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Limbo
Limbo (1920), Aldous Huxley's first collection of short fiction, consists of six short stories and a play. "Farcical History of Richard Greenow", "Happily Ever After", "Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers", "Happy Families" (play), "Cynthia", "The Bookshop", "The Death of Lully". (Wikipedia)
157 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1920
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161 people want to read
About the author
Aldous Huxley
953 books13.7k 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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December 22, 2018https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54895
Contents:
FARCICAL HISTORY OF RICHARD GREENOW 1
HAPPILY EVER AFTER 116
EUPOMPUS GAVE SPLENDOUR TO ART BY NUMBERS 192
HAPPY FAMILIES 211
CYNTHIA 245
THE BOOKSHOP 259
THE DEATH OF LULLY 269
July 1, 2020
Aldous' first collection of short fiction, consisting of six short stories and a play.
All in all it's quite a good read and one can see the young Aldous developing his writing. Admittedly, he is incredibly pompous at times, but one does get the feeling in "Bookshop" that he realises this and that he understands that he needs to tone it down a lot if he wants to get his ideas and thoughts across to the masses.
Definitely a must read for all Aldous fans.
Farcical History of Richard Greenow
A rather interesting look at Dissociative Identity Disorder before and into WWI, where one personality is a conscientious objector while the other is firmly on the side of destroying the Hun with extreme predjudice. Add to this that Richard's other personality is female and has complete blackouts when she takes over things get a little out of control for him.
Yes folks, just because someone with DID is male does not mean that their other personalities are going to be male also. It doesn't work like that. One's other personalties are whoever they are and sometimes they will express with different genders to the host.
Superbly written in Aldous' inimitable style.
Happily Ever After
Set in the years of WWI, Aldous introduces us to two young men, both at war, with completely contrasting views on life. I think this is Aldous' way of reminding himself -- and all of us -- to not get lost in dogmatic ideologies and, instead, to grasp and enjoy the joys of life while you're young because you never know if today will be your last.
Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers
One often gets the impression with Aldous that he liked to show off his classical education: "Oooh, hark at me, i know all these ancient Greek people and things."
All the pompous whimsy aside, the only thing really being said here is Aldous didn't much think that meditation was good for a person: "Let's not count breaths, eh."
Happy Families
A play. Very much a thing of its time when it comes to race, displaying Aldous' Victorian heritage to the full.
Cynthia
A little romance short with Aldous stirring in another good load of the "Oooh, hark at me, i know all these ancient Greek people and things." that we had in "Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers".
The Bookshop
A short about an impulse purchase all dressed up in a rather lovely piece of descriptive writing. I felt that the undertones of this was Aldous bemoaning the great unwashed and uncultured, while, at the end, he sees that he can't escape their influence when surrounded on all sides by them: we're all in this shit life together. Our protagonist finally throws his impulse purchase into some bushes.
I find this story very much to have the seed of what Aldous later grew into his life's work. The symbolism of the bookshop with its classical music, fashions, art and books; representing education, privalege and wealth; surrounded on all sides by the working classes, poverty and need. How can one enjoy such fruits when he's reminded and intruded upon, at every moment, that so many don't have these things.
The Death of Lully
Lully is an early christian martyr that is rescued on a passing ship. A well written short but i'm not sure what the message really is. As a devout non-christian, this kind of thing just turns my brain off.
All in all it's quite a good read and one can see the young Aldous developing his writing. Admittedly, he is incredibly pompous at times, but one does get the feeling in "Bookshop" that he realises this and that he understands that he needs to tone it down a lot if he wants to get his ideas and thoughts across to the masses.
Definitely a must read for all Aldous fans.
Farcical History of Richard Greenow
A rather interesting look at Dissociative Identity Disorder before and into WWI, where one personality is a conscientious objector while the other is firmly on the side of destroying the Hun with extreme predjudice. Add to this that Richard's other personality is female and has complete blackouts when she takes over things get a little out of control for him.
Yes folks, just because someone with DID is male does not mean that their other personalities are going to be male also. It doesn't work like that. One's other personalties are whoever they are and sometimes they will express with different genders to the host.
Superbly written in Aldous' inimitable style.
Happily Ever After
Set in the years of WWI, Aldous introduces us to two young men, both at war, with completely contrasting views on life. I think this is Aldous' way of reminding himself -- and all of us -- to not get lost in dogmatic ideologies and, instead, to grasp and enjoy the joys of life while you're young because you never know if today will be your last.
Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers
One often gets the impression with Aldous that he liked to show off his classical education: "Oooh, hark at me, i know all these ancient Greek people and things."
All the pompous whimsy aside, the only thing really being said here is Aldous didn't much think that meditation was good for a person: "Let's not count breaths, eh."
Happy Families
A play. Very much a thing of its time when it comes to race, displaying Aldous' Victorian heritage to the full.
Cynthia
A little romance short with Aldous stirring in another good load of the "Oooh, hark at me, i know all these ancient Greek people and things." that we had in "Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers".
The Bookshop
A short about an impulse purchase all dressed up in a rather lovely piece of descriptive writing. I felt that the undertones of this was Aldous bemoaning the great unwashed and uncultured, while, at the end, he sees that he can't escape their influence when surrounded on all sides by them: we're all in this shit life together. Our protagonist finally throws his impulse purchase into some bushes.
I find this story very much to have the seed of what Aldous later grew into his life's work. The symbolism of the bookshop with its classical music, fashions, art and books; representing education, privalege and wealth; surrounded on all sides by the working classes, poverty and need. How can one enjoy such fruits when he's reminded and intruded upon, at every moment, that so many don't have these things.
The Death of Lully
Lully is an early christian martyr that is rescued on a passing ship. A well written short but i'm not sure what the message really is. As a devout non-christian, this kind of thing just turns my brain off.
July 27, 2017
Tengo entendido que «Limbo» es la primera colección de cuentos de Aldous Huxley (1920), es una colección de 7 relatos, o 6 relatos y el guión de una obra de teatro. Generalmente disfruto mucho a Huxley. Pero no me gustó el guión de obra teatral "Happy Families". Los otros relatos si son bastante disfrutables específicamente por el uso del lenguaje, y quizá por la detección de ideologías entreveradas en la caracterización de sus personajes, las cuales no sé si adjudicar a la mentalidad inglesa de la época o particularmente a Huxley.
July 30, 2017
Half of this book is the wonderful story Limbo. I loved it and it is my favorite work of Aldous Huxley. the remaining five stories and play are delightful and very different from each other. A common thread through each is the deterioration of culture.
March 26, 2020
Interesting tales that were affected by war time reality. Shows his education in the UK with style and word choice. The tone is standoffish and implies a desire to make fun of hidden matters. Good use of psychological issues as basis for his stories.
August 1, 2018
Some early Huxley, and I enjoyed all six of these short stories. The play was absolutely horrid and I wonder why it was included, just awful - but luckily it was brief. Good shorts, good read.
July 29, 2017
Beautifully written. Enjoyable and compelling story.
December 13, 2019
An author that struggles with his alter ego. A man whom half of the people around him felt grateful that he's now gone. And a martyr that become one after his intimate partner is being devoured by a flesh eating worms. What else do you want?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews