Favourite Aldous Huxley Book?

[Stonebolt]

Hi, I'm not well read but I think I'll enjoy changing that. As I was reading the philosophy of Eckhart Tolle, (love him) I saw that he likes Aldous Huxley's book Island. According to him, the book is about a utopia where people are "actually sane." Knowing that he was the writer of Brave New World, i googled him for more information. I found out that Island is sort of Huxley's "anti-BNW." The utopia to complement his distopia. Wiki mentioned that in BNW, the populace is drugged to pacify them and keep them in line, whereas in Island, people sometimes take drugs for self discovery and spiritual purposes. I find the idea of two books by the same author that compare how the same tool can be used for both good and evil to be interesting. Huxley's philosophy looks interesting in general and I'd really like to read these two books together.

I was wondering what people around here think of as their favorite by him and why?

[Clockdeth]

If you have already read BNW, then read Ape and Essence. If not definitely read BNW first.

Once you've read both, you can also read a book called Brave World Revisited, which is an essay non-sequential to BNW.

[dfloyd]

Crome Yellow and Point Counter Point.

[YW1990]

Eyeless in Gaza is my favorite Huxley book. His precision and accuracy ( to me anyhow ) of writing about experience is truly sharp and intense. I also enjoy his works because of the visceral aspect of them. He manages successfully to combine lucidity with emotion well. In other words, he writes with a logical accuracy that manages to sound emotionally charged.

[hypatia_]

My all-time fave is 'Island,' and you're right, it is the counterpoint to BNW and Orwell's 1984, and just a great example of utopian literature in general.

I am excited to check out 'Eyeless in Gaza' and 'The Art Of Seeing;' apparently he was able to recover from severe vision loss. He also has a lot of literature on experimentation with psychadelics; check out the 'Doors of Perception.'