Customer Reviews

Eyeless in Gaza: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

True, its didacticism inevitably keeps it from being considered a purely novelistic masterpiece. And some transitions-- like Anthony's committment to helping Mark in the revolution-- are awkward. But amongst the non-canonical novels of the 20th Century, "Eyeless in Gaza" is one of the very finest. Huxley's bold manipulation of chronology-- the backwards-and-forwards movement through the early decades of the century-- gives the book a symphonic undertow; it seems all at once breathless and grandiose. Huxley's psychological acumen has never been sharper: Helen is one of his most persuasive and complex female characters, and Anthony's spiritual journey is convincingly elaborate. Not only does "Eyeless in Gaza" have Huxley's trademark highbrow comedy, but a genuine sense of pathos (rarely does Huxley indulge so much sincere emotion in his characters). And the author's eye is particularly cinematic here: the dog dropped from the aeroplane is one of his most surreally brilliant images. This novel is one of the most compelling attempts to give comprehensive expression to the spiritual condition of European humanity between the Wars, and easily deserves to hit a few reading lists and syllabi.

Fascinating novel. Although I've only read two other Aldous Huxley novels to date ("Brave New World" with "Revisted", & "Island"), I have to say that "Eyeless in Gaza" has piqued my burgeoning interest in Huxley's other works. In many ways, it's a strange and difficult novel. It is composed of 54 disordered chapters dealing with various aspects of Anthony Beavis' life between his youth in the early 1900's through his mid-forties in the 1930's. The novel begins in medias res, and each chapter is a potential entry point providing glimpses of Anthony's life at crucial moments in the present, past, and future (depending on where you start). Time is tweaked here in much the same way as in Faulkner's, "The Sound and the Fury" where the storyline is divided amongst four people's parallel lives. Huxley's boundless structure allows Anthony Beavis' life to rise and fall on the waves of a mystical ocean of time with its contrapuntal rhythms.

One drawback to "Eyeless", and perhaps Huxley in general, is that his writing style is somewhat dry and cerebral. His characters, like D.H. Lawrence's (a friend of his), often come across as representations of ideals, or "symbols" rather than full-fledged, multi-dimensional characters, and the exterior scenery sometimes suffers. One notable exception is Helen Amberley, who is one of the more complex, and interesting characters in the novel. As for the scenery, the most vivid scenes are not the physical atmosphere, but each character's experience of an event. Examples include both Anthony and John Beavis' individual responses to Mrs. Amberley's death; Anthony and Brian playing with a toy boat on the school dormitory rooftop; or Helen flicking away a butterfly at Anthony's villa. Huxley's descriptive style and focus is simply more erudite than it is sentimental or emotional. Admittedly, there's a fine balance in such a highly condensed intellectual novel as this, and for the most part, I think Huxley manages to pull it off without being didactic or cold (readers who don't make it past the first 3-5 chapters probably won't go for it though).

Details aside, once you grow accustomed to Huxley's style and structure, Anthony Beavis' story is rewarding. After the death of his mother in 1902, his life is shattered. He avoids World War I due to a training accident/injury, and feels lucky. The central aspect of the novel is Anthony's increasing diffidence towards life. His meeting with Mary Amberley in 1912 (ala Mrs. Robinson/"The Graduate") really throws a monkey wrench into his life, and adds fuel to the general lovelessness and cynicism displayed in the summer 1933 chapters. It is she who convinces Anthony to tragically betray his best friend, Brian Foxe in 1914. Eventually, in the fall of 1933, his Marxist leaning friend Mark Staithes convinces him to "break free" of his negativity and attend a revolution with him in Mexico. There, Anthony has a chance encounter with an eccentric traveller named Miller, whose Buddhist centered philosophy changes Anthony forever. It is from all the 1934+ "meditation" chapters in which we see Anthony's sea-change from a life of indifference to one of meaning and purpose. Huxley's method in displaying this "progression" from modern dissatisfaction and pessimism, into selfless positivity and pacifism is the whole of "Eyeless in Gaza"; and nothing short of amazing in my opinion.

With subtle undertones of World War One echoing in the backdrop, the impending hostility of World War Two thumps from the future. Caught in between these institutionalized and mechanical worlds, are ordinary men and women like Anthony and Helen navigating the treacherous waterways of idealogy, politics, peer pressure/society, and conscience as best they "know how" (i.e. are trained to do). In some ways, this novel is a lead-in to "Island" in which Huxley attempts to depict an ideal society populated by such self-actualized citizens as Miller, Purchas, and Anthony Beavis. On the whole, "Eyeless in Gaza" can be demanding (it should be read at least twice - once by chapter, and once by date), and because Huxley doesn't spend a lot of time describing place or character, it can be easy to loose sense of the action the first time through. However, once you begin to appreciate Huxley's intentions, "Eyeless" blossoms into a unique and powerful literary mosaic that you will find it hard to forget.

