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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book that needs to be thought about.
Thoroughly readable, even with the great swathes of metaphor and somewhat purple prose that I have often found incredibly off putting in the hands of inferior writers. In this case the power of the story allows many incomprehensible phrases to be ignored as the tale leaps ahead. The writing often has a poetic quality which is thoroughly absorbing and adds a certain, somewhat surprising, thrill to the reading experience.
As relevant today as it was when written 72 years ago.
More in a while….I need to ponder.
One month later….it’s interesting to compare this vision of a future with A Brave New World. In the latter people are created specifically to be happy with their allotted roles in life - and it works for everyone except the free thinking Alphas. In this case original thought and reading about other ideas are specifically banned and people are fed endless soap operas apparently aimed at each audience member. On the surface most people seem happy with that, but in practice there is an underlying deep unhappiness - so deep that even potential suicides deny ever reaching such a low ebb, apparently incapable as they are of recognising their own unhappiness with their pointless existence. In both visions of a future world drugs are necessary to keep the populace under control.
Without some sense of personal ambition, no matter how small, what is the point in living?
Thoroughly readable, even with the great swathes of metaphor and somewhat purple prose that I have often found incredibly off putting in the hands of inferior writers. In this case the power of the story allows many incomprehensible phrases to be ignored as the tale leaps ahead. The writing often has a poetic quality which is thoroughly absorbing and adds a certain, somewhat surprising, thrill to the reading experience.
As relevant today as it was when written 72 years ago.
More in a while….I need to ponder.
One month later….it’s interesting to compare this vision of a future with A Brave New World. In the latter people are created specifically to be happy with their allotted roles in life - and it works for everyone except the free thinking Alphas. In this case original thought and reading about other ideas are specifically banned and people are fed endless soap operas apparently aimed at each audience member. On the surface most people seem happy with that, but in practice there is an underlying deep unhappiness - so deep that even potential suicides deny ever reaching such a low ebb, apparently incapable as they are of recognising their own unhappiness with their pointless existence. In both visions of a future world drugs are necessary to keep the populace under control.
Without some sense of personal ambition, no matter how small, what is the point in living?
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I 100% read this book with my AirPods in.
Such a classic. Starting to feel the “burn”’of love for my dystopian novels. My son was reading this in his high school Psych they lit class, and we had several great conversations. Sometimes it is hard to connect with teens, and this was something we could really dig into and enjoy. How cool that we wrote it at UCLA in 9 days too! I hardly ever say this, but this is one to reread every 10 years.
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A bit long-winded, and I’ve realized that I am not very fond of stream-of-consciousness when it’s impressionistic and repetitive. I thought the concept was cool though and I do think it has a lot to say. I will probably still think about this book after today, so it gets a bit more than 3 stars from me.
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes