I have just read Brave New World -twice. Still couldn't think of a coursework title to compare it with Nineteen Eight Four. So i called my reliable eng-lit-friend-Kate.
She said to me over the phone "and you know how the Savage kills himself? Apparently that's the same way that Huxley's brother..."
"WHAT?"
"...sorry?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE SAVAGE KILLS HIMSELF?!"
"Have you read the book? The entire point of the book..."
"TWICE! I'VE READ IT TWICE!"
"Are you sure..."
"No way does the Savage kill himself, I've read it twice, how could I have missed it?"
"...look again."
And so I did. And it said something in the last paragraph about someone seeing his feet hanging, i.e. he had hung himself. But there's some flowery description of compass needle points, which I now realise was the metaphor describing the way his body swung...
Oh dear.
Kate thought it was hillarious. "Would have been more funny if we had been discussing it in the lesson." Oh well. I think I had been too excited about reaching the end, and didn't bother paying close attention.
I'm such an idiot. No wonder I thought the book lacked tension.
Wave at trains! | and I'll wear glass shoes...and plastic wrap
