A review by imrogers
Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley

3.0

I alternated between enjoying this novel immensely and being confused, bewildered, and incredibly bored by it. At its best, this is a brilliant novel of satire, where restrictions are placed upon human sexuality, paranoia reigns supreme, and the Other in a post-apocalyptic society is blamed for all ills. While I was impressed by Huxley's use of the screenplay form and the story-within-the-story frame, the rapid jump between scenes with little to no warning or drama caused the action to often become confused, making it difficult to follow the action and drama. At times, it reminded me of Brave New World's more pedantic exposition scenes, and made me wish the structure had been overall stronger and clearer.