Yes, the Twilight series is my guilty pleasure...;) This is so far more engaging than New Mooon though (which had waaay too much dialogue). This is a Yes, the Twilight series is my guilty pleasure...;) This is so far more engaging than New Mooon though (which had waaay too much dialogue). This is a healthy mix of both and very engaging--"book candy" for more serious readers, intriguing for any kind of reader! ...more
Fantastic guide! Makes you really motivated to see the world! I even ended up staying at a hotel right across from one reccommended in the Costa Rica Fantastic guide! Makes you really motivated to see the world! I even ended up staying at a hotel right across from one reccommended in the Costa Rica section--couldn't have been happier! ...more
Unlike Orwell's 1984, this depiction of the future is far more believable due to the fact that, on the surface, it seems like a rather pleasant way toUnlike Orwell's 1984, this depiction of the future is far more believable due to the fact that, on the surface, it seems like a rather pleasant way to exist! No one wants, no one yearns and nearly everyone's content, due to the fact that the populance exists purely on the pleasure instinct. Sure, there's an intensely uncomfortable "creepy vibe" that one can't help but feel from the start, with test-tube babies purposely made with birth defects so as to serve society's varied needs, pretty pink stucco abortion centers, using shock treatment as a way to force illiteracy among the working classes, etc., but the question that drives the book is "as long as everyone's happy and no one's suffering, who cares? After all, aren't the prime goals of most religious faiths to end human suffering and create contentment? Well here they are--problem solved!"
If world cultures ever willingly give away our freedoms, I'm convinced that it will be via Huxley's projection rather than Orwell's--we can see it happenning before our eyes. Passivity, apathy and relativism are becoming epidemic illnesses, for which there seems to be no cure. As long as there are laptops, big screen TVs, iPods, Blackberrys, credit cards and shopping malls, more and more people will sit back and refuse to become actively involved in the world around them--up to an including allowing blatant injustices to occur before their eyes and do nothing to stop them. This is the premise on which Brave New World is written, which is why it's so powerful and especially relevant. ...more
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