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Jacob's Hands: A Fable

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Jacob Ericson is a shy, enigmatic, and somewhat inept ranch hand who works for crotchety Professor Carter and his crippled daughter, Sharon, on a ranch in California's Mojave Desert in the 1920s.
One day he learns that his hands possess the mysterious gift of healing, a gift he uses to cure animals (whom he adores). Sharon (whom he also adores) then persuades him to heal her.
When he successfully cures Sharon, his gift is quickly exploited and the boundaries of his charm and naivete begin to stretch. First he offers his healing powers for free at a church in Los Angeles - where Jacob has gone after Sharon, who fled her father and the ranch to pursue her dreams of stardom. Jacob and Sharon cross paths when they work for the same pair of exploitative showmen. Jacob stays with the seedy stage show only because Sharon is close by.
It is when Jacob's gift is recruited to heal Earl Medwin, an eccentric, ailing young millionaire, that the love and security for which he has worked so hard begin to collapse.

141 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

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About the author

Aldous Huxley

1,042 books13k followers
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.

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5 stars
87 (18%)
4 stars
152 (31%)
3 stars
179 (37%)
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50 (10%)
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10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
Profile Image for Marian.
268 reviews209 followers
January 25, 2024
This is a great story concept with some thoughtful moments. Too much was given away in the prologue, though, which woefully detracted from the emotional punch of the last chapter. Having read a few books by Huxley including some nonfiction, I was also expecting some philosophy in this, and there really wasn't any. Someone should still turn this into a movie and flesh out the ideas a bit more.
Profile Image for Ayla.
1,045 reviews37 followers
December 25, 2019
Very well performed audiobook featuring Burt Reynolds as Jacob. A perfect little gem of a tale ,about a man who has the gift of healing and his desire for doing the right thing, even if it means losing the girl.
Profile Image for chio.
50 reviews
July 30, 2024
¿Qué papel tiene la curación del cuerpo si no se toma en cuenta el alma?


En esta corta historia, seguimos a Jacob y a su don de curar. En cómo la sociedad quiere prostituir este don que tiene, en relaciones de poder en familiares que acompañan al enfermo y sobre todo, en cómo existen pacientes que se aferran a su enfermedad como parte de su identidad.

Sencillo de leer y con un mensaje muy importante
Profile Image for Danielle.
75 reviews3 followers
May 19, 2012
A decent fable, though generally underwhelming. As is typical in fables, all of the characters are stereotypes and two dimensional at best. Most dialogue and action is described in a summarizing way with no attention to prose, akin to stage direction, and not really appropriate for the written narrative form. This story was originally written as a rough draft of a screenplay, and so this style makes sense for its intended eventual use, but not really for the medium that it ended up as.

As for a moral or message of the story, the prevalent ones were ambition corrupts/is evil, naiveté and ignorance/innocence are desirable traits despite the vulnerability that they create and that a physical body cannot heal if the soul that it contains is corrupt. This latter message is the most stressed, and it does invoke some debate and thought, though these avenues of debate aren't explored in any deep or meaningful way.

The character that is physically healed yet still suffers because of his soul malady exhibits all of the classic signs of combat related PTSD, a condition not widely accepted or recognized in the early sixties when this was first written. The character goes on to perform selfish, conceited and manipulative acts once he's physically cured, because of his fundamentally flawed soul/PTSD. I don't like this connection of mental illness along with character traits that are often associated with sin or evil. I think that this is a tired, and unhealthy, trope, and dates this story immensely.

One last note; while all of the characters are cartoony, horrible people in the story (with the exception of the simple, naive, blissfully ignorant and therefore wholesome role model main character Jacob), the women by far get the worst set of traits. They're either horrible nags, controlling religious zealots, silly ambitious young women with stars in their eyes and greed in their hearts, old wealthy women looking for a cure but are too evil at their core for Jacob to treat or controlling passive aggressive wealthy smothering mothers.

