Island by Aldous Huxley

The “Utopia” to Brave New World’s Dystopia.

Lots of people know Huxley’s dystopian Brave New World, but far fewer know his final novel—its spiritual companion and symbolic opposite. Island offers a vision of social life that inspires hope, and one that doesn’t depend on a centralized authority or government to bring it about.

Island is Huxley’s picture of community-centered living: grounded in presence, awareness of the here and now, and deeply rooted in nature. Also, people take mushrooms instead of SSRIs.

Now, I’ll admit, parts of this book are slow. The story is carried by world-building and the texture of this community rather than some super sexy, panty-dropping plot. But what stays with me isn’t the prose that leaps off the page. It’s the small details of a way of living that inspires hope. Details that, even if fictitious, remind us of what we should actively curate and seek out as we build the most intentional communities we can.

For any thinking person who cares about such things, it earns a read and a place in your library.

One of my favorite passages:

“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. […]

There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling, on tiptoes and no luggage, not even a sponge bag, completely unencumbered.”