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Marshmallow reviews Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

As many young bunnies her age do, Marshmallow has been reading some dystopian novels. In these past few months, she has read and reviewed the recent Shatter Me and Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, as well as the classic Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Today she reviews another classic dystopian novel: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, first published in 1932. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, I’m so glad you have read this book. It was one of my favorites when I read it, and I was only a bit older than you I think.

Marshmallow: I enjoyed reading it too! I found it fascinating.

S: That’s big endorsement from you! Okay, tell us a bit about the book.

M: Okay, let me set the stage: The year is AF (After Ford) 632. Technology is so advanced that humans who are citizens of the World State reproduce solely in artificial wombs, and everyone is conditioned to perfection. That is, if you’re in the right caste. Even before you are born, you are assigned a caste. If you are an Alpha or Alpha Plus, you will receive the most attention and care while in the incubator machines. If you are of a lower caste, say a Delta or an Epsilon, you will get less space, and your growth will be intentionally stunted by alcohol infusions. No matter how hard you work, you will always be working the job you were assigned at birth. Despite this inequality, no one ever complains because complacency and contentment with the system are essentially brainwashed into citizens while they are children. In this sea of conformity, individuality is diluted. On the one hand, everyone is happy, but on the other, this happiness is attained only at the cost of their humanity.

S: Okay, that is pretty dismal as a setting. Go on.

M: So in short, when the story begins, the society is in harmony, but a couple people start to realize that the things that make us human are being lost. Two citizens, Bernard Marx, an Alpha Plus, and Lenina Crowne, a Beta, are vacationing in a reservation where humans still reproduce the natural way. Such societies are rare, and their residents are regarded by basically everyone else as savages. Here they meet John, a man whose mother Linda came from the “brave new world”. When they bring him back to their world, he is horrified by what he sees.

S: That is a good summary of the plot, Marshmallow. I know you thought a lot about this book and even prepared a report of sorts for your English class. So maybe you can tell us a bit more about the three main characters.

M: Sure. Bernard is an Alpha Plus who is at the top of the society. But he is different from others because he isn’t very cheery whereas everyone else is always happy. This is probably because he doesn’t take soma, the drug that everyone else does. Soma gives people a sense of euphoria and makes them unconcerned and joyful. Bernard’s refusal to take it is one example of his peculiarity. Bernard is a bit shorter than other Alpha Plus males, and he feels a bit bad about this.

Then there is Lenina, a very typical member of the World State. An average Beta, she is content with her status and is very disturbed by the comments made by Bernard and John that vilify the World State.

Finally there is John. John’s mother Linda came from the World State, or the “developed” world. Linda actually got pregnant at some point and gave birth to John. This is highly unusual in the World State, as biological reproduction is regarded as a taboo in the brave new world. However, in the reservation, natural birth is just natural. Still, the tribe does not completely accept Linda and John, and so they feel like outcasts. When Bernard gets the permission to bring John to “the civilized world”, he is called the Savage, and people treat him almost like a celebrity. However, as an outsider with beliefs completely orthogonal to those of others, he finds this brave new world repulsive.

Marshmallow is reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. — Marshmallow is reading *Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley.

S: Thank you Marshmallow. I think you summarized the main features of these characters well. So I can see that Bernard might not be too happy because he does not feel confident about his stature, and I can see John finding it difficult to adjust. But tell me more about what is wrong with this world. Why do you think this book is so important? What is its main message?

M: I think that the main problem is that everything is supposedly perfect, and the fundamental struggles that make people human are long gone. John the Savage argues that people need to have problems to live properly like humans. Without them, they are not fully human. They become passive, complacent, and no longer crave for progress, creativity, new ideas.

S: When I was in school, we read this book in tandem with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. You read and reviewed that book, too. Did you see any parallels or significant differences between the two books?

