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A review by pineconek
Island by Aldous Huxley
challenging
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I am of two minds about this book. Firstly: RIP Huxley, old chap, you would've loved the 21st century. But also: Aldous, my beloved, I know that you can write a good plot but you actively didn't try with this one.
Island is a collection of essays stacked in a trench coat and packaged as a novel. Our main character, struggling with grief, alienation, and capitalism, finds himself marooned in a quasi utopian society. Various members of the society give him a tour and tell him about the virtues of the island: their approach to child rearing, healthcare, sex and love, psychedelics, the economy, labour, property, and all other things that contrast starkly with the main character's experiences of capitalist England. These diatribes are written like Socratic essays, with our main character serving as an open minded skeptic, occasionally interrupting the speaker and allowing for additional precisions and corrections.
And so Huxley describes his utopia. I largely agree with his vision, and really enjoyed the individual "essays". I particularly liked the ideas around community-based approach to child rearing as well as around how responsible recreational drug use can be beneficial. This latter point is discussed with nuance and interesting to consider alongside how he discussed Soma in Brave New World.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that I would've joined Aldous' hippie commune. Probably.
Not recommended if you're looking for another Brave New World, or even any novel. This series of essays wearing a trench coat can get repetitive, dry, and tedious. But the ideas are interesting, and worth reading if you're interested in questions of what makes a happy and prosperous society. 2.75 stars on SG, rounded up to 3 for GR.
Island is a collection of essays stacked in a trench coat and packaged as a novel. Our main character, struggling with grief, alienation, and capitalism, finds himself marooned in a quasi utopian society. Various members of the society give him a tour and tell him about the virtues of the island: their approach to child rearing, healthcare, sex and love, psychedelics, the economy, labour, property, and all other things that contrast starkly with the main character's experiences of capitalist England. These diatribes are written like Socratic essays, with our main character serving as an open minded skeptic, occasionally interrupting the speaker and allowing for additional precisions and corrections.
And so Huxley describes his utopia. I largely agree with his vision, and really enjoyed the individual "essays". I particularly liked the ideas around community-based approach to child rearing as well as around how responsible recreational drug use can be beneficial. This latter point is discussed with nuance and interesting to consider alongside how he discussed Soma in Brave New World.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that I would've joined Aldous' hippie commune. Probably.
Not recommended if you're looking for another Brave New World, or even any novel. This series of essays wearing a trench coat can get repetitive, dry, and tedious. But the ideas are interesting, and worth reading if you're interested in questions of what makes a happy and prosperous society. 2.75 stars on SG, rounded up to 3 for GR.