Juhi Mittal

A great dystopian novel with superbly original plot considering the time at which it was written. One can see how this may have been the inspiration for George orwell's 1984. However, 80% of my way through this book, I realised I didn't particularly enjoy this style of narration. The narrator's logical & mathematical style of communication while unique and special, is too non directed and frankly speaking, annoying at many places. The story could have been written in much less pages. Words are precious and should not be 'wasted' into describing infinitesimally long and endless stream of 'imagery' that leads nowhere and doesn't contribute much to the story or it's underlying theme. I am reading the Clarence Brown translation, so my review could be taken as solely meant for this edition of the book.

A hauntingly beautiful book. For me, it starts off as a powerful satire on the seemingly mind numbing state of modern work culture and society. However, it ended up leaving me with more questions than answers. It covers themes like class heirarchy, consumerism, art, modern science, and social constructs like family and monogamy. Would you have your soma , and choose to live in blissful ignorance or would you rather face the harsh realities of life- the love , the pain, the death and the suffering?

This is a story about a world where books are banned and burned. It's an interesting read. You will be disappointed if you are looking for a grand plot or unpredictable storyline. For me, I finished the book not for its plot but for because this kind of world intrigued me. It gave me the opportunity to reflect back on my own relationship with words. Overall a thought provoking read.

An excellent book for 'common man' who is not well versed with research methodology or fundamentals of evidence based medicine. Even though I am a medical practitioner, I found the book informative and thought provoking. Peter's skepticism & bluntness is inspiring and contagious.

I started this book since a reddit feed recommended that it's very similar to- the book thief, which is my favourite book so far. However, other than the setting of Nazi Germany , WWII and a female protagonist, I didn't find any similarity between them. The language is 'heavy' and for a non native English speaker I found the vocabulary and writing style very difficult to understand and enjoy. There is too much description about surroundings , and not enough content for what is actually happening to the characters or what they are thinking . I have read it about 25% and there is hardly any real progression in story. The absurd timeline makes book seem like a cross between screenplay and literature, and even more difficult to enjoy/understand that it already is due to it's writing style. I have finally decided to give up on this book and read something else.

As Orwell said 'The best books are those that tell you what you already know.' A beautiful and haunting description of the past, present and future of the humanity. For me this book is not fiction. It's a political commentary, satire and prediction all in one of the kind of world, humanity is headed towards.

World building is alright. Plot is somewhat similar to Divergent. Four sections of school.The girl entered the wrong one. However, its the girl's character which annoys me the most. She is so thirsty for her apparently childhood friend that she passes really cringe flirtatious comments. She sounds horny all the time. I can't bear with her annoying character anymore.

A very cute and innocent story on friendships, importance of great teachers and role models, community and childhood.