Book Club II: Island by Aldous Huxley

"Attention! Attention! Here and now, boys, here and now!"

This book has been sitting on my shelf for over a year now, after receiving it as a Christmas gift from an ex (we love those), and it hadn't even been touched until a couple of days ago. To be completely honest, part of what sparked my curiosity is the note that was written inside, insinuating that I will somehow thoroughly relate to this book, and it'll be a 'helping hand' to me. I'll spoil this bit for you right off the bat; I really don't see how this book relates to me, or anything I've done, but whatever. I'm not one to judge books by their covers but it just didn't really seem like my type of thing. But in the spirit of having too much free time on my hands I decided to give it a shot, with a little more commitment than when I attempted reading one page of Brave New World when I was eight years old.

I liked the idea that this was classed under the genre of 'philosophical' fiction, because I didn't even really realise that was a genre at all. I always thought of this book as the "utopian counterpart to the dystopian Brave New World".

Before I get too far into my opinions, to give you an overview, the book is the account of a cynical British journalist, Will Farnaby, who gets stranded on a fictional island called Pala. The whole idea behind this island is that it takes from a plethora of cultures and religions, and somehow the people manage to live in perfect harmony; it's like heaven on earth, kind of thing. Will is supposed to be trying to convince the Island to allow external powers to tap into their oil reserves, and modernise the island, but throughout the novel he starts thoroughly admiring their philosophies and way of life, making him second guess his own morals.

Based on solely plot, I stand by what I said, this isn't really my type of thing. The character relationships, arcs, portraits, et cetera, didn't really fascinate me or touch me very much at all. What I really liked about this book was the passages concerning the Island's philosophies and beliefs; the things they practice and preach. I guess to some extent, at some point or another, we all kind of devise plans of 'the perfect scenario', in whatever given situation. So I found it quite interesting to read a manifestation of that in terms of a whole country's function, as well as how that can be disrupted by the nature of external forces.

So as a philosophical-fiction, I really enjoyed this. If I was reading solely for plot or literary appreciation, maybe not so much. It was also quite lucky that in the first couple of chapters, there were a couple things that really made me giggle and convinced me to keep on reading, such as one of the characters telling Will his face becomes "curiously ugly" when he laughs, or the mention of a "Balkan Sobranje" cigarette.

If you do like dystopian novels, then there's no further discussion. There's no one like Aldous Huxley or George Orwell to provide. If, however, you're like me, and your genre of choice is a little different, then I'd say still give this a shot. It was an easy read once you pick it up, and like I said the language concerning the philosophies of the island was a worthwhile aspect for me.