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Island by Aldous Huxley
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Island (original 1962; edition 2009)

by Aldous Huxley (Author)

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4,232622,764 (3.75)93
In his final novel, which he considered his most important, Aldous Huxley transports us to the remote Pacific island of Pala, where an ideal society has flourished for 120 years. Inevitably, this island of bliss attracts the envy and enmity of the surrounding world. A conspiracy is underway to take over Pala, and events are set in motion when an agent of the conspirators, a newspaperman named Faranby, is shipwrecked there. What Faranby doesn't expect is how his time with the people of Pala will revolutionize all his values and-to his amazement-give him hope.… (more)
Member:Storeetllr
Title:Island
Authors:Aldous Huxley (Author)
Info:Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2009), Edition: 1, 384 pages
Collections:Donate 2017 Part 2
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Work Information

Island by Aldous Huxley (1962)

Recently added byrobep, errata, private library, jhank1, donerj, Talithaann, recursiveansatz, disbrowe, gerritbr, harryofbath
Legacy LibrariesLawrence Durrell
  1. 10
    Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (ansate)
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    Utopia by Thomas More (kxlly)
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    Candide by Voltaire (kxlly)
  4. 10
    The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (themulhern)
    themulhern: Two utopian books. The advantage of LeGuin's is that it doesn't have anything worth exploiting and it is a rocket flight away.
  5. 00
    The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (urza)
    urza: One is utopistic novel, other science fiction full of nanotechnology. Yet, both books left similar feelings in me. The story in both takes place in beautifuly described colorful world. Both deal with human society and both are kind of "brighter side of the life".
  6. 00
    Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley (P_S_Patrick)
    P_S_Patrick: These two books both feature drug taking as elements of the plot, alongside mysterious "Enlightenment" religions, and various other minor similarities. Huxley, ironically the sane one of the two authors, is the one whose book advocates the drug taking, while Crowley, the madman, warns against the vice. Surely something must be wrong here. Well, together these books present the for and against of using hallucinogenics, while both preaching for not entirely disimilar causes; Eastern inspired cults/religion/philosophy. "Are both authors delusional?" is the question I asked myself after reading these books. I answered myself, yes. Are both these books interesting? undoubtedly. Huxley far outshines Crowley for writing ability, even though this is surely one of his worse novels, but in the end I think, strange as it may sound, that Crowley's novel is nowhere near as hair brained in its final message as Huxley's, who really ought to know better. Neither of these novels are particularly good, and I am only recommending each to the other due to the shared themes, and the fact that they support opposite sides to the idea of having drugs in society, and should be enjoyed by similar readers.… (more)
  7. 00
    Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon (villanova)
  8. 00
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Huxley's dystopian Brave New World and utopian Pala share a good deal of common ground. The differences between them are differences of degree rather than of kind. Fascinating to compare, keeping in mind of course that thirty years separate the books.
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» See also 93 mentions

English (60)  Spanish (2)  Italian (1)  All languages (63)
Showing 1-5 of 60 (next | show all)
I've only read two of Aldous Huxley's books so far:
* Brave New World, obviously.
* Brave New World Revisited, particularly to find out what the man had to say about some of the themes used in that book.

Both books also attracted my attention because of the times we've been living in, this last decade, or rather since the turn of the century.

A few months ago, I saw on BBC Archives' Facebook page a video clip, shot in 1961, of Aldous Huxley telling about the relation between man and technology, and how technology would more and more influence the lives of people, be it in a dystopian or utopian manner. In that video, Mr Huxley mentioned a novel - without giving away the title, 'Island' - he had written about a utopian society, as opposed to that described in 'Brave New World'.

A few weeks ago, I found a copy of 'Island', apparently his last novel. You could, though some readers say it is not, consider this the opposite of the society described in 'Brave New World'. Drugs used to get in a higher state of mind, people working together and looking after each other, a protected society that doesn't leave room for external interference (like industrialism, investors, modern transportation, ... in short, the Western/American way of life). The whole construction revolves around peace, equality, harmony (with nature), solidarity. Of course, not everyone wants to follow that path, are rather convinced of other ways of believing and being more focused on short term gains and riches.

