Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894-1963) was an English writer, essayist and scientist. His greatest popularity came with his novel "A New Wonderful World" which is a dystopia.
Author's biography
Huxley came from a family with literary traditions. Both his father (Leonard Huxley) and grandfather (Thomas Huxley) authored many highly regarded essays and articles.
Aldous graduated from the prestigious men's school Eton College and then went on to study at Oxford University. He studied medicine and philosophy, which had a major impact on his later life. Completing his degree in philosophy allowed him to write many highly regarded essays, while his interest in medical science was evident in his ongoing research on psychoactive substances (mainly LSD).
Huxley did not participate in World War I due to a progressive visual impairment. It was feared that he would lose his sight completely, which forced him to stop his studies and learn Braille. After a few years, he was able to resume his studies, and the defect began to be corrected. Aldous traveled extensively and lived in Europe and South America for several years. At the end of his life, he settled in the United States.
Creativity
The author's work was greatly influenced by the suicide of his brother and the death of his mother. Although he began working as a teacher at Eton after graduation, he became involved with the literary magazine "Athenaeum" for a longer period of time, and was also a theater critic for the "Westminster Gazzette". In his literary career, he initially focused on publishing poetry books. After a time, he began to create prose, which brought him popularity in the community. Peter Firchow, one of the most prominent scholars of Huxley's work, describes him as a "reluctant modernist." His devotions set in the present, were immersed in the ideas of the past. He is also counted among the representatives of the New Age movement.
Among the author's most highly regarded publications are:
Novels:
- Crome Yellow (1921)
- The Brave New World (1932)
- After many years (1939)
- Island (1962)
Essays:
- Music by Night (1931)
- Perpetual Philosophy (1945)
- Doors of Perception (1954)
- Heaven and Hell (1956)
- A New Wonderful World - 30 Years Later - Divergence Report (1958)
Sources:
D. Sawyer, Aldous Huxley: A Biography, 2002.
*Code does not include the PROMOTIONS category.