I can't help but get the distinct impression that the way that these women (both major and minor characters alike) were portrayed is very telling regarding the writers' views on women in general. This is not to say that a story can't have female characters that do bad things or are shady people; I enjoy a complex bad girl. These were just predictable, done-a-thousand-times-before cookie cutter outspoken-and-ambitious-women-are-evil-and-can-never-be-trusted character tropes. Bor-ing. I expected more nuance from Huxley and less laziness.

Overall, the story is dated and predictable, with flat characters with traits that I found tiresome (even in a fable, which are always essentially about good vs evil people), flouting a predictable moral/message about how innocence is a virtue and ambition and knowledge is terribly corrupting.

Yawn. I expected more out of Aldous Huxley. I can only hope that this story has more to owe to co-writer Christopher Isherwood's influence.
Profile Image for Vel Veeter.
3,603 reviews64 followers
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December 8, 2023
Speaking of boring and unexceptional, this book is pretty boring and unexceptional. For the most part I would have to say that this was destined to fail for a number of reasons. For one, two writers working together, especially two writers who I otherwise like and respect their work, are unlikely to find the kind of synthesis and partnership needed for a great book to come about. How often is a pair of authors, especially a pair of individually renowned authors, likely to come together to make something meaningful. Even in music, how many “supergroups” are any good? Two, fables in fiction generally do not work for me. Animal Farm is fine, but it’s also a book that works best when you’re like 13. Three, both of these authors are British writers, who spent significant parts of their lives in America, writing about America, as if they were American. And they simply aren’t. And so the result is that book is like warmed over Steinbeck, and about half of Steinbeck is warmed over Steinbeck, so that’s not a winning combination.

It’s a story about a man who has a healing power and uses it to save the love of his life. He also uses it to save a friend. Now saved, those two hook up, and he still loves both of them. The writing is ok at best, but for all the reasons above, it simply is a weak story.
Profile Image for Rachel.
212 reviews3 followers
June 17, 2013
Ugh. I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe I just don't like late-career Huxley (although I don't actually know if this qualifies as "late-career" for him). I can sympathize with the idea behind this book, but the execution...I don't know. I guess I prefer my Big Ideas either stated straight out in essay form, or woven into a more complex story with more moral ambiguity. Maybe I'm just not crazy about the fable form.

Maybe I should be more generous with this one--it's really more of a short story than a novel. Also, I'm undoubtedly influenced by the fact that I'm laboring through Island with very mixed feelings about being preached at by utopia dwellers.
Profile Image for Susanne Pichler.
60 reviews7 followers
January 7, 2018
Wenn zwei der bekanntesten Schriftsteller des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts als Autoren eines Buches angeführt werden, dann sind die Erwartungen des Lesers dementsprechend hoch. Bei "Jakob der Heiler" erwecken Aldous Huxley und Christopher Isherwood diese Erwartungen.

