Aldous Huxley

Total words: 1625
Aldous Huxley, English novelist, established himself as one of the premiere fiction writers of the twentieth century. Such works as Brave New World and Doors of Perception sparked positive reviews from critics and readers across the globe. He was born on July 26, 1894, in Godalming, Surrey, England. Ever since he was very young, Huxley's peers and family considered him to be "different". This was not necessarily a bad thing to anyone. Aldous' brother considered this to be a form of "superiority". It was a good life for Aldous, as he was a part of a family that was considered to be some of the most distinguished members of that part of the ruling class in England that made of the intellectual elite. His first real family tragedy was at the age of fourteen when his mother died of cancer. All of his success took place even though he was stricken with keratitis and became nearly blind at the age of sixteen. Not long after his vision became impaired, Huxley entered the literary world by attending Oxford. He met with writers such as Lytton Strachey and Bertrand Russell, who got him off to a good start with his writing career. He retained enough eyesight to read with difficulty, and in 1916 got through college, graduating from Ballial College, Oxford. Here, he learned to write with elegance and wit, which earned him even more respect and an exceptional fan base for the remainder of his writing career.

In 1916 Huxley published his first book, a collection of poems, which was called The Burning Wheel. Over the next twenty years, he released four more very popular novels before releasing Brave New World in 1932. This was definitely Aldous Huxley's most popular book ever. It was about a futuristic utopian society. In this "utopia", human beings are scientifically created in labs from cells, and they are brainwashed from a very young age to conform to the standards of the world. A drug, soma, is taken to ease people's pain and unhappiness. If someone is considered to be "unhappy", they are sent away from the larger society to live on a desolate island with other people of the same kind. The Utopians go to great lengths to deny the unpleasantness of death, and to find perpetual happiness. But the cost is very great. By denying themselves unpleasant emotions they deny themselves deeply joyous ones as well. Their happiness can be continued endlessly by taking the drug soma by making love, or by playing Obstacle Golf, but this happiness is essentially shallow. Standing in contrast to the Utopians are the Savages on the Reservation in New Mexico: poor, dirty, subject to the ills of old age and painful death, but, Huxley seems to believe, blessed with a happiness that while still transient is deeper and more real than that enjoyed by the inhabitants of London and the rest of the World State. Because Brave New World describes a dystopia, it is often compared with George Orwell's 1984, another novel you may want to read, which also describes a possible horrible world of the future. The world of 1984 is one of tyranny, terror, and perpetual warfare. Orwell wrote it in 1948, shortly after the Allies had defeated Nazi Germany in World War II and just as the West was discovering the full dimensions of the evils of Soviet totalitarianism. It's important to remember that Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931, before Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and before Joseph Stalin started the purges that killed millions of people in the Soviet Union. He therefore had no immediate real-life reason to make tyranny and terror major elements of his story. Nevertheless, with Huxley's brilliance, he made it one of the greatest stories of the twentieth century.

In the 1950s Huxley became famous for his interest in psychedelic or mind-expanding drugs like mescaline and LSD, which he apparently took a dozen times over ten years. Sybille Bedford says he was looking for a drug that would allow an escape from the self and that if taken with caution would be physically and socially harmless. He put his beliefs in such a drug and in sanity into several books. Two, based on his experiences taking mescaline under supervision, were nonfiction: Doors of Perception (1954) and Heaven and Hell (1956). Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history. Huxley sometimes publicly claimed that LSD, for some people, is a drug that can bring out the creativity in people. Not necessarily while you are on the drug, but afterwards. He says it will make people look at the world in an entirely different way, and once they have gotten over the drug, people will often times want to write about their experience with lysergic acid. Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history. Huxley sometimes publicly claimed that LSD, for some people, is a drug that can bring out the creativity in people.

Huxley's view on religion was quite scientific and rational. If someone is considered to be "unhappy", they are sent away from the larger society to live on a desolate island with other people of the same kind. The Utopians go to great lengths to deny the unpleasantness of death, and to find perpetual happiness. But the cost is very great. By denying themselves unpleasant emotions they deny themselves deeply joyous ones as well. Their happiness can be continued endlessly by taking the drug soma by making love, or by playing Obstacle Golf, but this happiness is essentially shallow. Standing in contrast to the Utopians are the Savages on the Reservation in New Mexico: poor, dirty, subject to the ills of old age and painful death, but, Huxley seems to believe, blessed with a happiness that while still transient is deeper and more real than that enjoyed by the inhabitants of London and the rest of the World State. Because Brave New World describes a dystopia, it is often compared with George Orwell's 1984, another novel you may want to read, which also describes a possible horrible world of the future. The world of 1984 is one of tyranny, terror, and perpetual warfare. Orwell wrote it in 1948, shortly after the Allies had defeated Nazi Germany in World War II and just as the West was discovering the full dimensions of the evils of Soviet totalitarianism. Huxley seems to believe, blessed with a happiness that while still transient is deeper and more real than that enjoyed by the inhabitants of London and the rest of the World State.

Huxley died in Los Angeles on November 22, 1963. In the media news of his death were overshadowed by the assassination of President Kennedy. He put his beliefs in such a drug and in sanity into several books. Two, based on his experiences taking mescaline under supervision, were nonfiction: Doors of Perception (1954) and Heaven and Hell (1956). Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history. Huxley sometimes publicly claimed that LSD, for some people, is a drug that can bring out the creativity in people. Not necessarily while you are on the drug, but afterwards. He says it will make people look at the world in an entirely different way, and once they have gotten over the drug, people will often times want to write about their experience with lysergic acid. Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history. This was not necessarily a bad thing to anyone. Aldous' brother considered this to be a form of "superiority". It was a good life for Aldous, as he was a part of a family that was considered to be some of the most distinguished members of that part of the ruling class in England that made of the intellectual elite. His first real family tragedy was at the age of fourteen when his mother died of cancer. All of his success took place even though he was stricken with keratitis and became nearly blind at the age of sixteen. Not long after his vision became impaired, Huxley entered the literary world by attending Oxford.

A lot happened in the life of Aldous Huxley. There is no doubt that he was a very brilliant and motivated individual with a passion for writing. Some readers have read those books as encouragements to experiment freely with drugs, but Huxley warned of the dangers of such experiments in an appendix he wrote to The Devils of Loudun (1952), a psychological study of an episode in French history. This was not necessarily a bad thing to anyone. Aldous' brother considered this to be a form of "superiority". It was a good life for Aldous, as he was a part of a family that was considered to be some of the most distinguished members of that part of the ruling class in England that made of the intellectual elite. Although he has passed on, his writing and philosophies will live on forever.

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