'1984' vs. 'Brave New World'

[Thadlerian]

How come that '1984' (George Orwell) is generally well-known, while 'Brave New World' (Aldous Huxley) has far less fame?

My theory: '1984' predicts the possible outcome of a socialist government, and we read it to say "Oh, good thing we prevented that!". On the other hand, 'Brave New World' predicts a possible outcome of the current capitalism, and that is why it sort of becomes a 'taboo'.

I think that if we lived in a socialist state, 'Brave New World' would be the famous one, while '1984' would be forgotten.

The world could use some soma, though...

 

[onejayhawk]

Animal Farm

J

 

[Thadlerian]

Animal Farm was a satire on the Russian Revolution, and why it went wrong.

1984 and BNW are predictions.

Two completely different things

 

[MummyMan]

I dunno, i haven't read either. Though i heard about 1984 a year or two ago and forgot the name. I'll have to check it out. Brave New World as well, which i've heard about too.

 

[IceBlaZe]

dystrophies

Interesting use of the term...

 

[Thadlerian]

Heh... both books give me the creepiest feeling of them all: the You-Can't-Do-Anything-Feeling...

 

[Thadlerian]

Originally posted by IceBlaZe



Interesting use of the term...

Transalted from Norwegian... dunno if it's correct. Something tells me it's a medical term too...
Let's just say 'opposite of utopian' then

 

[Jeratain]

They are both excellent books. Each one however goes to an extreme that I feel is a bit unlikely to ever happen.

For instance, the constant wars going on in 1984, or the constant sex with multiple people in A Brave New World and the use of Soma and cloning...

When comparing the two, I feel that A Brave New World is perhaps more likely to become reality compared to 1984.

 

[stalin006]

funny this thread pops up, i just finished reading both, and both are negative utopias, 1984 is more scary than brave new world, if u didnt ended as an epsilong semi-moron working in an elevator ofcourse. .......but whats even more scary is that 1984 has a remarcable parallel to the soviet and some contemporary sociaetis

 

[Thadlerian]

Originally posted by Jeratain
For instance, the constant wars going on in 1984,

Hmm... I think we can already see... oh, never mind.

 

[stalin006]

a friend told me of another negative utopia book by someone called "Zamyatin" can someone tell me the title?

 

[Thadlerian]

Originally posted by stalin006
a friend told me of another negative utopia book by someone called "Zamyatin" can someone tell me the title?

I think it's called 'We', and was a source of inspiration for Orwell. The theme, I think, is a totalitarian world gone crazy, with buildings of solely glass, and so on.

 

[Greadius]

Why is it these two books get the comparison? We had almost the same topic a few months back...

Anyway, I think 1984 is the better book, and it gets more attention because Orwell is a much more prolific writer than Huxley, and it was a better written book. I don't think it has much to do with theories presented therein.

As for the theories... maybe I misread BNW but it didn't seem all that bad to me...

 

[MrPresident]

I want to know why See Spot Run is never compared to these two books. That describes a world where dogs run wild and...see things. To be honest I didn't quite understand it but I hear it is good.

 

[Archer 007]

1984 was wonderful.
Planning on buying/ checking out Brave New World.

 

[insurgent]

Originally posted by Thadlerian
My theory: '1984' predicts the possible outcome of a socialist government, and we read it to say "Oh, good thing we prevented that!".

That's a very superficial interpretation. Orwell himself was a declared socialist and insisted it wasn't a criticism or warning against socialism. Instead it was a warning against the totalitarian systems as a whole that he had learned to hate after participation in the Spanish Civil War (and Soviet betrayal of him in May 1937 - POUM) and after seeing Hitler's Germany fight the Second World War. So, it most definitely isn't a warning against socialism (I know the party in the book was derived from the English Socialist movement) but against totalitarian systems and the Communist specifically.
Orwell had a very complex political ideology - on one side he was socialist with economic collectivism but he also wanted the liberal freedoms of democracy. Also, it changed much through the years and with his experiences.

But I am sorry to say I haven't read "Brave New World" although I've heard much of it. But since I liked 1984 in its more deep meaning, its realism and thought-provoking anticipation, I'll have to vote for that.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Originally posted by Thadlerian
How come that '1984' (George Orwell) is generally well-known, while 'Brave New World' (Aldous Huxley) has far less fame?

My theory: '1984' predicts the possible outcome of a socialist government, and we read it to say "Oh, good thing we prevented that!". On the other hand, 'Brave New World' predicts a possible outcome of the current capitalism, and that is why it sort of becomes a 'taboo'.

I think that if we lived in a socialist state, 'Brave New World' would be the famous one, while '1984' would be forgotten.

The world could use some soma, though...

How come even fewer folk have heard of Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, since it predates both. I guess it is the fact that it's in Russian.

 

[Thadlerian]

Originally posted by insurgent


That's a very superficial interpretation. Orwell himself was a declared socialist and insisted it wasn't a criticism or warning against socialism. Instead it was a warning against the totalitarian systems as a whole that he had learned to hate after participation in the Spanish Civil War (and Soviet betrayal of him in May 1937 - POUM) and after seeing Hitler's Germany fight the Second World War. So, it most definitely isn't a warning against socialism (I know the party in the book was derived from the English Socialist movement) but against totalitarian systems and the Communist specifically.
Orwell had a very complex political ideology - on one side he was socialist with economic collectivism but he also wanted the liberal freedoms of democracy. Also, it changed much through the years and with his experiences.

Yeah, I guess that is right...
However, I think most people interpret it as a criticism.

 

[Grisu]

Originally posted by Thadlerian


Transalted from Norwegian... dunno if it's correct. Something tells me it's a medical term too...
Let's just say 'opposite of utopian' then

I'm not sure but I think the term I heard was "distopia"

Anyway, I liked 1984 better, since it was way scarier than BNW.

Another good compareable book, IMHO, is "Farenheit 451".

 

[phoenix_night]

Originally posted by insurgent
That's a very superficial interpretation.

I have to agree with this, and the rest of insurgent's post. I don't think the original comment was fair.