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Olive Tree
This is one of the best collections of essays that Mr. Huxley has ever made. The title-piece is a completely new departure in technique from anything he has written a meditation, darting from topic to topic, on the olive tree, and the associations which it has for the author. His now famous Introduction to the letters of D.H. Lawrence is included; there is an essay entitled 'Justifications' which gives comic instances of the rationalisation of irrational impulses, and analyses the mechanism of justification; there is an essay on Thomas Henry Huxley as a literary man---and as anyone who has read the Diary of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake can testify, the great scientist's charm and craftsmanship were both considerable---a long essay which considers the influence of books and propaganda; an essay on 'English Snobbery', 'Time and the Machine' and other diverse subjects, all of which are treated with the wit and the learning to which Mr. Huxley has made us accustomed.
This description is from the first-edition dust jacket (1935)
This description is from the first-edition dust jacket (1935)
- GenresNonfictionEssays
307 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1935
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127 people want to read
About the author
Aldous Huxley
970 books13.8k followersAldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.
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August 23, 2016
The theme of this volume of Huxley essays seems be his well-known pacifism, but focusing less on politics, and more on the psychology of individuals. Notables such as T. H. Huxley and Aldous' great friend D. H. Lawrence are considered, and there are some brilliant comments on the nature of Language, Orthodoxy, and the use of Justifications in personal philosophies and religions. The general feeling Huxley seems to be trying to evoke is that human existence is mad, very individual, and without much direction or point, and that serious conflict between individuals, for whatever reason, can never really be justified. Brilliant as ever.
JM 15/08/16
JM 15/08/16
Displaying 1 of 1 review