Die Hauptfigur des Buches ist jener titelgebende Jakob, der die Gabe des Heilens besitzt. Jakob Ericson ist ein einfacher Mann. Er arbeitet auf einer Ranch in der Mojavewüste. Er ist bescheiden, scheu, friedliebend, ein in sich ruhender Charakter. Die Gesellschaft von Tieren zieht er der der Menschen vor. Sharon Carter, die neunzehnjährige Tochter des Ranchbesitzers, träumt von einer Karriere als Sängerin. Ein verkrüppelter Fuß, Folge einer Kinderlähmung, steht diesen Träumen im Weg. Jakob liebt sie still und aufrichtig.
Als er einige Kälber, die an einer unausweichlich tödlich endenden Krankheit leiden, durch Handauflegen und intensives Zwiegespräch heilt, bittet Sharon ihn, sie ebenfalls zu heilen. Anfangs überfordert ihn diese Bitte, doch letztendlich kann er Sharon den Wunsch nicht abschlagen. Das Wunder geschieht und Sharon wird geheilt. Ohne jemanden vorab zu informieren, verlässt sie daraufhin die väterliche Ranch und versucht, in Los Angeles als Sängerin entdeckt zu werden.
Ohne ihr Wissen folgt ihr Jakob nach Los Angeles und findet sie gut zwei Jahre später. Der Zufall hilft ihm dabei weiter. Er heilt in der ärmlichen Pfingstgemeinde von Pfarrer Wood Kranke; dort wird der schmierige Theatermanager Lou Zacconi auf ihn aufmerksam. Für jenen Lou Zacconi arbeitet auch Sharon als Sängerin im Main Street Art Theater. Obwohl Sharon überglücklich ist, Jakob wiederzusehen, weiß sie dennoch, dass er für diese Welt nicht geschaffen ist. Zacconi und sein dubioser Geschäftspartner Dr. Waldo wollen Jakobs Gabe zu Geld machen. Die gegenseitige Zuneigung zwischen Sharon und Jakob ausnutzend, kommen sie ihrem Ziel einen großen Schritt näher. Doch Jakob lässt sich nicht so leicht beugen und weigert sich, gesunden Patienten das Geld aus der Tasche zu ziehen.Er heilt und hilft, wo es notwendig ist, doch grenzt er sich von den kriminellen Absichten seiner Auftraggeber ab. Gerade als Sharon und Jakob beschlossen haben, Los Angeles zu verlassen und gemeinsam aufs Land zu ziehen, bittet George, ein Freund Jakobs, für den Sohn seiner Arbeitgeberin um Hilfe. Earl Medwin, jung, unendlich reich, in Beverly Hills lebend und von klein auf herzkrank, wird von Jakob geheilt. Mit dieser Heilung verändert sich alles. Zwar werden Zacconi und Waldo von der Familie Medwin großzügig abgefunden, und ziehen sich daraufhin zurück, doch die Auswirkungen des medwinschen Reichtums lenken sowohl Jakobs als auch Sharons Leben in vollkommen neue Bahnen.

"Jakob der Heiler" wird im Untertitel als "Eine Originaldrehbuchvorlage" kategorisiert. Auch als Märchen wird es bezeichnet. Meiner Meinung nach ist es aber am ehesten eine Novelle. Gerade in den ersten Kapiteln sind die Anweisungen, die für ein zukünftiges Drehbuch gelten würden, sehr störend. Da sie nur selten eingesetzt werden, stolpert man beim Lesen sehr bewusst darüber. Diese Drehbuchanweisungen wirken fehl am Platze und unterbrechen den Lesefluss gewaltig. Ab ungefähr der Mitte des Buches treten sie kaum noch auf, die Stimme von außen verstummt sozusagen.
Die Hauptfigur Jakob ist bemerkenswert gelungen. Als Leser weiß man alles und nichts über ihn. Trotz seiner Gabe, Heilen zu können, hält man ihn nicht einmal ansatzweise für einen Schwindler. Er ist ehrlich, anständig und bescheiden. Die Anforderungen, die er an sich selbst, andere Menschen und das Leben ganz allgemein hat, sind zwar scheinbar unerreichbar hoch, doch wird er ihnen gerecht.
Die Menschen um ihn sind einfach Menschen. Sie haben ihre Stärken und ihre Schwächen, sind Gut und Böse, repräsentieren das Beste und das Schlechteste im Menschen. Dennoch werden sie nie zu einer bloßen Karikatur. Aldous Huxley und Christopher Isherwood haben auf knapp 128 Seiten alles erzählt, was es über Jakob Ericson zu sagen gibt. Das Glück, das er letztendlich in der Stille findet, umgeben von Tieren und einem oder mehreren Freunden, das ist dann gar nicht so wichtig, kommt der Vorstellung von Perfektion schon sehr nahe. Und ich glaube, man kann froh sein, dass es nicht zu einer Verfilmung kam. So kann man sich die Geschichte von "Jakob dem Heiler" selbst vorstellen.
Profile Image for Brent Jones.
Author 15 books19 followers
April 10, 2018
In the 1940’s Aldous Huxley had already published and become known for his book, Brave New World. He was then living in Hollywood and “Jacob’s Hands” came about as he collaborated with Christopher Isherwood, who also wanted to make the book into a screen play. The play was not produced, but Isherwood narrated the story as it was presented on CBS Radio Workshop. Both British authors had been fascinated with the fame and fortune found in America, and Isherwood’s strong interest in Hinduism and faith healing, was something that attracted Huxley.

