3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
“Okay, I know I'm gonna get crucified for only giving this book a 2, but as much as I wanted to be a big fan, it just never really grabbed me. Like "1984" (which I liked quite a lot), the utopian world Huxley creates here is very compelling and fascinating. But, unlike "1984" and another book in this genre that I loved, Lois Lowry's "The Giver," "World" creates a main character -- Bernard, who I wanted to explore the universe with -- then all but abandons him in favor of another, less interesting, character, John The Savage. What works so well for me is seeing a fully-formed, "real" world that I can reference through my own world/society and therefore draw my own parallels, realizing what works in the made-up world and what is hideously wrong-minded and damaging, as well. But when the author introduces, and then focuses on, a character just like the reader (essentially "spelling everything out" instead of allowing us our own views), I feel cheated and manipulated in a way that belittles the set-up to the book and that world. I could go on, get more specific, but suffice it to say I was disappointed. The writing itself was very crisp and engaging, I just didn't agree with a lot of the literary and character choices he made. (Read 10/03) ”