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Facial Justice

By L. P. Hartley
Penguin Classics
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.39 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 325 ratings, 53 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Facial Justice by L. P. Hartley, set in a dystopian future, a society obsessed with uniformity enforces strict conformity in appearance and behaviour. Faces are surgically altered to eliminate feelings of envy among the populace. The protagonist, Jael 97, challenges the oppressive regime as she navigates a world where individuality is suppressed in favour of enforced equality.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy dystopian tales with a satirical edge, exploring themes of enforced equality and individuality suppression. Set in a future society where emotional expression and personal appearance are regulated, it offers a unique critique of conformity and the quest for sameness. If you are intrigued by nuanced social commentary wrapped in a speculative narrative, this might be just the read for you.

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Jael 97 is an Alpha. Deemed over-privileged for her beauty, she is compelled to report to the Ministry of Facial Justice, where her face will be reconstructed. For Jael lives in the New State, created out of the devastation of the Third World War.

Jael 97 is an Alpha. Deemed over-privileged for her beauty, she is compelled to report to the Ministry of Facial Justice, where her face will be reconstructed.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A darkly entertaining vision of human weakness, envy, and governmental interference taken to their most chilling extremes.

You'll never be happy until you can think and feel and look like other people.

Jael 97 is an Alpha. Deemed over-privileged for her beauty, she is compelled to report to the Ministry of Facial Justice, where her face will be reconstructed.

For Jael lives in the New State, created out of the devastation of the Third World War. Under the rule of the Darling Dictator, citizens must wear sackcloth and ashes, and only a 17.5% quotum of personality is permitted to each. Anything that inspires envy is forbidden.

But Jael cannot suppress her rebellious spirit. Secretly, she starts to reassert the rights of the individual and decides to hunt down the faceless Dictator.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Facial Justice by L. P. Hartley is often described as an exquisitely entertaining fantasy with an exhilarating narrative. Reviewers highlight its brilliant depiction of potential future societal trends in the British welfare state. The novel is noted for its strong moral undercurrents and the expert delivery of its dystopian details.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141395067

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 September 2014

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 181g

Pages: 240

Collections

Classic Fiction Classic Science Fiction Fiction General Fiction L. P. Hartley Penguin Books Penguin Classics Penguin Classics: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Sci-Fi & Fantasy Science Fiction Series: Penguin Modern Classics

About the Author

Leslie Poles Hartley was born in 1895 and educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford. He is best known for Facial Justice, the Eustace and Hilda trilogy and The Go-Between, which won the Heinemann Foundation Prize in 1954 and whose opening sentence has become almost proverbial- 'The past is a foreign country- they do things differently there.' He was appointed a CBE in 1955, having won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in addition to the Heinemann. He died in 1972.

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