M: Well, I did like both books a lot. But both books had a little bit of adult content, a bit more than I like to engage with in the books I read. Other than that, they are both dystopian, telling us about a possible future where life as we know it is replaced by some very unpleasant and almost hopeless system. But when I was reading about Huxley and Brave New World for my class report, I found a very insightful quote by Neil Postman, who wrote in a 1985 book titled Amusing Ourselves to Death the following:

Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture […] In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
Neil Postman

The Wikipedia article on Brave New World has this quote, in its context, and the full quote is also very good. But this part is enough for me here. I especially like the last two sentences. Aldous Huxley delves into the psyche of humans to look at how easily they can be reduced to passivity and complacency.

S: Are there other themes that show up in the book?

M: According to Britannica, Huxley was always preoccupied “with the negative and positive impacts of science and technology on 20th-century life”. So there is that of course.

S: I see. The technology that allows the World State to govern one of the most fundamental processes of human life is awesome and scary, and the government, or any other entity, having such a power is bound to be dangerous.

M: Yes.

S: Any other themes that you would like to bring up?

M: Yes, the book is really rich. In Brave New World, humans have become passive and complacent under the eye of the World State. Brave New World presents a different type among the many terrifying futures that could occur. Most dystopian books have governments that are feared, but in this book the government rules by giving citizens everything that they could ever want.

S: What could be wrong with that?

M: As I said before, I think one of the central messages of the book is that people are not fully human if they are not striving to be better; they are not fully human if they are completely satisfied and complacent.

S: How about bunnies? Would you not be a happy bunny if you got all the nice food and all the books and friends you wanted and so on and never needed anything?

M: Given all the terrible things happening in our world today, this kind of a possible world actually sounds nice initially, but I think I’d eventually get bored. I’d probably want to do something different, something new. I’d want a purpose in my life.

S: I can see that.

M: I do wonder if a lot of people would be better off or happier in that world. But they would all be pawns of the establishment. They would not have a purpose or even a choice in this way of living. I don’t think either of those is good.

S: I agree. So what would your rating be for this book?

M: I think I’d rate it 97%. I think this is a very provocative book, made me think a lot, but again, I don’t like too much adult stuff in a book.

S: I agree that there is some of that stuff in the book and some of it is truly disturbing. There is even a scene where they expect children as young as seven to engage in what they call “erotic play”.

M: Those kinds of things make me think that younger bunnies should probably not read this book.

S: Agreed. So a very good book, very thought-provoking, but definitely for older bunnies.

M: Yep.

S: Then we are done. Let us wrap this up. What would you like to tell our readers Marshmallow?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing book reviews from the book bunnies!

Marshmallow rates Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 97%. — Marshmallow rates *Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley 97%.

Caramel reviews Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

This past month, Sprinkles was excited to introduce Caramel to one of her favorite series from her childhood, the Famous Five, the classic children’s adventure book series written by the prolific British author Enid Blyton about four children and their dog Timothy. Today, Caramel shares his thoughts on Five on a Treasure Island, the first book about these five characters, published first in 1942, exactly eighty years ago. The book bunnies read the beautiful color edition from 2015 with illustrations by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

Caramel reviews Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake. — Caramel reviews *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I was so happy to read this book together with you!

Caramel: Yes. We read a chapter a night, more or less, and it was sometimes not easy to wait the whole day for the next chapter.

S: I know, right? Some of the events get you nervous and make you want to know what will happen next, and quickly.

C: I thought you had read this book before Sprinkles? Didn’t you remember what would happen?

S: Well, yes, I did read it, but many many years ago, and I knew of course that the kids would come out of their adventures safe and sound, but I did not remember at all how that would come to be.

C: Especially when they got locked up in the dungeon —

S: Wait! Let us not give away too many details. But maybe it would be a good idea to start from the beginning with the plot of the book so our readers can get a good idea abut what it is all about.

C: Okay. So there are three kids, Julian, Dick, and Anne, and they are siblings. They go visit their cousin George. Actually she is named Georgina, but she wants to be called George.

S: I see. This reminds me that a couple years ago, Marshmallow reviewed a book titled George, about a transgender child and her struggle to be accepted as who she is. People called her George but she wanted to be called Melissa. And it is important to call people by the name they would prefer, right?

C: Obviously. It is only the kind thing to do. And if you don’t they will be upset.

