This Perfect Day

By: Ira Levin

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

By the author of Rosemary's Baby, a horrifying journey into a future only Ira Levin could imagine...

Considered one of the great dystopian novels - alongside Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange and Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World - Ira Levin's frightening glimpse into the future continues to fascinate listeners even 40 years after publication.

The story is set in a seemingly perfect global society. Uniformity is the defining feature; there is only one language and all ethnic groups have been eugenically merged into one race called "The Family". The world is ruled by a central computer called UniComp that has been programmed to keep every single human on the surface of the Earth in check. People are continually drugged by means of regular injections so that they will remain satisfied and cooperative. They are told where to live, when to eat, whom to marry, when to reproduce. Even the basic facts of nature are subject to the UniComp's will - men do not grow facial hair, women do not develop breasts, and it only rains at night.

With a vision as frightening as any in the history of the science fiction genre, This Perfect Day is one of Ira Levin's most haunting novels.

©1970 Ira Levin (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Very Good Dystopian Fiction

I really like good dystopian fiction, and was surprised I had never heard of this book. It was one of the better written dystopian novels I have read. I liked the prose, the quite dynamic character development, as well as the interesting world presented. This is a pretty light dystopian story (not like The Road), and it not overtly political (like Animal Farm, 1984, or Brave New World). Some of the material is frankly sexual so may not be appropriate for young readers, otherwise it feels targeted for young adults, but was fine for mature readers. The end was a bit rushed and not fully satisfying. Overall the prose, the world and the characters were well worth the read.

I was surprised this author had also written both “No Time for Sergeants” and “Deathtrap” which were odd favorites of mine, as well as “Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Stepford Wives”, and “The Boys from Brazil” which I also liked.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Well....

Reasons why I rated this as “high” as a 3* and not lower as I think it probably deserves:
1) The writing is actually really good
2) Writing a book and publishing it is not easy and anyone who is able to do that is awesome
3) The story idea is good and unique
4) Satisfying ending
5) I recommend reading despite the things I’m about to mention

Why it probably deserves less: (some minor spoilers)
1) if the main character was meant to be liked I would be shocked. He’s rude, violent, demanding, abusive
2) No way in hell would a women fall in love with a man after being not only raped but treated the way Chip treated her
3) at times I felt like this was written by a horny 15-year-old boy because of the immature references to sex and “bad words“

The reasons I finished this was because it was intriguing enough to listen to but I often found myself frustrated and offended. Also the narrator was amazing to listen to.

#unique #dystopian #amazingreader #revolution #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

As a dystopia it could definitely be more dystopic

Plot-wise, it's not that bad. But as a dystopia, it could definitely be more dystopic. I don't want to go into any details now so as not to spoil anything, but this is one of those rare books that I believe should have been 50 pages shorter (not necessarily literally 50 pages, but you get what I mean). I felt that many details were nicely written and incorporated into the plot, but the general, darker, dystopic aspects of the book seem to be lacking originality. Otherwise, the book is easy and pleasant to read, at least as pleasant as dystopias go.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good premise, but falls apart at the end

What did you like best about This Perfect Day? What did you like least?

I liked the idea behind the story, it was interesting to explore the topic of technological harmony.

What could Ira Levin have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I thought that the end was poorly developed, after so much oversight of every life in the family it's hard to imagine that the lead character would have so much freedom to pull off the actions at the end. Not to mention he seems to care little for the life he left behind.

What about Kevin T. Collins’s performance did you like?

The reading performance is quite good, with distinguishable voices for all the main characters.

Was This Perfect Day worth the listening time?

If I had to do it over again, I think I would pick a different selection. I really enjoyed the first half of the book though...tough call.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

wow!

what an interesting and unique story. I was not expecting the twists and the story kept me on the edge of my seat!

Terrific, I would recommend this book to my friend

The narration made the book easy to get through, although the srory.line got a little muddled.

its 1970s is showing

It is profoundly 1970s, anti-communist, and condones rape. It would not be tolerated as a modern book. However, it is quite interesting from a historical perspective.

Love this book!

I have always loved this book. Read it many times. Having it read to me was a treat. The narrator was wonderful. He was so good I got caught up in the story and forgot I was being read to. You won’t be disappointed.

very enjoyable if you like dystopian fiction

The first few hours reminded me alot of Brave new world and i think the author got some inspiration there. In itself thats not bad since the book is far from a copy. For a book in this genre its light reading, it feels dystopian but on the other hand ppl dont have it that bad.

narration was ok if you overlook a few minor mistakes. I loved the way how he spoke french.

great story, didn't care for the narrator as much.

great story, didn't care for the narrator as much. still recommend as a good listenable story