I’ve read two more books from the list of 100 greatest novels. Oddly enough, these next two books were both named after Shakespeare quotes. Anyways, my thoughts:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

This book falls into one of my longest lasting love of a genre: science fiction about dystopian societies. What makes this novel special is how little of a political point it tries to make. Numerous characters have many different ideas on this dystopian world and they all do a fairly good job defending their beliefs. It’s the readers job to defend our concept of society and to argue against a world without families or monogamy and with brainwashing and government-driven drug use. Good luck.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

I’m not really sure what I think about this book. The overall story and themes of the book were great. It’s a very interesting look at the downfall of a Southern aristocratic family in the early 1900s spanning many family members and many years. Each chapter (4 in all) is from a different family member’s point of view so there’s drastic changes in writing styles. The first two chapters are fairly difficult to read but they also provide the most interesting insights into the family. This is one of those novels that you enjoy thinking back on it after you’re done reading and not as much while you read it. Does that make sense?

Next up is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.