This idea about shallow engagement with emotions is interesting - I hadn’t thought of the book quite in that way before. I didn’t realise Huxley had lost his eyesight. I wonder if this contributed to feelings of isolation that we see in his characters? Such a fascinating author. Really like Island and Perennial Philosophy. Thanks for this engaging look at his life through loneliness.
I was slightly obsessed with BNW as a kid, not sure why - it probably coincided with a brief flirtation with subliminal learning, hypnosis and astral projection... Did come away with a name for my Substack though. :)
This was excellent. I barely remember the book from high school, so it was a nice refresher. It also had me relating it to the show Severance (have you watched?). Corporate anomie, mind-erasing, and loneliness.
I liked the Darwin connection (I’m a big fan) and the tidbit about him dying on Kennedy’s assassination date - probably the worst day to die on if you want anyone memorializing your life. Wow.
Wonderful post. I am a big Huxley fan and have read all of his work, multiple times. My favorite book of his is "Island." I also have to say that Huxley's spiritual writing is some of the most fascinating of his work. There's a book of essays called, "Huxley and God," which includes a lot of work published in Vedanta Magazine. Huxley was very close to J. Krishnamurti who he met in L.A. in 1938. They remained friends for life. I had the pleasure in the late 90's of studying A Course In Miracles with Tara Singh, who was the first teacher of ACIM and Singh regaled attendees of the retreat with stories about both Huxley and Krishnamurti after I enquired about their friendship.
Lovely. Now I’m thinking about the pull of loneliness and the adjacent pull toward “transcendent experiences”-- from separation to ultimate unity. Thank you for this...
Brave New World and 1984 are two books which affected me deeply. Shockingly so. I read each of them one time (and in both cases I couldn't put the book down, so it was a non-stop reading) and had to distract myself with something to stop anxiety as an aftermath of what I've read. Although I'm still staying away from rereading 1984 (it's crazily accurate in describing the current state of affairs), I may reread Brave New World. If I'll do that, I will keep in mind the concept of loneliness.
Hi Laura, I am curious what exactly you see linking Huxley to "cults, MLMs, and the life coaching industry." I ask because Huxley connection to Vedanta and Buddhism I believe was primarily derived from his friendship with J. Krishnamurti.
Thanks for clarifying. In thinking deeper about what you said, I can see where cult-like "seminars" EST and Landmark could have derived influences from Huxley, and others.
I had a feeling... So way back in the late 90's I studied A Course in Miracles with it's first teacher, Tara Singh. My then boyfriend was into Landmark and dragged me to 2 seminars, so I took him to a retreat with Tara Singh. My Landmark guy, thought he was way ahead of the curve, quite enlightened, and he was quite put out when Tara Singh saw something in me and told me "I had the eyes to see, the ears to listen and needed to use them wisely."
At one of the Landmark seminars I went to, the speaker singled me out to tell me, "You don't know what you don't know." I responded, "You don't know what I do know."
My older sister did EST and that changed her in many ways, most of which were not good.
This idea about shallow engagement with emotions is interesting - I hadn’t thought of the book quite in that way before. I didn’t realise Huxley had lost his eyesight. I wonder if this contributed to feelings of isolation that we see in his characters? Such a fascinating author. Really like Island and Perennial Philosophy. Thanks for this engaging look at his life through loneliness.
No problem, thank you for taking the time to read this.
I was slightly obsessed with BNW as a kid, not sure why - it probably coincided with a brief flirtation with subliminal learning, hypnosis and astral projection... Did come away with a name for my Substack though. :)
This was excellent. I barely remember the book from high school, so it was a nice refresher. It also had me relating it to the show Severance (have you watched?). Corporate anomie, mind-erasing, and loneliness.
I liked the Darwin connection (I’m a big fan) and the tidbit about him dying on Kennedy’s assassination date - probably the worst day to die on if you want anyone memorializing your life. Wow.
Thank you for reading 💕
Wonderful post. I am a big Huxley fan and have read all of his work, multiple times. My favorite book of his is "Island." I also have to say that Huxley's spiritual writing is some of the most fascinating of his work. There's a book of essays called, "Huxley and God," which includes a lot of work published in Vedanta Magazine. Huxley was very close to J. Krishnamurti who he met in L.A. in 1938. They remained friends for life. I had the pleasure in the late 90's of studying A Course In Miracles with Tara Singh, who was the first teacher of ACIM and Singh regaled attendees of the retreat with stories about both Huxley and Krishnamurti after I enquired about their friendship.
Outstanding! Thank you
Well, some of those themes sound familiar.... I'm ashamed to say I've never read this book, but now I want to!
Lovely. Now I’m thinking about the pull of loneliness and the adjacent pull toward “transcendent experiences”-- from separation to ultimate unity. Thank you for this...
Brave New World and 1984 are two books which affected me deeply. Shockingly so. I read each of them one time (and in both cases I couldn't put the book down, so it was a non-stop reading) and had to distract myself with something to stop anxiety as an aftermath of what I've read. Although I'm still staying away from rereading 1984 (it's crazily accurate in describing the current state of affairs), I may reread Brave New World. If I'll do that, I will keep in mind the concept of loneliness.
You’re so so sweet and very welcome x
Hi Laura, I am curious what exactly you see linking Huxley to "cults, MLMs, and the life coaching industry." I ask because Huxley connection to Vedanta and Buddhism I believe was primarily derived from his friendship with J. Krishnamurti.
Hi Laura,
Thanks for clarifying. In thinking deeper about what you said, I can see where cult-like "seminars" EST and Landmark could have derived influences from Huxley, and others.
I had a feeling... So way back in the late 90's I studied A Course in Miracles with it's first teacher, Tara Singh. My then boyfriend was into Landmark and dragged me to 2 seminars, so I took him to a retreat with Tara Singh. My Landmark guy, thought he was way ahead of the curve, quite enlightened, and he was quite put out when Tara Singh saw something in me and told me "I had the eyes to see, the ears to listen and needed to use them wisely."
At one of the Landmark seminars I went to, the speaker singled me out to tell me, "You don't know what you don't know." I responded, "You don't know what I do know."
My older sister did EST and that changed her in many ways, most of which were not good.