Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine” (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites. "Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune

As only he can, Aldous Huxley explores the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in this century. Contains the complete texts of The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, both of which became essential for the counterculture during the 1960s and influenced a generation's perception of life.

In Island, his last novel, Huxley transports us to a Pacific island where, for 120 years, an ideal society has flourished. Inevitably, this island of bliss attracts the envy and enmity of the surrounding world. A conspiracy is underway to take over Pala, and events begin to move when an agent of the conspirators, a newspaperman named Faranby, is shipwrecked there. What Faranby doesn't expect is how his time with the people of Pala will revolutionize all his values and—to his amazement—give him hope.

When the novel Brave New World first appeared in 1932, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future. Here, in one of the most important and fascinating books of his career, Aldous Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy. He scrutinizes threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion, and explains why we have found it virtually impossible to avoid them. Brave New World Revisited is a trenchant plea that humankind should educate itself for freedom before it is too late. Brave New World Revisted (first published in 1958) is not a reissue or revision of 0060850523 Brave New World. Brave New World is a novel, whereas Brave New World Revisted is a nonfiction exploration of the themes in Brave New World.

Written at the height of his powers immediately after Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's highly acclaimed Eyeless in Gaza is his most personal novel. Huxley's bold, nontraditional narrative tells the loosely autobiographical story of Anthony Beavis, a cynical libertine Oxford graduate who comes of age in the vacuum left by World War I. Unfulfilled by his life, loves, and adventures, Anthony is persuaded by a charismatic friend to become a Marxist and take up arms with Mexican revolutionaries. But when their disastrous embrace of violence nearly kills them, Anthony is left shattered—and is forced to find an alternative to the moral disillusionment of the modern world.

The Perennial Philosophy is defined by its author as "The metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality substantial to the world of things and lives and minds." With great wit and stunning intellect, Aldous Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains them in terms that are personally meaningful. An inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley "The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions." With great wit and stunning intellect—drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam—Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.

У своєму шедеврі «Який чудесний світ новий!» Олдос Гакслі представив похмуру сатиричну візію утопічного майбутнього, в якому людей генетично продукують, фармацевтично анестезують і ретельно контролюють для пасивного служіння панівному ладу і «всезагальному благу». Книга, яка захоплювала і жахала не одне покоління читачів, залишається й дотепер на диво актуальною своїми застереженнями і пророцтвами, що збуваються і стають життєвими реаліями сучасного світу. Книжку видало у рамках проекту «Вавилонська бібліотека» «Видавництво Старого Лева» спільно з Фундацією Короля Юрія за підтримки Юридичної компанії «МОРІС ҐРУП» та ґрантової програми Urban Space 100.

Die schöne neue Welt, die Huxley hier beschreibt, ist die Welt einer konsequent verwirklichten Wohlstandsgesellschaft »im Jahre 632 nach Ford«, einer Wohlstandsgesellschaft, in der alle Menschen am Luxus teilhaben, in der Unruhe, Elend und Krankheit überwunden, in der aber auch Freiheit, Religion, Kunst und Humanität auf der Strecke geblieben sind. Eine totale Herrschaft garantiert ein genormtes Glück. In dieser vollkommen »formierten« Gesellschaft erscheint jede Art von Individualismus als »asozial«, wird als »Wilder« betrachtet, wer - wie einer der rebellischen Außenseiter dieses Romans - für sich fordert: »Ich brauche keine Bequemlichkeit. Ich will Gott, ich will Poesie, ich will wirkliche Gefahren und Freiheit und Tugend. Ich will Sünde!«

Un mundo feliz es un clásico de la literatura del siglo XX, una sombría metáfora sobre el futuro. La novela describe un mundo en el que finalmente se han cumplido los peores vaticinios: triunfan los dioses del consumo y la comodidad y el orbe se organiza en diez zonas en apariencia seguras y estables. Sin embargo, este mundo ha sacrificado valores humanos esenciales, y sus habitantes son procreados in vitro a imagen y semejanza de una cadena de montaje.

In 1634 Urbain Grandier, a handsome and dissolute priest of the parish of Loudun was tried, tortured and burnt at the stake. He had been found guilty of conspiring with the devil to seduce an entire convent of nuns in what was the most sensational case of mass possession and sexual hysteria in history. Grandier maintained his innocence to the end and four years after his death the nuns were still being subjected to exorcisms to free them from their demonic bondage. Huxley's vivid account of this bizarre tale of religious and sexual obsession transforms our understanding of the medieval world.

"A genuine spiritual quest. . . . Extraordinary."  —  New York Times Among the most profound and influential explorations of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs ever written, here are two complete classic books— The Doors of Perception  and  Heaven and Hell —in which Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World , reveals the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. This edition also features an additional essay, "Drugs That Shape Men's Minds," now included for the first time.

Edição especial da famosa distopia de Aldous Huxley sobre uma sociedade totalitária do futuro, regida pela tecnologia e pelo materialismo e sob a máscara da democracia e da felicidade. Admirável Mundo Novo é uma parábola fantástica sobre a desumanização dos seres humanos. Na utopia negativa descrita no livro, o Homem foi subjugado pelas suas invenções. A ciência, a tecnologia e a organização social deixaram de estar ao serviço do Homem; tornaram-se os seus amos. Desde a publicação deste livro, o mundo rumou a passos tão largos na direcção errada que, se eu escrevesse hoje a mesma obra, a acção não distaria seiscentos anos do presente, mas somente duzentos. O preço da liberdade, e até da simples humanidade, é a vigilância eterna. Inclui um prefácio de Manuel Portela e a carta enviada pelo autor a George Orwell, aquando da publicação de 1984.

The Doors of Perception is a philosophical essay, released as a book, by Aldous Huxley. First published in 1954, it details his experiences when taking mescaline. The book takes the form of Huxley's recollection of a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon in May 1953. The book takes its title from a phrase in William Blake's 1793 poem 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, which range from the "purely aesthetic" to "sacramental vision". He also incorporates later reflections on the experience and its meaning for art and religion.