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Aldous Huxley Complete Essays #5
Complete Essays, Vol. V: 1939-1956
In this fifth of six volumes in a major publishing enterprise, Huxley continues to explore the role of science and technology in modern culture, and seeks a final level of foundational Truth that might provide the basis for his growing interest in religious mysticism. His philosophy of history took its final form in this period. At their best, Huxley's essays stand among the finest examples of the genre in modern literature. "A remarkable publishing event...beautifully produced and authoritatively edited." Jeffrey Hart. "He writes with an easy assurance and a command of classical and modern cross-references," Christopher Hitchens, Los Angeles Times. "There is much to enjoy in these volumes...they are important as a document of his times, and of a window on to a stage in the evolution of his mind." Economist. "You have to marvel at the range of Huxley s] interests and the intelligence with which he explores them....What we experience in this high journalism is a man of intelligence, sensibility, and formidable erudition engaging his era and struggling for equilibrium while sharing the widespread perception that something ghastly has happened to European civilization...." Washington Times
- GenresEssays
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
111 people want to read
About the author
Aldous Huxley
960 books13.7k followersAldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 27, 2018
I loved it! He is a multi-dimensional genius.
January 11, 2026
"Dual Crisis" Essay is one I keep coming back to throughout my years.
August 13, 2018
I completed volume 4 of this series probably ten years ago, so it's been a while since I was wading into Huxley's essays. I have read a great deal of Huxley's output, both fiction and non-fiction, over the years, so I knew fairly well what I was getting into, but I still found this book to be punishing and a difficult undertaking.
The bulk of the material in this volume is from two of Huxley's collections of essays: Adonis and the Alphabet and Themes and Variations. Also included is the Doors of Perception, the long essay for which the band the Doors were to take their name.
Huxley is at this juncture in his career more or less fully immersed in the mystical and drug-induced transcendence seeking leg of his journey. The essays range over a variety of topics, but concern over the earth's population is a big theme, as well as seeking ways to rectify man's experience with reality as it exists with his perception of reality as as a series of symbols, and the concluding section deals with thoughts about various artists, mostly painters and musical composers.
It's clear that Huxley is enormously intelligent and the breadth of his reading is expansive. On the other hand, many of the essays seem to get sidetracked or just be generally meandering, especially when the reader is coming to them devoid of context 70+ years after their publication. I don't think you can really gin up much an argument that these essays are of interest to a general audience, though it's laudable that someone has taken the initiative to collect them all. No doubt it was very hard to find many of them prior to their re-publication in this format.
The bulk of the material in this volume is from two of Huxley's collections of essays: Adonis and the Alphabet and Themes and Variations. Also included is the Doors of Perception, the long essay for which the band the Doors were to take their name.
Huxley is at this juncture in his career more or less fully immersed in the mystical and drug-induced transcendence seeking leg of his journey. The essays range over a variety of topics, but concern over the earth's population is a big theme, as well as seeking ways to rectify man's experience with reality as it exists with his perception of reality as as a series of symbols, and the concluding section deals with thoughts about various artists, mostly painters and musical composers.
It's clear that Huxley is enormously intelligent and the breadth of his reading is expansive. On the other hand, many of the essays seem to get sidetracked or just be generally meandering, especially when the reader is coming to them devoid of context 70+ years after their publication. I don't think you can really gin up much an argument that these essays are of interest to a general audience, though it's laudable that someone has taken the initiative to collect them all. No doubt it was very hard to find many of them prior to their re-publication in this format.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews