Subject
Re: VN and Aldous Huxley? (fwd)
Date
Body
From sweeney@holycross.edu Tue Jan 19 14:03:16 1999
Does anyone have any information about VN's possible
familiarity with Aldous Huxley, and especially with BRAVE NEW WORLD?
Edmund Wilson mentioned AH in a letter to VN, but VN did not address the
matter in his reply. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
ssweeney@holycross.edu
------------------------------
EDITOR's NOTE.
I've pondered the same question without getting very far with it.
Exactly a year ago, lying in a hammock in the Cost Rica jungle, I
(re-)read an early Huxley novel someone has left lying about. _Chrome
Yellow_, I think. The date (1921) was such that VN might have read it when
at Cambridge. I didn't come up with anything startling. My suspicion is
that VN would not have been a Huxley fan since AH's novels are "novels of
ideas" clothed in conversation -- although the satiric element might have
had some appeal for him. Also respect for Thomas Huxley's name. The book
was also useful for giving the flavor of England in the 20s.
As for _Brave New World_, my guess is VN read it. The late Ed
Brown wrote an short book on Zamyatin's WE and Huxley's book. Might be
worth a look. I don't recall if he mentioned VN. VN admired the Zamyatin
work.
What do you think? I'll be interested in seeing if your query
turns up anything
D. Barton Johnson
Department of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies
Phelps Hall
University of California at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone and Fax: (805) 687-1825
Home Phone: (805) 682-4618
Does anyone have any information about VN's possible
familiarity with Aldous Huxley, and especially with BRAVE NEW WORLD?
Edmund Wilson mentioned AH in a letter to VN, but VN did not address the
matter in his reply. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
ssweeney@holycross.edu
------------------------------
EDITOR's NOTE.
I've pondered the same question without getting very far with it.
Exactly a year ago, lying in a hammock in the Cost Rica jungle, I
(re-)read an early Huxley novel someone has left lying about. _Chrome
Yellow_, I think. The date (1921) was such that VN might have read it when
at Cambridge. I didn't come up with anything startling. My suspicion is
that VN would not have been a Huxley fan since AH's novels are "novels of
ideas" clothed in conversation -- although the satiric element might have
had some appeal for him. Also respect for Thomas Huxley's name. The book
was also useful for giving the flavor of England in the 20s.
As for _Brave New World_, my guess is VN read it. The late Ed
Brown wrote an short book on Zamyatin's WE and Huxley's book. Might be
worth a look. I don't recall if he mentioned VN. VN admired the Zamyatin
work.
What do you think? I'll be interested in seeing if your query
turns up anything
D. Barton Johnson
Department of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies
Phelps Hall
University of California at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone and Fax: (805) 687-1825
Home Phone: (805) 682-4618