December Books 3) Eyeless in Gaza, by Aldous Huxley
(If you're wondering what happened to December Books 1 and 2, they were unpublished manuscripts that I read for a friend. Both are strongly recommended, but they are not out yet.)
Apart from Brave New World, the only other Huxley novel I had read was Crome Yellow back when I was a student (and I remember very little about it). Eyeless in Gaza combines some fairly brutal commentary about lefties in British politics in the late 1930s, but tells the story in a narrative which is sliced up between decades, several different strands interlacing. There are some particularly grim scenes, involving a dog, an amputation, and a suicide, which are a striking contrast with the theoretical philosophising of the main character. I thought this had some of Huxley's better women characters as well, with a frank depiction of shifting relationships among a group of friends. Nothing sfnal to see here, but recognisably from the same source as Brave New World.
Apart from Brave New World, the only other Huxley novel I had read was Crome Yellow back when I was a student (and I remember very little about it). Eyeless in Gaza combines some fairly brutal commentary about lefties in British politics in the late 1930s, but tells the story in a narrative which is sliced up between decades, several different strands interlacing. There are some particularly grim scenes, involving a dog, an amputation, and a suicide, which are a striking contrast with the theoretical philosophising of the main character. I thought this had some of Huxley's better women characters as well, with a frank depiction of shifting relationships among a group of friends. Nothing sfnal to see here, but recognisably from the same source as Brave New World.