So this is some kind of... presumably satire about a bunch of people sitting about in their country house telling each other their opinions and/or complaining about their unrequited love for each other. It was fun to read, although the main character especially is particularly irritating.

The best-written parts, in my opinion, were the parts describing the history of the household and its former occupants - the story about the couple with dwarfism whose son was really tall was particularly well done.

I definitely liked this the least of the three Huxley books I've read, but it was still pretty good. ( )

I understand that Aldous Huxley was a very popular writer. He was known for writing science fiction mostly, I believe. This book was his debut novel and was written in a dialogue style. Believe me, there is an extreme amount of dialogue in this novel. Some people like this type of thing. It seriously reminded me of a long-winded Woody Allen movie, one of his later movies that seem to be mostly dialogue between characters and not just dialogue, but self-involved,almost narcissistic dialogue. Not just dialogue, but "Literary", Important, Lofty and GRAND dialogue.

Woven within all this dialogue, I believe is a plot where Denis is in love with Ann. Denis is a writer, Ann is part of a wealthy "landed" family. Apparently there are many men in love with Anne, and she's not really interested in any of them. At the same time her sister Mary has decided to act on her passions, so that she doesn't suffer from repressed or suppressed passions, but all the men visiting at the time are obsessed with Anne, and don't take Mary seriously. This part sounds interesting, but unfortunately it is suffused with many, many instances of each character falling into Great Discussions of Many Ideas. I'm sure this type of book is very interesting to some, but I just found myself extremely frustrated. Some of the conversations were interesting, such as when the lord of the manor was reading passages from his history of his family. I think those were the most interesting pieces of the book. This was written slightly humorously. It would make a funny movie, I have no idea if it has been-certainly I've seen movies with all the comedic maneuverings of people trying to wub (nothing like good spelling!) WIN their true love, but this was overshadowed (for me anyway) with ALL the Great Conversations going on left and right.

I also understand that this book was written in 1922, and I am living in 2009; I am used to reading modern books and have very little patience reading an extreme amount of conversations (GREAT Lofty conversations) to find out what will happen to the characters. Does Mary really have her passions freed? (does this actually mean she had sex? or did she just make out all night and watch the sunrise with a certain someone-later it is made a teeny bit clearer). Does Denis get his love? Does anyone end up with Anne?

I feel a little guilty because I had to force myself to finish this book, and most of the time I didn't enjoy it. There were enjoyable sections, some humorous sections. There was a conversation about pregnancies in glass bottles for the future. But on the whole, as a whole I didn't like this book. I guess I am not a literary genious. I do like to read books though.

I am interested however, in reading, or trying out one or two of Aldous Huxley's later books.

If you LOVE, Love, love movies and books like Woody Allen's movies with a lot of conversation, then you'll enjoy this book. All the characters are very intelligent and well-spoken. There is no denying that Aldous Huxley was a very intelligent man. I just couldn't decide if he was satiring the wealthy with the endless philosophying and their numerous hobbies or if he was completely being serious.

Huxley's first book at a ripe and young adolescence age and OH is he aware of it! Huxley has no problem with the extreme vulnerability of his lead character, to the point of letting his jealousy get in the way of the novel sometimes. It is also one of the most genuinely melancholy books I have ever read. If I had to compare it to an album it would possibly be Beck's 'Mutations'. However, he shows fleeting glimpses' of future Huxley as his older characters have a flair for history, one even writing a large and silly history of the town 'Crome' (a British countryside town) that includes a dwarfish lord who kills himself and his wife, a family of beautiful women who pretend not to eat but lock themselves in a basement at night downing chickens and hams, amongst other stuff. the history is not the most important part of the novel, the ultimate feeling of character development and the strong sense of description and criticism is what is so rich in this novel and what made me so excited to pick up every page. Although it was his first it cannot be called raw as it is better than many writers greatest works. Huxley is a writer's writer other than the few books he is known for, and any male between the age of 20-24 who feels angst and discontented with the melancholy of his stature in relationships and the surroundings he finds himself in will adore 'Crome Yellow.' It's very much something that Morrissey would read in his youth.

PS check out the vintage cover that was on the vintage copy I couldn't resist buying at a book shop I stumbled upon in Venice, California.
PPS read the 'comments' section for my take on the last paragraph of this truly excellent 'conversation novel' ( )

6.5

Published by Chatto & Windus, London 1921. First Edition