EXTENSIVE READING READING JOURNAL

Reading Plan
For our extensive reading class, I chose to read Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley because I love reading fiction. It is a good way to
drag my attention because I feel sleepy when I read something I am
not very interested. I found the history very exciting: In a utopian
future, people are genetically modified and developed by a
reproductive technology. They are submitted to a psychological
manipulation to live peacefully in a society based on castes.
The book has 177 pages, so in order to finish before April 14, I
will read 13, or more, pages per day. I think I can handle this mission
and when I am finished it will be the first book I fully read in English.

Reading Journal #1
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This week I read 47 pages in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

My story takes place in the year of stability A.F. 632. I believe the years
started to count after human being began to reproduce themselves inside
a laboratory. I am not sure but the book mentioned a person named Ford
and I think the initials A.F. means after Ford, so I think he has an
important role in this new way of developing humans.
The beginning of the story takes place in a laboratory called Central
London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. The director (D.H.C) and the
other character Mr. Foster are explaining to young students how the
Centre works. In their tour through the facility, they explain about the
fertilization process and that human is finally free of the viviparous days
when there used to be parents who gave birth to their babies.
The characters also explain about the different castes (Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, Epsilon) and about some methods called mind conditioning,
sleep teaching regarding moral education and the difference between
castes.
There is also another character called Lenina. She is involved with Mr.
Foster. She appears talking to her friend Fanny about him and they
discuss that they are not supposed to be monogamous. Every one
belongs to every one Fanny quotes. Meanwhile, Mustapha Mond and

Bernard Marx are explaining the extinction of parent relations and its
benefits. It seems that having feelings make humans weaker and going
against the current motto of the new society: Community, Identity,
Stability.

Reading Journal #2
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Since my first reading, I read 35 pages in Brave New World by

Aldous Huxley.

I think the relationship between Lenina and Bernard very interesting

because they are quite an opposite. Lenina truly believes in the
conditioning system and I think is amusing seen here complaining about
simple things like having a born child, breastfeeding, having emotional
relations, and even feeling sadness or madness, which are natural things
for human beings. In the other hand she is involved with Bernard, and in
spite of liking him, she thinks he is a little odd. Actually, Bernard is the
most normal person living in the civilization. He questions the system of
castes, would like to be happy in his own terms, and that scares Lenina.
Now something really interesting happened. They traveled together to
New Mexico and went to a Savage Reservation where there are still
regular people alive - Indians. Lenina didnt like what she saw, but the
appearance of a new character, Linda, promises to make a turn in the
story. She is an old girlfriend of the Director (D.H.C.) who got lost a long
time ago when they were there spending some time together, and he
never saw her again. A fascinating thing is that she had a baby, the
Directors son.

Reading Journal #3

Since my last reading, I read 26 pages in Brave New World by

Aldous Huxley.

John is the son of Linda and Thomas (D.H.C.). He explained to Bernard

how was like to grow between the Savages. It was very difficult for them
because Linda didnt understand the rules of this new group. John suffered
prejudice all his life and the invitation to go to the civilized place, where
his mother came from, made him feel hope.

After receiving the permission, Bernard took Linda and John to the
civilization and used them to manipulate the Director who was trying to
send him to Iceland. The Director resigned immediately, Bernard got
famous, and the civilized people got very interested in having the
opportunity to see an example of senility in a human being.
In the next chapters, I think that John will try to get closer to Lenina. He
already showed interest in her before, and now he will try to fit in the
civilization to get her attention. The success will go up Bernards head and
he will forget about his doubts and beliefs and begin to feel more
welcome. Then something tragic will happen, maybe Linda will die, and
her death will bring John and Bernard to the real world and willing to end
the system.

Reading Journal #4

Since my last reading, I read 39 pages in Brave New World by

Aldous Huxley.

Reading this book I learned that a lot of people feel pleased following
societys rules without questioning if it is the best for them or if it is what
they really want for their lives. In a society where everybody is conditioned
to follow specific rules and behave in a certain way, there is always someone
who doesnt fit in. People might think that this person is odd, weird or crazy,
but sometimes they are just too blind to see the real truth. People spend
most of their time doing things they were told instead of looking for
themselves and discovering that the real happiness comes from the inside.