Reconciliation

I've sort of decided that reading cannot be my priority right now, and I don't need to stress about that. I'm busy. I had SAT IIs (history and english) on May 1st and APUSH on May 7th (today...glad that's over with). I still have AP Human Geography on the 14th and then SAT IIs for Chem and Math on June 6th. Then finals are right after that. So I've been busy, and I probably will be for a while. I've resigned myself to that. I just don't have time to read as much as I used to. I don't have a ton of time to do anything. I've basically quit youtube (3-4 videos per week, rather than 5-10 per day like I used to watch), I no longer really listen to music, and I think the last time I watched TV was in March. Schoolwork has been my priority, and it will be for some time. Hopefully, I'll be able to read a little bit more over the summer. But, I'm going to have two jobs (hopefully), getting my Gold award (ugh...), possibly be working on an independent study physics course, doing summer school work, and starting to work on college applications. So I probably won't be reading a ton. But maybe I can start at least listening to audiobooks. Perhaps I could finish Ibsen's play and also all of Henry James's works.
I'm not going to be negative about my lack of reading anymore. I'm going to try to be a lot less negative in general. I bring myself down by putting myself down to much. I guess by typing this here, I'm trying to hold myself to it. I'm sure I bring down people around too, or at the very least annoy the heck out of everyone. So there. Positivity and optimism ftw.

But.... to get back to the point of this blog, I did read two books since my last post (and two history prep books... maybe I should count those. I did read them cover to cover.) One was
Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys and the other was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (who I always call Adolphus Huxley for some reason). Both were very very good.

Dave Barry's book I suppose would be classified as nonfiction, but it was largely satire. The book had chapters on how men insist on being able to fix things, the origin of female "standards", sex in general, male hygiene (or lack there of), and more. It was really really funny. I actually read it over the course of several months of doctor's visits. It was the most interesting book in the waiting room, and I'm at the doctor's office quite often, so I would read it while I waited to be called in to my appointment. would definitely recommend it, to both men and women. It was really funny, but not crude despite mild sexual humor and a few bathroom-jokes. I think it managed to avoid being immature because it was essentially mocking male immaturity, so any crass-ness was sort of there for satirical effect. It seems kind of funny to call it "satire" because I always think of satire as intelligent, biting, and witty, even though I know it isn't confined to that. While clever, the book certainly wasn't "intelligent". It was just downright funny.

I was actually rereading Brave New World for english class. I read it in the summer of 2008 on the Road-Trip-O-Hell to Arizona. I guess, associating it with a not-fun time, I'd forgotten how much I liked it. I've always found utopia novels interesting, and utopia societies in general intriguing. I really liked all of Scott Westerfeld's utopia series (Uglies, sort of So Yesterday and also sort of Peeps though that was more of just an alternate-world than a utopia) and I enjoyed 1984 and The Machine Stops. 1984 particularly intrigued me, and I seriously thought that Big Brother sounded like a good plan back in 8th grade when I thought communism and dictatorships sounded really awesome. But I no longer believe that socialism is the way to go. Especially after reading Atlas Shrugged which is probably now one of my favorite books of all time. I like capitalism and competition and having at least the possibility of changing my own place in society (even if it is unlikely that I will become a millionaire). Speaking of which, John Green's video on the debt situation in Greece last week made really interesting points about how the rich tend to stay rich and the poor tend to stay poor. But WOAH. Major tangent. I was supposed to be typing about Brave New World.
So anyway. I really liked it. In terms of the society itself, I obviously disliked the socialistic concepts of the society, and how no one could change there status, everyone was in the caste system, and the government controlled everything. But there were definitely some things that I liked about the society.
One of the main things I liked (or at least liked somewhat/appreciated somewhat) was the attitude towards sex in the book. Now, I'm not saying I agree with encouraging children to have sex by the time they are toddlers, nor do I advocate having sex with tons of people. But, I really hate that society today views sex so negatively. I hate that it is referred to as "dirty" or "perverted" when it is completely natural. I also hate how simply for having sex, a girl can be labeled as a slut. And the opposite isn't true for guys. Although in the book, the male characters do refer to "having" the girls or trying them out, I don't find it sexist, as the girls approach sex in the same matter. Everyone is objectified, which makes it far more equal if not desirable.
I also liked the idea of people not having parents, but rather growing up in communities in which they are given all of the skills they need. I think it eliminates the potential problems caused by poor parents in society. I understand that it is somewhat natural for children to be attached to their parents, but I never was, and I'm sure that if children really were separated from their parents shortly after birth (and I do think birth is okay, unlike the characters in Brave New2 World, though I don't oppose artificial insemination) they would not feel attached to them and would not have any negative side effects. Emotional relationships could be formed elsewhere, with other children or with other adult figures. But I don't like that in today's society, parents are initial role models, whether or not they make good role models or not.
I liked the idea of education and "brainwashing" to an extent. Not the "brainwashing" part, but the teaching part. I'll bet if one religiously played the same information during sleep, they would retain at least some of it. And that would be cool.
I also liked the efficiency of the entire society. Everyone worked to be efficient in whatever job they did. However, I think that such efficiency should be achieved via improved education, not brain-washing and a caste system.
I didn't like the concept of soma. I really hate psychiatric drugs and I feel like they are overused in today's society. A lot. And yet depression and anxiety levels are on the rise, so evidently they are not the answer. I believe in finding positive coping skills, not taking a vacation from your problems (and thus, being inefficient while under the influence of the drugs, both soma and modern drugs).
I could really write a book on this book. I find it really interesting. I think I want to read more Utopia novels. Like Looking Backward which kept coming up on APUSH practice tests.
In terms of the writing style/format of the book, I really liked it. Aldous Huxley has a wonderful vocabulary, I like his sentence structure, and the way he set up the plot was good. I do wish that the characters could have been developed a little bit more. I think it would have been great if the book were longer. Keep the plot the same, but develop the characters a little further. Though granted, those who are products of the brain-washed society aren't very deep, and thus cannot be developed all that much. But Bernard and John certainly could have been developed more.

Writing this felt good. I could have written a lot more, but I have stuff to do. But I enjoyed it. I remember when I used to look forward to writing my entries. It really helps that I actually liked both of these books a lot, and Brave New World made me think. Honestly, most of the books that I've read of late haven't been that good. The Dresden Files are okay, but they don't make you think and they don't have any characters whom I really love. But I feel obligated to finish the series. But I guess I just won't be in a rush to do so. There's no need to force myself to read books that I don't really like. I think that's part of the reason that I haven't been reading as much. I read Brave New World in a few days because I really liked it. And I had a ton of work over those few days, but I was able to read during breaks, actually enjoy it, and then move on to more school work and be more efficient. I think I would have more time for reading if I treated it like down-time instead of another thing that I had to do. I'm going to find some books that I like that really interest me. Maybe some good fiction, or some really interesting nonfiction books. Or things that will make me think, like BNW. I really want to love reading again, and BNW has restored my faith in my ability to once again fall in love with books.

Total Books:: 42... but that's okay.
Nonfiction: 17 or 40.4%... but that's okay as well.