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wordmaster's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhat akin to tying Pope's "Essay on Man" to a short stick and being whapped upside the head with it, this is admittedly heavy-handed but it rubbed me the right way. I love an allegory and I'm a sucker for explorations of Reason vs. Instinct, the inner war between Impulse and Civilization, and so on. Reflecting on the time it was written (shortly after World War II, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the assassination of Ghandi) the question on Huxley's mind must have been: is all this worth it? Is civilization really going anywhere or are we all doomed to fall prey to our base animal nature?
4 stars out of 5. Some very promising early writing (seriously, just the first fifteen pages are higher-quality prose than I've read in a while) but the format of a film script felt gimmicky, almost like an excuse to not develop a more sophisticated book.
4 stars out of 5. Some very promising early writing (seriously, just the first fifteen pages are higher-quality prose than I've read in a while) but the format of a film script felt gimmicky, almost like an excuse to not develop a more sophisticated book.
jo_noelle_beamer's review against another edition
3.0
“Love casts out fear; but conversely fear casts out love. And not only love. Fear also casts out intelligence, casts out goodness, casts out all thought of beauty and truth… There is no longer a man among his fellow men, no longer a rational being speaking articulately to other rational beings; there is only a lacerated animal, screaming and struggling in the trap. For in the end, fear casts out even a man’s humanity. And fear, my good friends, fear is the very basis and foundation of modern life.”
This is one I’ll be thinking about for a while. While less developed than its predecessor (Brave New World,) Ape and Essence is a haunting portrayal of the animalistic side of our human nature and how our untamed desire for progress may in truth be leading us there.
Full thoughts available on my Substack: https://beamandbookish.substack.com/p/to-cast-out-fear
This is one I’ll be thinking about for a while. While less developed than its predecessor (Brave New World,) Ape and Essence is a haunting portrayal of the animalistic side of our human nature and how our untamed desire for progress may in truth be leading us there.
Full thoughts available on my Substack: https://beamandbookish.substack.com/p/to-cast-out-fear
kiwikathleen's review against another edition
3.0
A 1940s idea of a dystopian future - feels just like much of the sci-fi from that era and with that certain style of dialogue that comes across like bad soap opera. Weird, however, and interesting.
bobbarker99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
toc's review against another edition
3.0
Clever and worth the read but I can't say I enjoyed it. Too heavy handed for my sake but perhaps that was satire.
cryscross's review against another edition
0.5
i am so sick of huxley... just write philosophy already!!!
cpq's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0