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Dear reader,

Predicting the future is never easy, but there’s no shortage of fiction writers willing to have a go. Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel Brave New World, however, stands out as one of a handful that have become part of the literary canon and remained in our cultural consciousness.

Perhaps that’s because Huxley was more unusual in his prediction of a totalitarian state that uses science and pleasure to lull its citizens into submission rather than force.

At a time when powerful algorithms now easily distract us from independent or critical thought, it certainly raises the question of who gave a better glimpse of the future - Huxley or George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the novel that Brave New World always seems to be paired with. 

Is Huxley’s Soma-tinted, consumerist vision a more convincing one of the future than Orwell’s world of thoughtcrime, newspeak and Big Brother? Tell us more by voting in our poll and sharing any additional thoughts in the comments

Within this week’s Book Notes, as always, you’ll find lots of reading recommendations, further analysis and your thoughts on the world of My Brilliant Friend.

We had a delightful number of responses to Elena Ferrante’s novel. Our question of whether a male novelist can ever truly capture a woman’s inner life certainly stirred some debate. We’ve shared a selection of your responses below. We love hearing your viewpoints and literary analysis, so please do keep sending in your thoughts on the books we’re covering to [email protected].

It’s also fantastic to have more of you here each week and a few of you have asked how you can read previous Book Notes which you may have missed before signing up. The full archive is available on our website (just click on the box in the top right hand corner).

Until next time,

“Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning, truth and beauty can’t.”

One of Mustapha Mond’s best lines. It crystallises the theory that inducing happiness is an effective method of control, a concept which stands in direct opposition to many dystopian novels and, of course, Nineteen Eighty-Four. What quote stayed with you after you finished the book? Email us and let us know.

We’re taking recommendations here to share with the Book Notes community. Tell us what book fellow members should pick up next by sending two or three sentences about your novel of choice and we’ll feature as many as we can in future weeks. Email [email protected].

We can’t wait to see your responses to Brave New World. Write in to [email protected] with ‘review’ in the subject line and tell us…

Your polls

Last week, Tabby and Dominic discussed My Brilliant Friend and the mystery shrouding the pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante – including the popular theory that she is actually a man. When we asked whether men can successfully write about women’s inner lives, you were very divided.

It was an almost even split, with 51.6% agreeing that men can write convincing female characters.

Overall, you scored My Brilliant Friend highly, with 26% of you rating it 10/10.

Should male authors write from a female perspective?

It “doesn’t matter a bean what sex the author is if they are any good,” Nick wrote. Like many of you, he pointed to Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary as examples of women written excellently by men. However, he acknowledged this isn’t always the case:

“Dickens on the other hand falls short in his often pretty crass or sentimental depictions of women as paragons of virtue. Or to take a more modern example, Martin Amis writes men brilliantly (and much of the humour comes from recognition by male readers of the Keith Talent in all of us) but his women never feel remotely authentic. His chum Ian McEwan was much better at this, especially in his later fiction.”

Katherine argued that we should allow writers to explore diverse perspectives. “Let's encourage one another to imagine different experiences than our own and keep growing our empathy skills,” she said. “Also, I would hate to think a woman could only write from personal experience if you applied the same limitations to race or class. Think of what we would miss.”

“Most men fundamentally fail to understand their privilege and the confidence and certainty it produces,” Ellen said. “Many men write women as if they are men…The only male writer that I have found that gives glimpses of understanding women is F. Scott Fitzgerald. I attribute that to his likely acquisition of some of Zelda's writing. ”

Lesley said: “Why should they be able to? The same is true in reverse. The beauty of the relationship in My Brilliant Friend is that it puts into words what many of us can’t in real life. The times we wonder why we are still friends with someone; the tiny slights that only we can mutually understand and why we fiercely protect each other. As a woman, I don’t see this in male relationships which, if such a thing exists, is proof of why I wouldn’t be able to capture it when trying to write from a male POV.”

Another book club audience member wrote: “Kazuo Ishiguro's depiction of female friendship in Never Let Me Go proved to me that men can write about this theme successfully - although do note, not all men. Don't get me started about John le Carré's excruciating depiction of women. But Ishiguro captures the teasing tautness of young female friendship, with its unspoken rivalry and deep loyalty, both beautifully and painfully.”

“I think it can be done,” Raheela said. “It comes down to what female experience a male author is writing about and how much work is done by the male author to educate himself about a woman’s experience in a subject matter. Khalid Hosseini writes female characters in such a devastating way that I forget that it’s a male author…Thank you for another great discussion.”

Alan said it was only when he read Doireann Ní Ghríofa's Ghost in the Throat that he realised he had “never truly been in a woman's mind in a book” until then. “Broadly speaking, I don't think either sex can truly capture the opposite sex's inner life in literature, certainly not in its full richness,” he said.

The best novel of the 21st century?

Helena said: “To me, it is the best novel of the 21st century, and the best novel/series I've ever read. The complexity of the relationship between Lila and Lenu is so honest, and contains more depth than I've ever found between two fictional women. Every sentence in that book mattered. There were moments when I had to stop to just take in the brilliance of a phrase. The series as a whole continues to grow in depth and maturity. I will be rereading these novels throughout the rest of my life.”

Nik agreed: “This truly is a classic in every sense of the word, encompassing the whole of the human experience and doing so masterfully.” She also added that despite being centred on two women, this is a book for all readers. “Many men I’ve recommended it to have enjoyed the story thoroughly,” she said.

A story in four parts

Lots of you wrote in to remind Tabby and Dominic not to judge My Brilliant Friend as a standalone novel, but to consider it as part of a quartet.

“MBF is only the first part of what is actually one novel split into four volumes (like LOTR) and should be read as such,” said Simone. “It may seem underwhelming after reading only the first part, but once you finish all of it it's a subtle masterpiece – a slow-burn but deeply moving epic spanning 60 years, but instead of being about some grand subject like ‘war’, it’s about the everyday wars that we (women especially) fight within our own small lives for agency, love, identity and dignity.”

Unreliable perspectives

Dee considered whether Ferrante’s unreliable narrator loses some of her appeal as the novel goes on. “I wonder if you can really enjoy this as a reread when you realise the narrator IS questionable, whether you can care as much about the characters and believe in them,” she said. “It would be interesting to read Atonement to compare.”

My not-so-brilliant friend

Stewart, who splendidly sent us no less than four reviews of upcoming books, was not a fan of Ferrante. “Finished, thank the maker,” he wrote. “I read this novel for a book club. Unfortunately it reads like someone’s diary where nothing interesting ever happens, where none of the characters are remarkable or likeable and where at the end of the book you think, thank god that’s over with.”

See you next week for For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

The Book Club Team