Scan barcode
A review by _nayla_
Island by Aldous Huxley
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is full of hella snippets. It's got snippets on:
- sexuality (lots of breasts were noticed by our dear Aldous)
- cynicism vs acceptance
- religious extremism
- drugz
- pessimism and negativity, the divorce from our own minds and bodies
- oligarchy and monarchy and plutocracy and imperialism and
- oil
Though to be honest with you, most of it was forgettable. A gentle slog through metaphor, an uncomfortable, soggy walk through a muddy glade. Will broke his leg, yet I feel like I lived through the entire, 1x time healing process alongside him. No wonder it took me so long to finish the book!
I understand how important and groundbreaking and of its time etcetera this book is — I'm acutely aware of when it was written and with what influences. It's not so much a novel as it is a desperate attempt to create a utopia in a world that is falling apart. Huxley feels pain while writing the novel, so he creates a world where pain does not have to be felt. He's horrified by extreme violence and poverty, so he invents foolproof systems of communication, violence prevention, and education to combat the world's programming. He's plagued by negativity and knowledge, so the mynah birds catch both his attention and ours as he writes, remind him to 'pay attention' to the 'here and now.'
Honestly, it wasn't a good or bad book — it just was. I'm glad I read it.
Overall: I'm relieved to get another 'classic' under my belt!
- sexuality (lots of breasts were noticed by our dear Aldous)
- cynicism vs acceptance
- religious extremism
- drugz
- pessimism and negativity, the divorce from our own minds and bodies
- oligarchy and monarchy and plutocracy and imperialism and
- oil
Though to be honest with you, most of it was forgettable. A gentle slog through metaphor, an uncomfortable, soggy walk through a muddy glade. Will broke his leg, yet I feel like I lived through the entire, 1x time healing process alongside him. No wonder it took me so long to finish the book!
I understand how important and groundbreaking and of its time etcetera this book is — I'm acutely aware of when it was written and with what influences. It's not so much a novel as it is a desperate attempt to create a utopia in a world that is falling apart. Huxley feels pain while writing the novel, so he creates a world where pain does not have to be felt. He's horrified by extreme violence and poverty, so he invents foolproof systems of communication, violence prevention, and education to combat the world's programming. He's plagued by negativity and knowledge, so the mynah birds catch both his attention and ours as he writes, remind him to 'pay attention' to the 'here and now.'
Honestly, it wasn't a good or bad book — it just was. I'm glad I read it.
Overall: I'm relieved to get another 'classic' under my belt!