A review by tumblehawk
Island by Aldous Huxley

3.0

Dystopian novels are fertile soil for rich character development and lush plot. Utopian novels? Not so much so. Why is this? Basically, because it's quite believable that everything would be fucked, but hardly so believable that everything would work out just plum perfectly. (Hence, Brave New World is a much better STORY than Island...) So the author of a utopian novel has to spend immense amounts of energy, time, and word count simply explaining how things function. One complaint lodged against this book is that the characters are flat and the plot is threadbare. Quite right! But utopian novels don't generally offer anything more so we shouldn't be surprised. It was an enjoyable read, and especially for someone who is interested in the countercultural explosions of the 60's, so many of the vital themes of which are all crystallized in this novel. One final note - the last chapter is one of the best fictionalized "trips" ever written, obviously so strong because the descriptions are gleaned from moments in Huxley's own experience. His ability to eff the ineffable is inspiring.