Aldous Huxley was born in England in July of 1894 into a well known family of scientists and writers. His most famous works include Brave New World, Crome Yellow, and The Doors of Perception. He is considered by many to be the spiritual father of the hippie movement.
Huxley is stunningly prophetic in his clever dystopian novel Brave New World. Set in London in the year AD 2540, this insightful and at times disturbing satire exposes the danger and ease of trading our freedoms for comfort. It is a worthwhile read for anyone who read George Orwell’s 1984 in high school and enjoyed it (guilty). It held my attention, and also made me think. Brave New World is definitely worth a look.
“‘But do you like being slaves?’ the Savage was saying as they entered the Hospital. His face was flushed, his eyes bright with ardour and indignation. ‘Do you like being babies? Yes, babies. Mewling and puking,’ he added, exasperated by their bestial stupidity into throwing insults at those he had come to save. The insults bounced off their carapace of thick stupidity; they stared at him with a blank expression of dull and sullen resentment in their eyes. ‘Yes, puking!’ he fairly shouted. Grief and remorse, compassion and duty-all were forgotten now and, as it were, absorbed into an intense overpowering hatred of these less than human monsters. ‘Don’t you want to be free and men? Don’t you even understand what manhood and freedom are?’ Rage was making him fluent; the words came easily, in a rush. ‘Don’t you?’ he repeated, but got no answer to his question. ‘Very well then,’ he went on grimly. ‘I’ll teach you; I’ll make you be free whether you want to or not.'”
