critique in Brave New World left a big impact on me after reading it in a high school lit class. Huxley’s habbit of veering off into drawn out philosophical diatribe always takes me out of the story. He does the same thing in Chrome Yellow. I guess a good story and strong philosophical leanings aren’t always compatible, or maybe I’d rather read Asimov?
I will add that to my reading list, thanks.
It is…in high school it and 1984 are often taught one after the other. Not your experience I take it?
Hunger games is derivative trash. Who’s talking about it outside of, like, YA circles?