themulhern: Two utopian books. The advantage of LeGuin's is that it doesn't have anything worth exploiting and it is a rocket flight away.

urza: One is utopistic novel, other science fiction full of nanotechnology. Yet, both books left similar feelings in me. The story in both takes place in beautifuly described colorful world. Both deal with human society and both are kind of "brighter side of the life".

P_S_Patrick: These two books both feature drug taking as elements of the plot, alongside mysterious "Enlightenment" religions, and various other minor similarities. Huxley, ironically the sane one of the two authors, is the one whose book advocates the drug taking, while Crowley, the madman, warns against the vice. Surely something must be wrong here. Well, together these books present the for and against of using hallucinogenics, while both preaching for not entirely disimilar causes; Eastern inspired cults/religion/philosophy. "Are both authors delusional?" is the question I asked myself after reading these books. I answered myself, yes. Are both these books interesting? undoubtedly. Huxley far outshines Crowley for writing ability, even though this is surely one of his worse novels, but in the end I think, strange as it may sound, that Crowley's novel is nowhere near as hair brained in its final message as Huxley's, who really ought to know better. Neither of these novels are particularly good, and I am only recommending each to the other due to the shared themes, and the fact that they support opposite sides to the idea of having drugs in society, and should be enjoyed by similar readers.… (más)

Usuario anónimo: Huxley's dystopian Brave New World and utopian Pala share a good deal of common ground. The differences between them are differences of degree rather than of kind. Fascinating to compare, keeping in mind of course that thirty years separate the books.… (más)