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growintogardens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
pleu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Some part of the Swedish translation makes me wonder how this was received in it's original language, as some expressions seem oddly worded. I'm not sure if that's the author or the translation.
I did get a chuckle out of the Swedish preface by Göran Rosenberg, as it was from 2000 and clearly dated itself when he said that 1984 is now very unrealistic to him as information is free and open and it will be hard for any country to change that. In this day and age that part falls a bit flat but the text was still a good preface for the book. Currently available at https://www.rosenberg.se/frord-huxley if one reads a different edition of the book (only in Swedish).
Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Colonisation
Minor: Incest, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and War
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
mirabellee_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Abortion
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
whatamidoing_rn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
divergent159's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide
blynn817's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This was suggested as a follow up to 1984 and it's just...not the same.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Self harm, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
kokoberry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Abortion, and War
cursed_sapphire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The characters are interesting but not likeable, I recommend knowing that going in. This book is an exploration of a potential future built on consumption, sameness, and constant pleasure. The characters are meant to embody different parts of humanity/society. Bernard is only content if he's more special than everyone else, Lenina wants more monogomy than is normal but otherwise accepts everything, Helmholtz is just kinda bored and wants to be a tortured poet, etc. John is supposed to be the last real person, representing a true believer in religion and art which cannot survive in this society. Mind you, John is a very 1930's Christian ideal of a true, good person. And while his obsession with suffering for his sins serves as a counter to the painless society of the book, it came across a bit overzealous for me. It felt like Huxley was trying to make John suffer all the pain everyone else never had to, but that made him feel a little too obsessed with pain instead of the virtues he claims to care about. The same could also be said about his obsession with chastity.
This is a book more focused on ideas than on characters. The plot is a bit sparse, but that leads to a slice-of-life feeling, where the day-to-day life is the focus. There's a certain horror in the mundaneness that the characters experience, and that brings out the themes in a different, but still very effective way.
Overall I recommend this for anyone who likes the philosophical side of sci-fi/dystopia, as long as they are able to handle the old-fashioned lense.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment