Rating: 
Summary: I love this book!
Review: The narration of this story is more simplistic than Brave New World, but keep in mind that Jacob's Hands was written as a screenplay, not a novel. Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood have created a wonderful story and though the reading is easy, the questions brought to life in this tale are anything but. Jacob is the shy, gentle antagonist (who reminds me of John Steinbeck's Lenny)blessed and cursed simultaneously with the gift of healing. Exploited and heart-broken, he must determine the true benefit of mending the broken bodies brought to him when he can do nothing to repair their souls. Ideas in this story range from the physical hardships of the lame, to the role of spirituality in healing, to first loves and betrayal. Enjoyable and thought-provoking, I recommend this book to anyone who likes to ponder over Huxley's logic, or just enjoys to read.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: The narration of this story is more simplistic than Brave New World, but keep in mind that Jacob's Hands was written as a screenplay, not a novel. Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood have created a wonderful story and though the reading is easy, the questions brought to life in this tale are anything but. Jacob is the shy, gentle antagonist (who reminds me of John Steinbeck's Lenny)blessed and cursed simultaneously with the gift of healing. Exploited and heart-broken, he must determine the true benefit of mending the broken bodies brought to him when he can do nothing to repair their souls. Ideas in this story range from the physical hardships of the lame, to the role of spirituality in healing, to first loves and betrayal. Enjoyable and thought-provoking, I recommend this book to anyone who likes to ponder over Huxley's logic, or just enjoys to read.
Rating:
Summary: A touching fable on healing
Review: This screenplay is the collaborative effort of Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley. This work has an unpolished feel to it and may have been an unfinished work. However, the stark and unadorned quality of the work adds rather than detracts from its message.It is a fable about a ranch hand, Jacob, who discovers that he can heal animals with his touch. The owner of the ranch is a widowed college professor with a physically handicapped adult daughter. The professor resents his daughter and wastes no effort in hiding his feelings. The daughter desperately wants freedom and independence. She asks Jacob to heal her. The screenplay's uncomplicated message is that physical health alone does not make a person whole or happy. This work is unlike anything else by Huxley in its simplicity and ambiguous final paragraphs. It is a short work and is easily finished in one or two sittings.
Rating:
Summary: A touching fable on healing
Review: This screenplay is the collaborative effort of Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley. This work has an unpolished feel to it and may have been an unfinished work. However, the stark and unadorned quality of the work adds rather than detracts from its message. It is a fable about a ranch hand, Jacob, who discovers that he can heal animals with his touch. The owner of the ranch is a widowed college professor with a physically handicapped adult daughter. The professor resents his daughter and wastes no effort in hiding his feelings. The daughter desperately wants freedom and independence. She asks Jacob to heal her. The screenplay's uncomplicated message is that physical health alone does not make a person whole or happy. This work is unlike anything else by Huxley in its simplicity and ambiguous final paragraphs. It is a short work and is easily finished in one or two sittings.
Rating: 
Summary: little known gem from Huxley and Isherwood
Review: We owe it to Sharon Stone that we even have this short fable at all -- she found it thanks to her perseverance tracking down a reference made to the screenplay. I agree with the writer below who notes that Jacob reminds him of Lenny in Steinbeck's work. He's not retarded, but he's immune to the lures of wealth and privilege. Despite the material promises stemming from his incredible ability to heal, he just wants a simple life with Sharon, the fallen character. Jacob has always loved Sharon -- the moment he cures her of her childhood disease, she literally runs off to be a singer. When Jacob finds her years later, they have the chance to go back and live in the "desert" (so many biblical allusions and overtones), but Sharon cannot give up the money left to her by a rich benefactor who was cured by Jacob but killed by his own inability to give up his disease. The writing is vivid and reads very much like the screenplay that it is. There is something very moving about Jacob's simplicity and inability to be corrupted. A powerful little fable, worthy of rediscovery.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable fiction, its cinematic roots all too obvious.
Review: When I read the book, I hadn't realized it was the result of a film project. But in restrospect that makes all the sense in the world. We meet Jacob in the 'present', shift to the 'story' which explains it all, and then return to the 'present'. We follow our protagonist through the adventures presented by his natural healing powers and his genuine love for a dreaming young women. Written in a clear straightfoward style, it was all too easy to forsee the results of each action. Description leads to the obvioius mental visualization, very cinematic. The main characters are well drawn, the plot flows smoothly, and the book is a compelling read. Not particularly challenging, just simple enjoyable recreational fiction.
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