The story is about Jacob Ericson, a humble, simple man who works for Professor Carter and his crippled daughter, as a ranch hand in the Mojave Desert. Jacob is an honorable and good man and he is first noticed by his employer when he heals a dying calf with his hands. Jacob can sense the real feelings of others and can also can heal people with his hands.

He heals his employers young crippled daughter, Sharon, who he is infatuated with and he then follows her to Los Angeles where she pursues a career as an entertainer. He felt they loved each other but she betrays him, and their relationship does not continue. Jacob’s is sought out by a minister of the Church of the Primitive Pentecostal Brotherhood, then with some promoters who want to make him into a vaudeville show.

He is compromised both ethically and financially by his promoters and it forces his to deep introspection. With those challenges and things not working out with Sharon, Jacob goes back to the desert. More on this book and the authors at www.connectedeventsmatter.com
Profile Image for Romaissa.
42 reviews21 followers
December 5, 2018
If given the power to heal any ailment, what would you do? What is healing at its core? If the physical suffering can lead to spiritual and emotional empowerment, who is to say? This short fable originally written for a screenplay brings to debate all of these questions and more. I enjoyed the read, even if lacking in flowery prose and details, the message gets across succinctly.

Although it asks these questions in the context of a person with supernatural healing abilities, it brings to question the role of the greater medical community and how much focus is on the ailing and prevention of physical diseases, when the mind and soul is often neglected. More therapeutic and 'natural' medicines that also consider the spiritual side of healing are still in practice and this makes me think of the lack of respect and acceptability of these methods (in 'western medicine') simply because 'western research' has yet to validate them. And so, the stress on these components as integral to holistic healing practices is still timely.

I could not find the time this was originally written, but assuming it was done so sometime in the mid to late 1930s/40s?, this book is fitting to the socio-economic context that it was written in. During these tumultuous time of suffering, one should look inwardly towards the spiritual and emotional strength that can be brought on.
Profile Image for Aria.
490 reviews42 followers
May 21, 2020

How disappointing. Agree with complaints mentioned in 2-star reviews. Would like to also point out inconsistencies. Part of the concept is that moralistically problematic people can not be healed. Fine, except for 2 of the 3 main characters were moralistically problematic before he healed them. Their personality traits only became amplified once they were no longer constrained by the physical limitations of their respective maladies. I am also not a fan of the implied idea that somehow the physically afflicted are choosing to be ill. If they can "let go" of their illness, "send it away," or "hold on to it," then they are being held responsible for a thing which obviously can not be their fault. When an illness supposedly returns post-banishment, it's because the patient "called it back." It's insulting.

Honestly, I think people are being kinder to this book than they should be both b/c of who the authors are, & b/c most people really dislike giving even the worst material a singularly-starred review. As others stated, the writing was poor, the stale characters are 2-dimensional (at best) & stereotyped, the over-arching ideas are not truly explored, & there is not 1 single redeeming characteristic applied to any of the female characters. Crap is crap, thus I have given it the truly-deserved 1-star, no matter the authorship.

Profile Image for A.L..
Author 7 books6 followers
April 24, 2018
This isn't exactly a polished, finished novel; more a screenplay waiting to be formed into something more concrete, so it would be silly to expect anything more. It's all written in the present tense, which works quite well with the rather clipped, matter of fact and descriptive prose. This gives it a laid back, conversational feel, and it's charming in itself.