I read this after Brave New World, his subsequent set of essays (Brave New World Revisited), and Island. I found the latter disappointing, partly due to my (mistaken) expectation that it would contain Huxley's "answer": it outlined his utopia in almost excessive detail, only to conclude that it was indeed impossible. Whilst the last of his set of essays contained a prescriptive outline, only when I'd read Eyeless in Gaza did I feel that I'd begun to understand his message properly. These four books are clearly not intended to amuse and entertain. However to anyone that wishes to understand how Huxley thought about these problems, I would recommend reading all four sequentially. The whole was, for me, more than the sum of the parts.

Eyeless in Gaza is both a character study and a contemplation on the important issues of life that everyone must either spend time considering, or consciously ignore in favour of the easy pleasures. The two very different main characters and forever shifting time frame allow for clashing perspectives, immature and mature reasonings on familiar problems, and the comfortable, satisfying sensation that we 'know' everyone in the story.

Anthony Beavis is a man given to solitary thought. While he does occasionally succumb to his carnal desire, he has a marked distaste for intimacy, both physical and mental. He is the character we experience the most, from boarding school encounters with bullies to young adult relationships and middle-aged jaunts off to India to fill a hole in himself that he is only just realising exists. Diaries, essays, letters and 3rd-person narratives reveal the workings of Anthony's mind, and while he can be admired for his intellect and wit, he has a cowardly, almost shallow side to him that is distasteful to say the least. Any event requiring a high level of emotional commitment or of adult responsibility, he shirks from, making vague excuses to the people in his life who matter, or simply running away, metaphorical tail between his legs.

Helen is spontaneity incarnate, allowing herself every impulse that enters her head. She likes to test people, pushing them to the limits of their opinions, desires and manners. Her husband Hugh, she especially torments, making a very public event out of what should be a clandestine sexual relationship with Andrew - and others, while Hugh sits alone in his study, writing an ode to her but virtually unable physically consummate their relationship.

Huxley allows us to see these two people - and others - change from children with typically childish ideas and outlooks, into full grown adults. He is unflinching in showing us their deep, real flaws, but he allocates an equal amount of pages to their positive qualities. In essence, we are given a complete and accurate portrayal of two people. By the end of the novel, we can understand Helen's behaviour, and we know why Anthony so desperately wishes for a solitude of thought.

Parties and conversations are plentiful, and it is here that Huxley is able to show his character's - and by default, his - impressive depth of knowledge. Major and minor characters discuss deep philosophical question with ease, comment on the absurdities of social existence, discuss the previous and upcoming World War, and so on. While it is clear that Huxley's level of knowledge is perhaps greater than most of his readers, we are never made to feel inferior, that is, he is not writing 'smart' to impress the academics. Instead, we are able to enjoy the intelligent, witty conversations of the characters without feeling as though it is all flying high above our heads.

The rapidly changing year - one section will be 1914, the next, 1935, after that, 1924, and so on, are at first confusing, but soon fall into an easy rhythm. By using this technique, Huxley is able to foreshadow events extremely well, and a perhaps rounder picture of the character's are created as each layer of their personality is peeled back.

While Huxley could be considered a dry author, the book is a very enjoyable, clever read. There is an easy wit to it that is quite admirable. The characters - even the most horrid - are all identifiable and because of that, lovable. There are no huge plot twists or shocks, which may be off-putting for some people, but the book never tries to be what it isn't, instead relying on its strengths - fantastic characters.

Eyeless in Gaza comes from Huxley's middle period, where he left his comic, iconoclastic style behind and become involved in humanistic concerns. The story is told asynchronously, to mirror the confused disorderliness of memory. The main character is Anthony Beavis, a public schooler at the turn of the century who loses his mother as a lad, attends Balustrade and befriends the almost holy but suicidally self-denying Brian Foxe. In the course of time, through weakness, he betrays Brian, causing his inadvertent death. Anthony's life proceeds aesthetically and detachedly, and he tries with vaired pursuits and adventures, some comically dangerous, to achieve a more real or engaged life. Finally, midst the world war sabre rattling, he embraces pacifism. This is a complicated book which makes demands on the reader's knowledge of 19th and 20th century English history, the idiosyncracies of Huxleyen thought, and some of the ideas fermented at that time, which eventually led to some of the new age beliefs of the early 60s in California. However, its literary style, almost omniscient intelligence, and quality of writing, as well as Huxley's ability to depict the course of character development over a lifetime, do provide enough incentive to attempt a read. It also provides a wonderful depiction of Borderline Personality Disorder, in the character of Mary Amberly, one of the most well dressed out descriptions of that very elusive, elliptical type of person. Damon LaBarbera, Ph.D.

