A delightful read, despite all that grim. Having listened to the audio version by Michael York, I could almost see the entire story unfolding in the form of a sci-fi movie, depicted as an alien race, rather than a human one. Conditioning of each individual is done absurdly, from the time before one is born, to the moment one breathes his last. An ideal society for the ruling power but a horrific one for the individual mind.
Ignorance is bliss, and indeed very much so in this book, for everyone is so well conditioned that each one enjoys what he can do and never asks for what he cannot. Everyone belongs to everyone and simply sleeps around with anyone as a norm of the “civilised” society. Passion, art and science are all sacrificed for the “greater good”, for the stability of society. There is hardly any emotional attachment of any sort, for all are born out of bottles with no parents. There is no knowledge of time limitation for no one grows old (in appearance). There is no notion of pain for no one gets sick. One simply drifts through the entire life in a happy and contended mode.
For those who are somehow more self-conscious and can see through the conditioning, they are sent to an island so that they do not pollute the masses. Or for that particular one who is not allowed to go, he tries hard to live in solitude but when the “civilised” beings continue to harass him, he goes berserk and ….
To think deeply is to suffer … to understand fully sets one apart. A loner, one will always be.
vary 