Brave New World

Brave New World was written by Aldous Huxley in 1931. It is a dystopian novel, set in London in 2540 CE.

Plot

The book begins in a conditioning center in London. Children are not cared for by a mother and father, but conditioned to posses certain traits. There is a Director in London to oversee everything. There is no "Individual" as many people are exactly the same. They have the same appearance, the same DNA, the same traits, etc. There is one "World State". Different countries do not exist. There are 10 World Leaders that censor what is published, what conditioning goes on, where everyone lives and works, etc. They are drugged up all of the time on soma, which makes them vulnerable to behave as society conditions them to.

There is one man, however, who starts to think for himself. His name is Bernard.

Bernard is of higher intelligence and therefore higher up on the social scale. One of the World State's motto's is "Everyone belongs to everyone else" meaning you do not marry. You do not date. You do whatever you want with whoever you want. Bernard doesn't feel this is right. He falls for a woman named Lenina, which is ironic. She is exactly what society wants. She does what is expected of her. Bernard wants freedom and individuality. He wants to be different, even if it results in imperfection.

Bernard later takes Lenina to visit a Reservation for "Savages". These are people who still live as we do today. Many of them have religion, families, sicknesses, literature, sin, aging, etc. They are outcasts from the World State, and confined to live in the New Mexico area. It is here where Bernard feels a sense of freedom, and where Lenina feels uncomfortable.

They meet a "savage" there, John, and his mother, Linda. They are family of the Directors, which is unacceptable in their "perfect" society. So after Bernard and Lenina take them back to London, the Director is humiliated and runs off.

Linda hasn't had soma in so long. So after coming back to London, she overdoses all the time, and it eventually kills her. John is devastated, and never quite fits in to society in London. Lenina eventually falls for him instead of Bernard. Bernard is sentenced to banishment to an island for disrupting the stability of the World State by Mustapha Mond, 1 of 10 World leaders.

John falls deeper into depression in the World State. He never fits in, never quite understands the concept of being drugged up all of the time. He tries to escape society, but only hurts himself and Lenina in the process. He hangs himself in the end.

Suggesting This Book To...

I'm suggesting this book to anyone who ever wonders what it would be like to live in a more stable community with no problems, no sickness, no religion, etc. This book really made me think. No matter how stable and perfect a civilization may seem, there will always be downfalls. There really is no perfect. It took me a bit to completely understand the novel. It is a deep work of literature when you scratch the surface. But when you really get into it and give it some thought, it will be on your mind for days. 

Rating

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a meaningful novel, and it really captures imperfection in an interesting way. It also gives the readers the opportunity to answer the question "What if...?" What if life were different? What if everything was "perfect"? 

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner was written by Khaled Hosseini and published in May of 2003. It's genres include: Fiction, Realistic Fiction, and Historical Fiction.

Plot:

The main character, Amir, is of a very high social class is Afghanistan. His friend, and the son of his father's servant, Hassan, is of lower social class. Amir lives in a large, pleasing home, whereas Hassan lives in a mud hut in their back yard... They spend their childhood together, and are very close friends.

As they start to get older, Amir starts to realize that he is of higher social class than Hassan, and the other boys, Assef specifically, are starting to bother him. He and Hassan start to drift apart a bit, but the big trouble comes later.

In Afghanistan, kite flying is an important sport. It is a big deal to have the last kite flying. Their kites have glass shards glued to them, and the object is to cut the others down. Amir and Hassan are given very nice kites by Baba, Amir's father, and they enter together. Amir's is the last kite flying. And it sure would be a big honor to have the kite he cut down... Luckily, Hassan is a great kite runner [someone who runs after the kites after they are knocked down. Many boys run after them at once, and whoever gets it first gets to keep it].

Hassan does capture the kite, but Assef captures him. Then, in order to keep the kite to give to Amir, Hassan sacrifices his dignity.

Later on, after the Taliban enter Afghanistan, Amir and Baba flee to America, and their journey is harsh. There, Amir meets a woman who he later marries, but they cannot have children. Baba dies of cancer.

Amir receives a letter from Rahim Khan, his father's best friend. He is asked to go back to Afghanistan. After going back, he finds out Hassan is dead, and the only way to make things right is to find his son, Sohrab, and give him a better life in America. But finding one lost boy in Afghanistan is harder than it sounds...

Suggesting This Book To...

I am suggesting this book to anyone who wants not only an upbeat, fast paces story, but also a bit of history tied in too. Hosseini did a great job of teaching the reader about Afghan history and making it interesting.

Rating

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was a great book, and I learned a lot of history while reading.

The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars was written by John Green and published in 2012. It's genres include: Realistic Fiction.

Plot:

The main character, Hazel Grace Lancaster has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, and attending a support group at her mother's request. Hazel is depressed and has embraced death too much.  She spends all of her time at home, reading the same book over and over. The book has no ending, but the author lives in Amsterdam. She wants answers. All this does is depress her more. But all of this changes after attending support group one day when she meets Augustus Waters.

"Gus" had suffered from Osteosarcoma, which took one of his legs. He and Hazel fall in love, and eventually visit the home of her favorite author: Amsterdam. Gus allowed Hazel to open up more to the world and get out more often. She now lives her life, not her disease. This brings them closer together, but Gus was hiding something from Hazel. His cancer was back, and he chose to go to Amsterdam with her rather than get treatment.

The ending of the book was horribly sad. Gus is deathly ill, but Hazel continues to devote her time to him. Her parents want her to stay home more, but she feels as if she NEEDS to be with Gus, especially before he dies. He ends up dying quietly at home, but left something for Hazel that nobody could find. It was believed that it was the ending of the book Hazel loved so much. She finally finds out that he had contacted their ex-favorite author and had written her eulogy.

Suggesting This Book To...

I am suggesting this book to anyone who isn't afraid of a sad story. Not all stories have to end happy, and I think this book really depicts life in a way nobody really wants to think about. This book brought me to tears, and it may be my favorite novel. I really suggest you read it. Green writes about life at such an interesting angle. You will not want to put this book down once you pick it up!

Rating:

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. It is my favorite novel, and I really appreciate the fact that Green wrote about life's more disappointing side. It really is a mix of humor and tragedy...

The Devil in the White City

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America was written by Eric Larson published in 2003. It's genres include: Biography, True Crime, and Non-Fiction.

Plot:

The book follows two plots: Daniel Burnham's struggles to build the 1893 Chicago World's Fair in Jackson Park, and H. H. Holmes building his "Castle", luring, and killing young women who make their way to Chicago.

Burnham's plot is a lot of background information. It basically tells the story of how the fair's buildings were built and rebuilt after many conflicts arose. I found it rather boring. It just seemed to drag by so slowly! There was no excitement, and the conflicts were predictable. I could barely able to read the chapters about the World's Fair. I just found it uninteresting.

Holmes's plot was not quite as full of background information. His plot basically told the story of how he made his way to Chicago, built his "Castle", murdered women, used those who loved him, and eventually fled Chicago and was caught. The thing I found odd about the book was that the murders were only implied. They were never revealed in any detail whatsoever, and that made the book a bit boring.

Larson just couldn't make the subject interesting and still stay 100% true to history.

Suggesting This Book To...

I suggest this book to only those who really want to go in depth and learn every picky detail about the World's Fair preparations, disasters, and conflicts. If you are looking for a book on H. H. Holmes's history [which is what I was looking for] then this is NOT the book for you.

Rating

I give this book 1.5 out of 5 stars. It just didn't interest me, but did have a lot of historical information.