The characters aren't exactly original, but more stereotypes of the simple-but-noble healer, the honest black man, the avaricious or controlling parent (in both Sharon's family and Earl's mother), and, in Sharon and Earl, the child who has been damaged by their parent and grows up incapable of interacting healthily with the world. You're left feeling rather lacking by the end of the tale. The characters never really grow or develop through the narrative, and something that may have been profound in a writer like Steinbeck's hands (or even if better developed by Huxley or Isherwood) becomes the story of a TVM rather than an Oscar winner. Worth reading, but not if you expect profundity.
Profile Image for Joe.
Author 64 books36 followers
March 19, 2018
Three and a half stars really. This is supposedly a collaboration between Huxley and Isherwood, though I suspect that Huxley's widow did a good deal of cleaning up and filling in blanks. Its subtitle, "A Fable," certainly holds. In the foreword, Laura Huxley mentions that she found the manuscript in the attic and that it was meant to be a collaborative (screen?)play between the two men. Much of it reads that way, more as stage directions ("We learn," "we can see," and so on). I will say that the prologue and epilogue for once are integral to the novel in both meaning and plot. I did find, however, the plot to be a tad predictable. This, as I just wrote, is somewhat alleviated by the novel's form. I bought this novel because I'd recently seen a wondrous rendition of Cabaret in Tuscaloosa. Isherwood's Berlin Stories served as the germ for that musical.
Profile Image for Alexander  Pope.
18 reviews
August 12, 2024
***a short parable with Biblical inspiration***
(I was very surprised to see this rated so low. I haven't read other reviews so that I would not be influenced.)
I enjoyed this book, despite how short of a story it is. The plot is more focused on conveying a lesson about sickness versus health and how each affects someones outlook on life. The main character is able to heal people, and we learn that sometimes being healed is not the best outcome for someones trajectory in life. The biggest flaw in the story is how short it is and we hardly have time to flesh out the characters more. Also the story is narrated as if someone is reading the stage directions for a play. Or another way to compare the narration would be somebody describing each scene of a movie to you.
I enjoyed the story and you could read it all in one afternoon. The story is engaging, and the Aesop (lesson) stimulates some interesting thoughts.
237 reviews2 followers
July 19, 2018
For a fable, I was at a loss as to the message, given the characters were so mismatched or mismashed. Ha! It was a sort of Faustian tale with a temptation not to be resisted (love with your equal perhaps with hope of following your dream to be a chanteuse even though it was sadly indicated you lacked talent) versus resisting temptation of being with the man who healed you from being crippled (and who you may love, although it was debatable) and working on a farm where your isolated and left without your dream of singing. In the end, the Faustian choice gets jinxed, of course. A bit screwballish with notably excellent readers on the audio version. Nonetheless, I enjoy Huxley and was interested in the collaboration with Isherwood.
Profile Image for Kathy Stauffer.
11 reviews4 followers
December 28, 2017
Compared to Huxley's other novels, this would be considered a novelette with it's 140 pages. It has an interesting history in that the manuscript sat in a trunk for decades until discovered by actress Sharon Stone. It is timely in that the "laying on of hands" may have been atypical during the 1940s when the book was written, but medicine and society in general understand differently now.
It is a simple story, almost childlike with language, sentence structure and description of characters. I rated it three stars because of this; but, perhaps the simple telling of a profound message merits it a five stars. It's up to you....






16 reviews
October 17, 2024
I enjoyed reading it.
There are not many points of substance but some thought-provoking parts.
I enjoyed the style of writing as it was brief and fast-paced (probably as it was written for the screen). This allowed you to take time when you wanted and speed up in parts.

