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reflective
medium-paced
fast-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Le sigh. Philosophical treatise x literary fiction with unsympathetic characters is not my vibe.
The world building to get to Ch. 17’s thematic climax was effective and the debate wouldn’t have been as powerful without the weight of what we experience via the characters. BUT man was it dull. I just can’t bring myself to care about whiny characters who live out their archetypes to the extreme without much nuance. Lenina and Mond being a slight exceptions that weren’t explored as fully.
The emotional detachment of the writing also meant that we were told the characters were experiencing happiness, love, etc. without really feeling it. If that was Huxley’s aim in mimicking dystopia, congratulations but I’d find the concepts more challenging if I could empathize with the character’s experiences rather than intellectualizing them.
I find the arc of Huxley’s own life and how he grappled with and chose to live out his own principles much more fascinating. That being said I recognize and respect that this thinking in this form was radical for its day and am interested in how it persists as a relevant cultural touchpoint today. But hooboy did I almost DNF 🤣
The world building to get to Ch. 17’s thematic climax was effective and the debate wouldn’t have been as powerful without the weight of what we experience via the characters. BUT man was it dull. I just can’t bring myself to care about whiny characters who live out their archetypes to the extreme without much nuance. Lenina and Mond being a slight exceptions that weren’t explored as fully.
The emotional detachment of the writing also meant that we were told the characters were experiencing happiness, love, etc. without really feeling it. If that was Huxley’s aim in mimicking dystopia, congratulations but I’d find the concepts more challenging if I could empathize with the character’s experiences rather than intellectualizing them.
I find the arc of Huxley’s own life and how he grappled with and chose to live out his own principles much more fascinating. That being said I recognize and respect that this thinking in this form was radical for its day and am interested in how it persists as a relevant cultural touchpoint today. But hooboy did I almost DNF 🤣
slow-paced
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
challenging
dark
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I didn’t think this book was very interesting till the middle of it, but once I got there I was hooked. The social dynamics, the plot, the message, and the structure of the book all worked together so well. The themes in this were very fun to read and I had fun thinking about it once I was done with the book.