S: So yes, let us call the fourth character in our book George. But the book title promises us five characters. Who is the fifth one?

C: Tim, who is a dog. He is George’s dog, pretty much, though her family does not want her to keep Tim, so she has another boy take care of him most of the time.

S: Okay, these five remind me of Scooby Doo and the five characters there. Did you know that some folks think that people who created Scooby Doo were inspired by the Famous Five?

C: I had not thought about that! But that is kind of neat! I like Scooby Doo! So this is really interesting. I can even see some resemblances…

S: Hmm, we can speculate, of course. But let us get back to the book. Alright, so we now know who the famous five are. What is the treasure island about? Tell us more about the story.

C: George does not seem too nice at the beginning, but eventually, they become close. The three siblings learn about the nearby Kirrin Island, George says it is hers, and then the kids think that there may be some treasure hidden somewhere on the island. They figure out that there are supposed to be many “ingots of gold” there, according to a very old map.

S: And so the four kids and Tim the dog go and try to find the treasure, right?

C: Yes. And of course they get into trouble. There is someone who wants to buy the island and get the treasure for himself.

S: Yes, so there is some tension about this guy, who does not seem to be an exceptionally nice person.

C: Yes, he locks them up in the dungeon of the dilapidated castle.

S: Wow Caramel, that is a big word! But you are also giving away some of the major plot twists! So maybe it is time to stop talking about the plot.

C: Okay.

Caramel is reading Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake. — Caramel is reading *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

S: How about talking about the main themes of the book next? Do you remember what is a theme in a book?

C: It is a main idea, or it can be a moral of the story sometimes.

S: Yes, that is right, Caramel. So what ideas or themes do you think would be the main themes of Five on a Treasure Island?

C: I think friendship is one. George is not used to having friends, she is used to being alone, on her own all the time. But then she becomes good friends with the three kids, and she realizes how much better life is with friends.

S: Right! You would agree, right?

C: Yes, of course. Life is much better with friends!

S: Okay, other than friendship, can you think of another theme?

C: Maybe cooperation and team work? Because the children solve the mystery together and then save one another.

S: I think that makes sense! Those are two good themes for this book. Hmm, let me ask you a couple other questions before we wrap things up, Caramel. First of all, I told you this is a pretty old book. It might be the oldest book you have read before now.

C: Not quite. I read The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper and that was from 1930. But you are right, this is one of the older books I have read.

S: You are right, that book was older. But this one is pretty old too. And I wanted to ask you if you could tell. Did you think the book aged well? Or did you think it was very dated?

C: Well, I think the boy name Dick is not as common these days. And the kids sometimes use words strangely. For example Dick says “Rather!” and “Blow!” when he is excited and they say George’s mom is a “brick” and they mean she is awesome! So those were some interesting words, and made me think the book is from a different time. Or different place. Because different versions of English seem to have different idioms and slang words.

S: That’s right Caramel, that is a very good observation. Those words were unfamiliar in those uses for me too. But perhaps they used to be more common in 1940s in Britain. They did feel strange to us in the 2020s of course!

C: Right. And Anne was a bit too much of a crybaby, and seemed like what girls were supposed to be like and so George did not want to be a girl like that. She wanted to run and swim and do all the things that were supposed to be boy things. But today boys and girls can do all sorts of things. So that is also a bit different.

S: I agree Caramel. Those are good observations. Would you say that the book was fun to read though?

C: Yes, it was a lot of fun to read. And I think even younger bunnies, much younger than myself, could enjoy it if their grownups read it to them.

S: Again, I agree Caramel. And I am so happy you read this book and enjoyed it. Okay, one last question: What did you think about the illustrations? This was a special color illustration edition. And the illustrators are pretty established in their craft. Did you find them engaging?

C: Yes. They were very colorful. And there is one picture where they had a lot of bunnies watching the kids. That is my favorite. It is drawn almost from the bunnies’ point of view.

S: So it is perfect for us book bunnies.

C: Yep. That is why I posed for my photo above with that page open.

S: I love that Caramel! Okay, time to wrap this up then. What will you tell our readers now?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny adventures!

