Aldous Huxley: The Turning Points, 1939-63 v. 2 [Import] [Hardcover]

Sybille Bedford (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 378 pages
• Publisher: Quartet; New Ed edition (1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0704332426
• ISBN-13: 978-0704332423
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sympathy and objectivity make a fine book, August 21, 2006

By 

James A. Means - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aldous Huxley: A Biography (Paperback)

I read this superb biography years ago, as part of a Summer's "free reading" (a luxury for an academic), for I had no particular interest in Huxley, having read only his "Chrome Yellow" and "Point Counter Point" at that time. Bedford, I discovered, is a glorious writer (she has written probably the best book in English on Mexico) and possesses rare insight into the minds of other artists. These gifts make her biography of Huxley a masterpiece. As you follow her narrative, you will be impelled, I predict, to read the Huxley novels you have thus far ignored.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deftly probes Huxley's life and writings, January 11, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aldous Huxley: A Biography (Paperback)

Syville Bedford's literary biography Aldous Huxley blends Huxley's remarkable life with his quite successful literary career, all wrapped in the familiarity of the author with Huxley's family over the decades. With such associations in hand, biographer and author Syville Bedford then deftly probes Huxley's life and writings, creating a memorable biography and a set of insights that deserves ongoing mention.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a slog, June 12, 2008

By 

F. noyes "f noyes bookworm" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aldous Huxley: A Biography (Paperback)

This is my latest read of Sybille Bedford's works and, I might add, I'm a huge fan of hers. In some ways this is a masterful effort on Sybille's part, the cradle to grave biographical tome, yet it will take a very dedicated reader to plow through this one without putting it aside. As the Sybille Bedford reader will attest, if you are not at least somewhat fluent beyond English (i.e. French, a bit of Spanish, Italian) she can be a somewhat distracting as she intersperses her paragraphs in foreign tongues. Of course, Sybille knew the Huxleys well for many years and can certainly paint the portrait. However, as she mentions, quite a bit of Aldous's own letters have been lost and she relies extensively on Maria's (his wife) lengthy letters to family and friends; to say she was a prolific letter writer is an understatement. Anyhow, I do believe this was a gallant effort to capture the life and times of Aldous Huxley and most probably Sybille Bedford was the best author to do so. At 700+ pages, just make the commitment!