Book description
The dilettantes who frequent Lady Tantamount's society parties are
determined to push forward the moral frontiers of the age. Marjorie has
left her family to live with Walter; Walter is in love with the luscious
but cold-hearted Lucy who devours every man in sight; the repulsive
Spandrell deflowers young girls for the sake of entertainment and all
the while everyone is engaged in dazzling and witty conversation.
Aldous Huxley was born on 26th July 1894 near Godalming, Surrey. He
began writing poetry and short stories in his early twenties, but it was
his first novel, 'Crome Yellow' (1921), which established his literary
reputation. This was swiftly followed by 'Antic Hay' (1923), 'Those
Barren Leaves' (1925) and 'Point Counter Point' (1928) - bright,
brilliant satires in which Huxley wittily but ruthlessly passed
judgement on the shortcomings of contemporary society. For most of the
1920s Huxley lived in Italy and an account of his experiences there can
be found in 'Along The Road' (1925). The great novels of ideas,
including his most famous work 'Brave New World' (published in 1932 this
warned against the dehumanising aspects of scientific and material
'progress') and the pacifist novel 'Eyeless in Gaza' (1936) were
accompanied by a series of wise and brilliant essays, collected in
volume form under titles such as 'Music at Night' (1931) and 'Enda and
Means' (1937). In 1937, at the height of his fame, Huxley left Europe to
live in California, working for a time as a screenwriter in Hollywood.
As the West braced itself for war, Huxley came increasingly to believe
that the key to solving the world's problems lay in changing the
individual through mystical enlightenment. The exploration of the inner
life through mysticism and hallucinogenic drugs was to dominate his work
for the rest of his life. His beliefs found expression in both fiction
('Time Must Have a Stop', 1944 and 'Island', 1962) and non-fiction ('The
Perennial Philosophy', 1945, 'Grey Eminence', 1941 and the famous
account of his first mescalin experience, 'The Doors of Perception',
1954. Huxley died in California on 22nd November 1963.
