A review by benjfleck
The Island, by Aldous Huxley
4.0
Island: Or, Brave New World-Lite
Aldous Huxley's follow-up to his groundbreaking hit, Brave New World, is the delightfully optimistic and intriguing Island. I had never heard of this book and after reading it, I was surprised that it wasn't more well-known. In fact, I enjoyed this one waaaay more than BNW, but that's maybe cause I still believe in some good in human beings (even though it's really hard).
The novel's structure left a lot to be desired as it felt all over the place and I really couldn't follow a coherent plot, but learning about this island was enough to keep me intrigued.
This island society of Pala seems perfect in every way. Freedom to think, group living, sex-positive, enlightenment via drugs, uplifting bird slogans, peace, happiness... it seemed like a fair, ideal society that was full of pacifists, free thinkers, and genuinely nice, good people. Why can't we have that in reality?? Unfortunately bad people from bad places want to ruin it all and take advantage of natural resources and capitalize and colonize because WE CAN'T EVER HAVE GOOD THINGS. If only...
Aldous Huxley's follow-up to his groundbreaking hit, Brave New World, is the delightfully optimistic and intriguing Island. I had never heard of this book and after reading it, I was surprised that it wasn't more well-known. In fact, I enjoyed this one waaaay more than BNW, but that's maybe cause I still believe in some good in human beings (even though it's really hard).
The novel's structure left a lot to be desired as it felt all over the place and I really couldn't follow a coherent plot, but learning about this island was enough to keep me intrigued.
This island society of Pala seems perfect in every way. Freedom to think, group living, sex-positive, enlightenment via drugs, uplifting bird slogans, peace, happiness... it seemed like a fair, ideal society that was full of pacifists, free thinkers, and genuinely nice, good people. Why can't we have that in reality?? Unfortunately bad people from bad places want to ruin it all and take advantage of natural resources and capitalize and colonize because WE CAN'T EVER HAVE GOOD THINGS. If only...