Set in London in 2540, the 7th century After Ford, Brave New World presents a future in which genetically engineered babies are produced on assembly lines, the social and economic divide between the haves and the have nots is legally enforced and discontent is quelled by advertising, medication, sex and entertainment. Brave New World is also an astonishingly prescient novel, foretelling advances in each of these areas that were as much as a half-century away. The world it presents, however, is viewed through a much darker lens, informed by the writer’s growing anxieties about the direction of political, social and scientific progress. Published in 1932, Brave New World marks the apogee of Huxley’s abilities as a satirist. Huxley’s greatest work, however, was still to come.Įnsconced in his recently purchased villa in the South of France, in late 1931 Huxley began work on what is now widely considered to be one of the Western canon's most important novels. While traveling about Europe with his family for the next several years, Huxley produced the commercially successful novels Antic Hay (1923), Those Barren Leaves (1925) and Point Counter Point (1928), which, like Crome, were satires of contemporary society and conventional morality. Although the book's publication in 1921 angered many of his Garsington acquaintances, it also established Huxley as an important writer and sold well enough to allow him to pursue his literary destiny. 'Brave New World'Īmidst all of these professional and personal developments, Huxley began work on his novel Crome Yellow, a parody of the intelligentsia and his experiences at Garsington. She gave birth to their son, Matthew, the following year. In 1919 he also made advances in his personal life, marrying Maria Nys. Leveraging this reputation, Huxley contributed articles to such periodicals as The Athenaeum, Vanity Fair and Vogue and published several more collections of poetry as well. With his encyclopedic knowledge, matched only by his wit and skill as a conversationalist, it was at Garsington that Huxley first established his reputation as one of the most significant minds in England. Lawrence, with whom Huxley would develop a lasting friendship. Perhaps more important to his literary aspirations, however, was the time during this period that he spent at Garsington Manor, the home of socialite Lady Ottoline Morrell and a gathering place for intellectuals and writers such as Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, T. He also began to write poetry, and in 1916 he published his first book, a collection of poems titled The Burning Wheel, the same year in which he graduated with honors. Burgeoning WriterĪ brilliant student despite the obstacles of his youth, Huxley earned a scholarship to Balliol College at Oxford University, where he studied English literature, reading with the aid of a magnifying glass and eye drops that dilated his pupils. Fate struck Huxley one more blow in 1914 when his brother Noel committed suicide after struggling with an extended period of depression. As a result, while attending the prestigious prep school Eton, Huxley abandoned his dreams of becoming a scientist and decided to focus on a literary career. Although Huxley did regain some of his sight, he would remain partially blind for the rest of his life and read with great difficulty. In 1908 his mother died of cancer, and in 1911 he was struck blind by the disease keratitis punctata. In adulthood, Huxley’s older brothers, Julian and Andrew, would both become accomplished biologists, and Huxley himself envisioned a future career in science from an early age.īut while he was still a boy, Huxley’s life would be upended by tragedy. Huxley, an early proponent of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution his father, Leonard, was a teacher and writer and his mother, Julia, was a descendant of the English poet Matthew Arnold. The fourth child in a family with a deep intellectual history, his grandfather was the noted biologist and naturalist T. Early LifeĪldous Huxley was born in Godalming, England, on July 26, 1894. Huxley moved to the United States in 1937 and for the rest of his life maintained a prolific output of novels, nonfiction, screenplays and essays. A dark vision of the future, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. He followed with several more equally successful satirical novels before publishing the work for which he is best known, Brave New World. Five years later he published his debut novel Crome Yellow, which brought him his first taste of success. In 1916 he graduated with honors from Balliol College at Oxford University and published a collection of poems. After a serious illness left him partially blind as a youth, Aldous Huxley abandoned his dreams of becoming a scientist to pursue a literary career.
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