Caramel enjoyed reading Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake, and is curious to learn more about the five friends and their other adventures. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake, and is curious to learn more about the five friends and their other adventures.

Marshmallow reviews Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Marshmallow found a copy of a Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, in her classroom library and decided to check it out. Just like many other novels by Dickens, Great Expectations was first published as a serial, weekly from 1860 to 1861, and then came out as a single three-volume book in 1861. Below Marshmallow shares her thoughts on this classic.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books that are set in past time periods or if you enjoy coming-of-age stories, and if you are up for a really long read, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Philip Pirrip (nicknamed Pip) is an orphan in the mid-early 19th century in Kent, England. His parents are dead but his much older sister (Georgiana Maria, though she is always referred to as Mrs. Joe) takes care of him. Unfortunately, she disciplines him very harshly, which was the norm back then. She is married to a blacksmith, Joe Gargery, who is kind and whom Pip views as a father figure. The story starts when Pip is around seven and he is visiting the graves of his parents and other siblings. There he unexpectedly meets an escaped convict who threatens to kill him unless he brings food and tools. Pip does so, but then soldiers arrive and ask Joe to mend some shackles. Pip comes with the soldiers and they find the convict fighting with another convict. The first one says that he stole the things that he ordered Pip to steal.

After this bizarre event, the narration moves on and we skip ahead a few years. In a couple years, a rich elderly woman is looking for a young boy to come visit her. Pip is chosen and so he starts going to her house every now and then. This woman is Miss Havisham who has an adopted daughter named Estella. Miss Havisham is a strange woman: she was supposed to be married, but when her fiancé left her at the altar, she froze everything where it was. She was still wearing her wedding dress and the clocks were all stopped to the time she learned she was abandoned. Miss Havisham raised Estella to be her revenge on the male part of the human species. Estella was raised to be heartless and break mens’ hearts. And Pip was to be her first victim. Pip falls in love with Estelle, leading to a great heartbreak throughout Pip’s life.

Many years later, when Pip has been training to be a blacksmith, like Joe, he is given money to allow him to become a gentleman and he travels to London. It is presumed that Miss Havisham was the one who gave him the money. Pip’s life transforms many times into different things. This book follows his life through most of it from a young age to his older years.

Marshmallow is reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. — Marshmallow is reading *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens.

Marshmallow’s Review: Great Expectations is a highly regarded book by the famous author Charles Dickens. I found it fascinating. I thought it was remarkable how it covered almost the entire life of one person. I also appreciated that there were so many twists and turns. I honestly did not expect what happened at the end.

However, I would say that it is very difficult to read since it was written in a different time period where people wrote differently. Secondly, it is very complicated because there are so many characters and so many things happen to them at different times. I understood most of the book when I read it, but I missed some things because of the confusing language. I had to go back and reread and think things through a bit.

All in all I am glad to have read Great Expectations. It was my first Dickens book, and it is amazing to me that he wrote it and published it weekly first. It is such a big project! And there are so many things to keep track of because it is Pip’s entire life!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Last week while talking about Flowers for Algernon, Marshmallow and Sprinkles touched upon a book by George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, first published in 1949. This week, Marshmallow thought it might be a good idea if they picked up this book on its own and chatted a bit about it together.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow let us start with a quick recap of the book.

Marshmallow: Okay. Winston Smith, the main character of the book, lives in this weird futuristic world. The year is 1984, but even though 1984 is a long time ago for us today, it was a long time in the future when the book was written. The world Smith lives in is controlled by a government, run by the Party, which has several departments with contradictory names. For example there is the Ministry of Peace which deals with war. The Ministry of Truth deals with information and basically propaganda and the brainwashing of the population. And there is a Ministry of Love and a Ministry of Plenty.

S: I remember the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Peace, but I did not remember the Ministry of Plenty and the Ministry of Love. What do they do?

M: Ministry of Plenty deals with economic affairs, and the Ministry of Love deals with law and order.

S: Oh, yes, now I remember the Ministry of Love, of course. It involves the citizens’ love of Big Brother.

