Being a big fan of Huxley's dystopia [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865608s/5129.jpg|3204877], I thought I'd try his utopia, Island. Didn't like it. Stilted conversations between a lame Englishman, a little like Indiana Jones but without the virility or charm, and a bunch of too-enlightened ciphers, all worked out through a reed-thin narrative, just doesn't work for me. I am sure it was audacious and maybe even scandalous when it was published, what with its radical views on sex, drugs, economics, politics, colonialism, race, gender, the family, and whatnot. (At which point I'd remind the tut-tutters that it is rendered explicitly as a utopia - verisimilitude is a bug, not a feature.) So, as interesting as I found the ideas, and as worthy as I find the utopic enterprise --though I much prefer dystopias-- I just didn't think it was well written. If you want to read his account of a mushroom trip, read [b:The Doors of Perception: Heaven and Hell|10825456|The Doors of Perception Heaven and Hell (Thinking Classics)|Aldous Huxley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347242879s/10825456.jpg|1771312].

Overall, this was a little painful to read. And, well, that's just not a good thing for a book.