I really enjoyed the sentiment of what happens after "curing", what our disabilities or illnesses are, and how they make up parts of us. Also, what really happens after dramatic life changes, how we perceive it vs. reality.
Also, the ultimate questioning of wealth and what it brings or does not bring. How possession and desire for things can seep into our relationships with people.
Profile Image for Josie.
62 reviews1 follower
March 25, 2020
The characters are all rather one dimensional, which, in a fable, is par for the course, it made a decent story. It would have been an enjoyable movie, if it ever had been made into a film.
The dialogue was sometimes too on the nose and the message is a bit...well, dated. Obviously, this being a movie script from 1956 that is to be expected.
I'd like to reread it in the future, knowing more of Huxley, since this was my first and only work of his so far and i know of him only through a brief mention in class and from the isherwood diaries.
301 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2024
As a fable, it was okay. Once I became used to the writing style (as if a disembodied narrator was retelling a story that he had once heard), I rather enjoyed the first half, which focused on a man with the ability to heal those afflicted with pain and suffering. But, the second half just didn’t feel like it went anywhere. I understand the intended message (as a self described “fable, the message is purposely simple and straightforward), but the ending was underwhelming and just lacked the final punch that was needed. It didn’t really add anything to a a fairly cliched love triangle.
1 review2 followers
January 9, 2018
The fortune of healing doesn't always return the intentions of the giver. In the book at hand, we find the main character struggle through life deeply caring, loving, and giving. To his dismay, his gift of healing doesn't give him the results he integrally wanted. the fillip for these actions is out of compassion, reciprocity for his grace is unreturned at best. Although it's a short book, you may be tempted quit it. Finish to the end, you'll find the closure comforting...and convicting.
Profile Image for Kiel Gregory.
53 reviews2 followers
January 11, 2020
A fantastic, quick read; delivered almost with the flavor of a stage play, in 141 5 x 8 pages.

Huxley knows how to make a reader feel loss and emptiness and hopelessness; thankfully, he also knows how to instill the opposite. There are certainly flavors of Brave New World here, but there is also calm and jovial optimism. The characters really drive the story.

I love Aldous Huxley's work, and I picked this up while perusing the shelves of the local library.
Profile Image for Jessica.
308 reviews12 followers
October 6, 2023
This was a completely random read for me, meaning I didn’t even know the book existed until I searched for an audiobook 3 hours or less. This was the first one I found.
Despite knowing literally nothing about this book, I enjoyed it! It was a good short story about a man with a gift and how that gift shaped his life, for good and bad.
The ending was bittersweet, but not bad.
This was just what I needed to listen to for the last of my car ride.
Profile Image for Kris.
718 reviews39 followers
August 15, 2024
According to the book jacket, this was originally written by Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood as a treatment for a film, and it definitely has the feel of a Hollywood movie of the 1930s. Some of the text also has the feel of stage direction or instructions to the actors.
The work was never produced; it may not have even been submitted to a studio. In fact, according to the jacket, it was never even published; it was found in a trunk in the Huxley estate by actress Sharon Stone in 1997.
Profile Image for Kathleen.
160 reviews12 followers
June 10, 2017
I went into this expected much more than I got out of it. started off well but then it took turn into the over used love story of where you know from the get go can never truly work out. I picked up this book to read more about the healing powers of Jacobs hands and the effect it had on those healed but was disappointed in the limited focus on that aspect vs the love angle.
Profile Image for Mimi.
18 reviews
September 19, 2020
I had higher hopes for this fable co-written by Huxley, but the plot was predictable and the characters were fairly two dimensional. However, I did appreciate the parallel to Christ healing the ten lepors. Only the one had a deep gratitude and faithfulness for the Healer, and thus received spiritual healing.
Profile Image for Carola.
458 reviews41 followers
March 17, 2024
I listened to the audiobook in lieu of reading my paperback copy, and only realised after the fact that the (full cast) audiobook was probably abridged.

Alas, it didn't inspire enough to want to pick up the paperback in the future. As a mere fable it's bearable, but the moment I think of the religious or even moral connotations... yikes, no thanks.
34 reviews14 followers
January 25, 2022
Meh. Think a lot of reviews on here miss the point that this is a film treatment, not a short story, hence the slightly odd writing style. Still dull and simplistic, as most fables are if you're over the age of 10.
Profile Image for Troy.
62 reviews1 follower
September 29, 2022
Amazing story taking place in 1920s California and Arizona. The Christian influence is clear, the love story is engaging and the ending is well done. Only 129 pages, one can finish this story in a few hours. Better than Brave New World.
56 reviews
July 22, 2019
Nice quick read. Very little in the way of detail but yet has better character building than most modern novels. Of course I love anything written by Huxley
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews

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