M: Yes, it seems that is the main goal of all punishment. It is creepy; everywhere the people are reminded that the Big Brother is watching them.

S: That phrase has now taken on a life of its own; people use the Big Brother to talk about government surveillance, and sometimes even corporate surveillance.

M: Yes, you even have a poster that says “Big Brother Is Watching You” in your office.

S: I think it is a good reminder. Even though we are not living in Winston Smith’s world of Oceania, I think it is always a good idea to remember that everything you do can be tracked, especially these days, especially if you are doing anything online.

M: Sounds a bit paranoid, no?

S: Well, I don’t really mean it quite that way. I mean it is always a good idea to think about what bread crumbs you leave for people out there. And it can always be worse, of course. There are many places in the world today, and there have been many societies throughout the world in all its history, where saying things and doing things that the governing people did not approve of would be met with harsh retaliation. We are quite lucky that we are not living in such a system, but it is always good to keep in mind what could have been or what could eventually come to happen.

M: I guess that is why George Orwell wrote this book, right? To warn us?

S: I think so. He was very concerned about the rise of the totalitarian Soviet regime and wanted to describe what could be its ultimate end point.

Marshmallow is reading Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. — Marshmallow is reading *Nineteen Eighty-Four* by George Orwell.

M: In that way, this book does relate to Orwell’s other book that I reviewed for the blog, Animal Farm. That book, too, was a warning in some ways.

S: I agree. But would you want to open that up a bit?

M: That book was about how power corrupts and how governments can fail to represent their constituents’ needs when they are overtaken by ambitious individuals who manipulate the public to their own advantage. Here, too, power shows up. The Party is very much interested in staying in power. In fact that is part of Winston Smith’s job. At the beginning of the book, he is working at the Ministry of Truth and his job is to change the history and the complete record of things when the Party decides to support an alternative interpretation of the facts or sometimes even alternative facts.

S: That phrase has become quite famous these days too. Right?

M: That’s true! But I am also intrigued by the Party. We don’t ever really know what the Party is. And it is not even clear if there is a rebellious faction or if there is any other country out there, or anything else, any other possibility for the people in this world.

S: The Party’s rule is so complete, isn’t it? When I read this book for the first time, I was flabbergasted by the very end. It shook me, and I could not get over it for a while. I guess the total in totalitarian is real.

M: The thing that really got to me is that everything all goes back to the Party, even the illegal activities seem to be led and facilitated and controlled and crushed by the Party as the Party finds fit. It is so weird.

S: No way out. That is how I felt.

M: Yes, it was pretty hopeless. The overwhelming feeling I got was that if you find yourself in this situation, there is no way of getting out.

S: I guess Orwell wanted to warn us that such a future could happen, and once it did, there would be no way out, so we’d better not get ourselves to that point.

M: Makes sense to me.

S: So having read two of his most famous books, which of Orwell’s two books do you like more?

M: I still like Animal Farm more. I especially liked the fable nature of it. It seems to be about these farm animals, but it is so clearly about humans! And it also showed how even though the animals had good intentions at the beginning, they slowly went astray, in small steps. You could see the development, and it was very depressing, too, but you could see the steps that led them astray and you could see the end result would be pretty terrible. Having read Nineteen Eighty-Four, I think it is basically the end result of Animal Farm.

S: It is also a lot shorter and perhaps a bit easier, right? So would you recommend other bunnies to read either of the books?

M: I think both of them are books everyone should read. They are both heavy, but they point to very important issues. So I’d say to all bunnies that they should read both of the books. Not to depress yourself, but to start seeing possibilities and to try and avoid them. There is some sexual relation stuff in Nineteen Eighty-Four, as we spoke about in my review of Flowers for Algernon (though not as much as there was in that book), so perhaps Animal Farm is more appropriate for younger bunnies. And as you say, that book is shorter than this one, so it would be easier to read for that reason, too.

S: I tend to agree with you Marshmallow. I think we have said enough for one review today. As we wrap it up, tell us how you would rate this book.

M: I’d rate it 95%. Very good book, left me quite disturbed in the end.

S: And what else would you like to say to our readers?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!