Fictionalizing philosophy can enhance or hinder the overall message, here I feel like it just made everything more sluggish and overly simplistic. Even though Battaile's Acèphale was an enormous failure and he liked to yapp a lot he enhanced my life with incredible frameworks through which to see society.
But here, with Huxley, I only got the pop spiritual visions that everyone has already thought about. So if you want to think about sociology, or spirituality then there are a hundred better books for that.

This is more of a self help book for the government, a book that nobody will like even though I agree with him on almost everything. But...

... Ehm so don't shy away from moksha-medicine, don't be an abstract materialist, love others and be present. It's boring advice, but its true.

• Ishulli ♧☀️

Liebe leute,
ich habe island gelesen, kurz nachdem ich brave new world gelesen habe. Es spielt in einer utopie, im gegensatz zu bnw.

Man könnte meinen, alles ist friede freude eierkuchen auf der insel, aber nix da:
Der hauptcharakter ist sehr spannend, weil morally grey (und das lieben wir ja). Zuerst ist er sehr skeptisch der kultur der insel gegenüber, so wie ich als leser auch zu beginn, aber wie der protagonist wird man im laufe der handlung selber mehr mit der kultur vertraut und beginnt, alles was wir hier im westen als selbstverständlich betrachten, im frage zu stellen.

Die handlung ist aber tatsächlich eher nebensächlich, weil es meistens nur um konversationen geht, die einem die kultur nahelegen. Anscheinend war island huxleys letztes buch und somit auch eine art manifest.

Da die handlung sehr schleppend voranschreitet, ist island, so wie auch bnw, sehr zäh zu lesen. Trotzdem hat es sich gelohnt!

Alles liebe und haltet die ohren steif!

Huxley became a big proponent of mushrooms later in life, and a lot this book just reads like him explaining their benefits.

"a que se destinam ali os rapazes e as raparigas? A carne para canhão, carne para a indústria, carne para a agricultura, carne para construir estados"

Um tema interessante sobre as condições necessárias para alcançar uma utopia, mas com uma execução demasiado comprida que se tornou maçadora às vezes.
Apesar de alguns aspetos serem, sem dúvida, radicais, outros relacionados à economia e cultura de trabalho parecem-me executáveis. Infelizmente, são difíceis de alcançar na sociedade capitalista atual, em que a mudança de mentalidade é inconcebível para muitos.

"condenados à miséria de um colapso social, à anarquia, e finalmente à miséria da escravidão imposta por um tirano. É uma tragédia absolutamente previsível. E eles vão de olhos abertos ao encontro dela"

كتاب على صيغة رواية لكاتب مثقف بيحاول يوصل فكرته عن طريقة تكوين المدينة الفاصلة حلم كثير من البشر عن طريق اعتناق الفكر الصوفي البوذي الحديث باتحاده جزئيا مع العلم لانتاج اجيال تبحث عن الحياة في الطبيعة و تبعد عن الحروب
للأسف رغم ثقافة الكاتب الا انه تبنى مقارنة واحدة فقط ما بين العقيدة البوذية والديانة المسيحية وأوحى بإن العقيدة البوذية هي السبيل للحياة السعيدة بأنه جعل بطل الرواية يعتنقها في النهاية
بس نصيحة لو حابب تقرأ الكتاب ده كرواية هتحس بملل و زهق مش طبيعي و هتخلصها في وقت كبير
بس لو حابب تاخد فكرة كويسة عن البوذية ( من وجهة نظر الكاتب طبعا ) هتلاقيها في الكتاب ده

while brave new world was a more exciting read, i loved the ideologies and philosophies of the people on the island. my fav was the whole concept of attention and the birds because like them, the people of pala pay attention to the now and are therefore rarely stressed about the past or future. that's why i think the ending isn't necessarily bad, just realistic. overall i don't recommend, i sparknoted most of it but it still had interesting concepts in between the slow plot.

I am being nice by giving two stars. Throughout the book there are birds who continually announce “attention;” a call to attention to the characters in the book. Ppshhhh I tell you what, I never paid any attention to anything that I read from this book. I retained nothing. The book sucked. Also today, December 7th is my dog Teddy’s 3rd Birthday. Damn I truly love my dog.

So much to say. Huxley's most important work. Review to follow.

Brave New World is my favorite book, so it only goes without saying that I had to read its companion book. Embarrassingly I've only read it now despite having owned the book for like a decade, but nobody's perfect, right? Except you ;)
Is it as good as Brave New World? No, it's not. But it doesn't need to be. No book is.

Heavily rooted in Buddhism and Hinduism, and sprinkled with both philosophy and politics, Island is essentially a case for utopia, and a pretty sweet one at that. Like most books by Huxley, it skims the action in favor of metaphysical pondering and delving into the core of mankind. When I say it's light on action, I mean it's light on action. The book quite literally consists of conversation after conversation, each shedding some light on the life philosophy and political machines that define the island of Pala, with the occasional distraction to ask some grander questions. Is it heavy? Yes. Can it be overwhelming? Yep. Does it walk a thin line between being profound and pretentious? Of course, it's Huxley (the last chapter in particular was borderline smelling its own farts and calling it perfume). But it's okay, because Huxley could write a book like no one else, and skillfully managed to flex his literary and cultural knowledge without making you roll your eyes ever other sentence. Mostly, anyway.

Also those goddamn birds that screamed ''attention'' all the time can fuck all the way off. They constantly invaded privacy, they were super obnoxious, served no purpose other than to annoy people, and no one seemed to like them. Essentially, they're jehovah's witnesses.

I recommend you the song 'Trust Your Mechanic' by Dead Kennedys.
Adieu.

Marvelous book about utopia and eternal consciousness. I remember now why I read so many Huxley books when I was younger. Very insightful but also very well written.

'It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them...'