smith-jones reviewed on 9/9/2013 + 47 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This was my first read by this author and I did not enjoy it; no amount of wanting to like this book did the trick. I gave it 2 stars out of 5. Bummer!~

I had a hard time following the plot which was a bit unsubstantial and boring.

Although I have studied -and at times practiced- and enjoyed reading about Tantra, Buddhism, Agnosticism and utopian novels before, I found this book to be a dissertation of the author's beliefs and extensive knowledge of human psyche and behavior masquerade into a novel.

I kept reading and sometimes skipping parts I had no interest on -e.g. Calvinism, also called the Reformed tradition or the Reformed faith- in hopes the story would pick up, reach a high point and then conclude.

It didn't happen like that, the story ended during the last 2 pages before the end of the book and it was very abrupt conclusion, unsatisfying and frustrating.

I'll read Brave New World since Island was the counterpart of that book but I hope there is a real plot to Brave New World. I have made it a commitment to re-read Island once I get a better grasp of the other philosophical ideals he was writing about.

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