Paul's review
The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley
Huxley is a great author but he runs into the same issues as any other author who tries to put down in writing the psychedelic experience.
Psychedelia is best experienced rather than read and the recall of the experience ought to be communicated via haiku rather than prose. Huxley, and other authors, ought to follow the example of the Japanese culture who long ago specified that satori (sudden insight, look it up) is to be described via haiku rather than prose.
The best prose description of a psychedelic experience i ever read (and there are a few) is actually in the book Pikhal. It's a tough "book" to find and even tougher to get through but there is a chapter where Shulgin's (the lead "character") wife describes her first experience. It is excellent.
Psychedelia is best experienced rather than read and the recall of the experience ought to be communicated via haiku rather than prose. Huxley, and other authors, ought to follow the example of the Japanese culture who long ago specified that satori (sudden insight, look it up) is to be described via haiku rather than prose.
The best prose description of a psychedelic experience i ever read (and there are a few) is actually in the book Pikhal. It's a tough "book" to find and even tougher to get through but there is a chapter where Shulgin's (the lead "character") wife describes her first experience. It is excellent.