The story is set on the island of Pala, somewhere in the Indonesian archipelago. As I read in another review: The story isn't much, and most likely wasn't the focal point or main reason for this book. The characters and events aren't developed enough, I found, they only serve to present the themes, ideas, in a more accessible way or context. This could have been a non-fiction book, but sometimes a fictional context creates a more accessible gateway. So yes, characters whose roles were only briefly mentioned (take note if you need to know who's who again...), the setting a bit hard to imagine. Even if there were descriptions, Huxley wasn't like other SF-writers in that regard.

'Island' doesn't only contain a good contrast between Hindu and Buddhist mythologies/philosophies, and Christian philosophies, but also various references to political figures like Hitler, Stalin, and others. Huxley used these people's political behaviour, decisions, views, and doings to indicate what the world looked like in the West as opposed to the one the main character, a European journalist, learnt about on Pala. A clash of cultures, indeed.

Again, the story itself isn't that bad - Mr Huxley, on the other hand, should have asked someone else to write the fictional parts (the political struggles, a potential invasion, ... someone like Guy Gavriel Kay would know how to handle it, I reckon, even if GGK was too young at the time) -, it's mainly the spiritual/philosophical themes of the society of Pala that make 'Island' worth reading, especially in our contemporary times (war in Ukraine, war in Gaza, ...). As Andreas Matthias confirms in his article: "Huxley is often less interested in the plot and the character development of his protagonists, and more in the philosophical ideas that fill his books."

More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel)
https://www.huxley.net/island/ (The Influences of Eastern Philosophies in Aldous Huxley's Island) (contains links to the PDF- and HTML-versions of 'Island') ( )
  TechThing | Nov 11, 2023 |
This was my first experience reading Huxley. After hearing so much about Brave New World, I came across this work of his and, based on the synopsis, thought it would be a very interesting read. Unfortunately, I did not find it interesting at all.

I was expecting a story about a secluded island utopia that, quite naturally, would under assault from the outside world. There was actually very little story here. The book was primarily a series of conversations and discussions of a sociological/political/philosophical nature. The story of the island and the plot to take over it over stood as an example of how the sins of humanity will not allow an ideal society to flourish. But for me, the story got lost amongst the dull soliloquies that Huxley used to make his points about both an ideal society and the flaws of the real world. ( )
  BlackAsh13 | Aug 5, 2023 |
8435000205
  archivomorero | May 21, 2023 |
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), a visionary author, attempted to imagine a utopian society in his final novel, Island, which gives its citizens all they require to live happy lives. The author of Brave New World attempted to present a hopeful picture of how people could live and prosper in this utopia, yet even here, evil lurks just around the corner. ( )
  jwhenderson | Mar 12, 2023 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
thoroughly enjoyed it
  Benboo | Oct 4, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 60 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Huxley, Aldousprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bradshaw, DavidIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Herlitschka, MarlysÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vandenbergh, JohnTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whadcock, IanCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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In framing an ideal we may assume what we wish, but should avoid impossibilities. - Aristotle
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To Laura
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"Attention," a voice began to call, and it was as though an oboe had suddenly become articulate. "Attention," it repeated in the same high, nasal monotone. "Attention."
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

In his final novel, which he considered his most important, Aldous Huxley transports us to the remote Pacific island of Pala, where an ideal society has flourished for 120 years. Inevitably, this island of bliss attracts the envy and enmity of the surrounding world. A conspiracy is underway to take over Pala, and events are set in motion when an agent of the conspirators, a newspaperman named Faranby, is shipwrecked there. What Faranby doesn't expect is how his time with the people of Pala will revolutionize all his values and-to his amazement-give him hope.

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