Just because I'd read "Brave New World" when I was in high school didn't mean I knew Aldous Huxley's work, so I recently read EYELESS IN GAZA. Strangely enough, over four decades later, I came out with a different impression ! Though I still have no idea what the title means, I found a strong character study of an indecisive man, a flawed character whose weaknesses lead directly to the demise of his best friend. His courage continually gives out at crucial moments and he tends to get involved in activities that he cannot sustain. It is a novel of betrayal, of failure as a man, and of disillusionment leading to final enlightenment. From a dog falling out of an airplane and splashing two naked lovers on a rooftop with blood, to a grim ride with an injured friend in the mountains of Mexico, the images are vivid, the symbolism striking. Anthony Beavis is an intellectual, but his knowledge and erudition ultimately do not mean much, they do not give him strength, rather scholarship is more of an excuse for his existence. Huxley decries such a chasm between real life and cloistered academicism, a split viewed in several characters. "Eyeless" would refer to the innate blindness of such people; their inability to distinguish basic human values and responsibilities from the bookish froth around them. In the end, influenced by a doctor with the values of positive pacifism and humanity, perhaps akin to Buddhist ideas, Anthony comes to enlightenment.

EYELESS IN GAZA is above all a book of philosophy, masquerading quite successfully as fiction. If you just want an enjoyable novel, an interesting plot, this is not your cup of tea---it is not a book to read on the plane to Miami. Huxley asks numerous deep questions and answers them, either in his own monologue as author, or in the dialogues of his characters. He sets out his answers as to `the meaning of life' on the last pages. It is a serious book written brilliantly. Preferring my philosophy in a more emotional style, I found Huxley's ruminations a bit too much at times. They made me impatient and I felt relieved, rather than sorry, to reach the end of the 423 pp. book. Yet, as a book with something to say, it has to be considered as one of English literature's important works.

Pretension? Perhaps. But, for pure innovation in storytelling and riveting prose, this is on my TOP 50 of my favourite books of ALL time. (TEN days that shook the WORLD, Animal FARM, Curtain, The Magic Mountain are among the other 50) Huxley's use of flashbacks is quite novel at the time it was published.
The main characters journey of self-satisfaction and ego-centrism is complex and very fufilling. i highly recommend it.

In his later years, Aldous Huxley aimed to take on the big questions. He was applauded when he did this in a cynical way, as in Brave New World, but a number of critics did not like it in the least when he made real, positive statements on what he had come to see life as being about.

Eyeless in Gaza is genuinely spiritual novel, a quest to understand goodness in a world that often seems insane. Huxley wrote it when he was a the height of his powers as a novelist, and his unequaled eloquence makes this book truly inspiring as a vision of how to grow and find meaning in the modern world. It is also an absorbing story, and included chacters drawn with unequaled insight to psychology and the human condition.

Few people write like Huxley did anymore, and his prose style feels like heavy lifting at first, almost like Shakespeare. But, for anyone really searching for something Philosophical, a novel of ideas that is endlessly thought-provoking and undeniably profound, there are very few books that can approach this one. I once read a number of passages from it to a study group that I was a member of, and the entire room was not only touched, but moved.

I read this after Brave New World, his subsequent set of essays (Brave New World Revisited), and Island. I found the latter disappointing, partly due to my (mistaken) expectation that it would contain Huxley's "answer": it outlined his utopia in almost excessive detail, only to conclude that it was indeed impossible. Whilst the last of his set of essays contained a prescriptive outline, only when I'd read Eyeless in Gaza did I feel that I'd begun to understand his message properly. These four books are clearly not intended to amuse and entertain. However to anyone that wishes to understand how Huxley thought about these problems, I would recommend reading all four sequentially. The whole was, for me, more than the sum of the parts.

While certainly not the only writer, nor the first writer, to use some of what were then (1936) relatively innovative narrative techniques, Huxley successfully knits several of them into a coherent whole in the "story" behind and making up Eyeless in Gaza. The reader finds him/herself slipping in and out of the minds of several of the characters as focalization shifts from one to the other; point of view, as such, becomes a walking tour through a raft of perspectives, much like walking around a large sculpture while it walks around you. Despite this constant shift in perspective, there is one consciousness which pervades the work as the central consciousness of the story, the pro-/antagaonist Anthony Beavis. And even that consciousness changes before the reader's eyes as Anthony moves back and forth from developing child to actualized adult. The beauty--and the parity--of this technique of character development and display is that not only do readers "see" how Anthony thinks and what he thinks of those he encounters but also (and perhaps better) they "see" how the others in the story think and think of Anthony. The temporal shifts from chapter to chapter are initially a bit disconcerting, but paying close attention to how those shifts relate to one another will benefit any close reading of the story. If there is a potential downside to this marvellous work, it is the ending. Huxley, in an effort to explain what a perceptive reader has already come to see in Anthony, waxes philosophical, perhaps too much so. But this is the only weakness I found in this strongly autobiographical story. Highly recommended for all readers interested in Aldous Huxley and his philosophy/politics.