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A review by lindseysparks
Island by Aldous Huxley
3.0
I kept having three thoughts as I read Island:
1. This book is amazing! If it wasn't for the "yoga love" and hallucinogenic drugs and anti-Christian comments I'd totally live here.
2. Huxley is obviously too smart for me and I have no idea what he is talking about.
3. Perhaps if I were taking some of the hallucinogenic drugs this would make sense/sound reasonable but this sounds like a terrible place.
And repeat.
The only other work of Huxley's I've read is Brave New World, which is one of my favorite books and I first read it about 15 years ago so I can't believe it's taken me this long to read something else by him. Island was written 30 years after Brave New World and a LOT happened during that time frame - 1932 to 1962. Both novels are both of their times and yet feel modern/stand the test of time. Both are fairly philosophical and are "idea" novels to some extent, but while Brave New World provides a dystopian world, Island provides a utopia. Brave New World is also a true novel, while Island doesn't have much of a plot - there's just a tiny bit of narrative structure to present Huxley's ideas of how the world should be.
In many ways, Island sounds like a great place to live. The residents are totally focused on being rational and logical. Their education system sounds awesome and children are treated like humans who can think and learn and not just be babied while at the same time realizing they aren't adults yet either. They emphasize viewing things as a whole and how the mind and body work together. No medical treatment focuses on just one or the other, something our current medical system could learn from. It's forward-thinking in recognizing that some mental issues are just problems to be fixed with rational thinking and mental illness is something that is actually physical and needs to be treated with a mix of physical and psychological tools. It also reminded a bit of Candide because there was an emphasis on physical work and intellectual pursuits. Everyone worked the fields or did some sort of manual labor regardless of their regular job - it keeps you grounded and productive and provides exercise. Chapter nine especially made it seem like a great place.
However, there were some things that would make me run away screaming, like the "yoga love" (tantric sex/lots of partners) and drugs I mentioned earlier, but also the "it takes a literal village to raise a child" idea. Children can choose to live at any of the houses in the village and everyone moves around. The idea was to expose kids to different kind of parenting and ideas and make them more well-rounded, as well as provide an opportunity for kids to leave bad situations. But this seems like a great way to have kids run off whenever their parents make them do anything they don't like. I am not a parent, but I find it hard to imagine that most parents would be okay with their kid deciding to stay somewhere else for a while or pick out a new mom and dad. Chapter fifteen made it seem like an especially awful place.
1. This book is amazing! If it wasn't for the "yoga love" and hallucinogenic drugs and anti-Christian comments I'd totally live here.
2. Huxley is obviously too smart for me and I have no idea what he is talking about.
3. Perhaps if I were taking some of the hallucinogenic drugs this would make sense/sound reasonable but this sounds like a terrible place.
And repeat.
The only other work of Huxley's I've read is Brave New World, which is one of my favorite books and I first read it about 15 years ago so I can't believe it's taken me this long to read something else by him. Island was written 30 years after Brave New World and a LOT happened during that time frame - 1932 to 1962. Both novels are both of their times and yet feel modern/stand the test of time. Both are fairly philosophical and are "idea" novels to some extent, but while Brave New World provides a dystopian world, Island provides a utopia. Brave New World is also a true novel, while Island doesn't have much of a plot - there's just a tiny bit of narrative structure to present Huxley's ideas of how the world should be.
In many ways, Island sounds like a great place to live. The residents are totally focused on being rational and logical. Their education system sounds awesome and children are treated like humans who can think and learn and not just be babied while at the same time realizing they aren't adults yet either. They emphasize viewing things as a whole and how the mind and body work together. No medical treatment focuses on just one or the other, something our current medical system could learn from. It's forward-thinking in recognizing that some mental issues are just problems to be fixed with rational thinking and mental illness is something that is actually physical and needs to be treated with a mix of physical and psychological tools. It also reminded a bit of Candide because there was an emphasis on physical work and intellectual pursuits. Everyone worked the fields or did some sort of manual labor regardless of their regular job - it keeps you grounded and productive and provides exercise. Chapter nine especially made it seem like a great place.
However, there were some things that would make me run away screaming, like the "yoga love" (tantric sex/lots of partners) and drugs I mentioned earlier, but also the "it takes a literal village to raise a child" idea. Children can choose to live at any of the houses in the village and everyone moves around. The idea was to expose kids to different kind of parenting and ideas and make them more well-rounded, as well as provide an opportunity for kids to leave bad situations. But this seems like a great way to have kids run off whenever their parents make them do anything they don't like. I am not a parent, but I find it hard to imagine that most parents would be okay with their kid deciding to stay somewhere else for a while or pick out a new mom and dad. Chapter fifteen made it seem like an especially awful place.