This third volume of a projected six reinforces Huxley’s stature as one of the most acute and informed observers of the social and ideological trends of the years between the world wars. It contains the important collection of essays "Music at Night" as well as the majority of Huxley’s journalistic writing for the Hearst newspapers in the United States and for a variety of British periodicals such as Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine, the Evening Standard, and Time and Tide. Much of the attraction of the Hearst essays lies in their vivid period detail: references to the raucous voices of Nazi broadcasters, speeches by Roosevelt and Stalin, Soviet five-year plans, and the effects of the Great Depression combine to provide a rich context for Huxley’s increasingly active role in organized pacifism and his sense of standing on the threshold of a new era. The essays of "Music at Night" define this trend as “the New Romanticism,” a celebration of Enlightenment modernity and an excessive faith in instrumental reason and applied science. Huxley was both intrigued by and suspicious of state planning and centralized bureaucratic authority. The essays in Volume III (and the volume to follow) register his growing ambivalence about the role of technocracy and science in an era of experimentation in the concentration of executive and legislative power. At their best, Huxley’s essays stand among the finest examples of the genre in modern literature. "He was among the few writers who...played with ideas so freely, so gaily, with such virtuosity, that the responsive reader...was dazzled and excited."—Isaiah Berlin.
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From Publishers Weekly
"The scientific specialist uses words artificially fabricated from Greek roots.... The sailor's technical terms have grown up with the language and seem to palpitate with its strong and ancient life," writes Aldous Huxley in "Words, Words, Words," a brief essay on linguistic pleasures. His prodigious output ranges so far that he appears to touch on most significant topics in his Complete Essays: Volume III, 1930-1935 (of six planned volumes). But while his writings on the arts some relevant, some quaint still charm, some of his sociopolitical commentary will dismay students today, e.g., "Miscegenation should be prevented, because there is evidence to show cross-breeding between individuals of widely different race is biologically unsound." Such ideas, if stomached, could aid explorations of prewar social attitudes.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
Perusing Volume One, I was struck by the sensitivity and the unerring perception in these unknown reviews, ultimately my most enjoyable reading of the year. (Robert Craft Times Literary Supplement, (Books Of The Year, Dec.) )
There is much to enjoy in these volumes...they are important as a document of his times. (Economist )
The editors...have done their job with commendable thoroughness. (P. N. Furbank Times Literary Supplement )
A striking mastery of English prose as well as a profusion of ideas and insights. (Stefan Kanfer Wall Street Journal )
An important and admirable publishing event. (Atlantic Monthly )
He writes with an easy assurance and a command of classical and modern cross-references. (Hitchens, Christopher Los Angeles Times )
To read all the essays in sequence is like being enrolled at the college of your dreams. (New Yorker )
There is much to enjoy in these volumes...they are important as a document of his times. (Economist )
The editors...have done their job with commendable thoroughness. (P. N. Furbank Times Literary Supplement )
A striking mastery of English prose as well as a profusion of ideas and insights. (Stefan Kanfer Wall Street Journal )
An important and admirable publishing event. (Atlantic Monthly )
He writes with an easy assurance and a command of classical and modern cross-references. (Hitchens, Christopher Los Angeles Times )
To read all the essays in sequence is like being enrolled at the college of your dreams. (New Yorker )
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rich, seasoned commentary on history and modern times,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Complete Essays, Vol. 3: 1930-1935 (Hardcover)
This third volume of Huxley's complete essays will appeal to a college collection which already has the first two volumes and anticipates collecting the entire six: this volume covers 1930-35 and collects his observations of the social and political trends of those years. Important essays and articles provide rich, seasoned commentary on history and modern times.
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