This Timeless Moment: A Personal View of Aldous Huxley

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Memoir
Review: After reading Huxley's books for years, we finally get a glimpse into his later years through the eyes of his second wife, Laura Huxley. It is apparent throughout the book the extent to which Laura loved and admired Aldous. Nothing wrong with that.

We learn the truth about his alleged "blindness", his view of psychedelics and how he handled death. Although through my readings it was apparent that Huxley was a brilliant man of letters, the biography brought to light the kindness of the man. He was, according to Ms. Huxley, willing to avail himself and his knowledge to anyone who sought it (except perhaps reporters from whom he understandably sought sanctuary).

Even though I am sure it was unintended, we also come away with some notions about Ms. Huxley. Her devotion to Aldous, open-mindedness, and self-effacing manners shine through.

I liked the book, but somehow felt the picture was incomplete. Certainly Huxley must have had an interior struggle between his religous beliefs and his intellect. Such a struggle is not discussed in this book. Perhaps Ms. Huxley was unaware of such a struggle or perhaps Aldous had somehow transcended it by the time he met Laura.

Rating:
Summary: Explorations
Review: It is almost as hard to write a review of this book as it must have been for Mrs. Huxley to write it. Above all else, for the purposes of reading this review or the text itself, please keep in mind that it is not a novel but a recollection of her husband that the public had decided they knew so well.

If you haven't read Aldous' works, don't bother with This Timeless Moment as it would be as interesting and informative as reading a description of the flavour of a fruit you've never tried. If you have read his texts though and found yourself immersed in the worlds within the man's mind for all its brilliance and receptivity, then this book will give you insights you simply could not get anywhere else.

Not being an author herself, This Timeless Moment is not well written by any technical or literary means, but nor is it meant to be. This is a recollection of a husband by his widowed wife; it explores their time together and apart, describes the man she knew for the latter half of his life, and examines the misconceptions of the renowned author as communicated through the media. It is as to the point, as it is a scattered writing as any memory translated to paper promises to be; where it loses in technical merit it gains in heartfelt sincerity.

There is also as much in this text for the fans of Aldous Huxley's writing as there is for the man himself. The biggest gift included is the first and only copy of a novel he had begun before his death in which, it is explained, he had hoped to achieve a level of completeness previously unattained- a level he only came to understand as his illness took hold. There is also a great deal of reference to his last published novel, Island, as to how it related to the man himself and his experiences that he'd incorporated into the writing. Of interesting personal note are the many letters and transcripts of recorded conversations between the husband and wife, as well as letters by Aldous to his brother and son.

Included among much of the book are references to Aldous Huxley's experiments with psychedics which the media has given such focus and emphasis. It must be said that she is not advocating the use of the drugs, nor is she defending his choice to use them- she speaks of his and her own experiences with LSD and the level of consciousness found within them. Another review I read here on Amazon referred to her as being "preachy" about this issue, but I found that it was anything but. As evident by his writing, Aldous Huxley was interested in virtually every facet of life and the exploration of consciousness was but one of them.

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If you're looking for something mind-blowing, read Aldous' own writing itself like Brave New World, The Doors of Perception, Island or any other, and ignore this for now. If you have read these though and want more insight into the man lining each page, read This Timeless Moment and get past the sensationalism of the media into the mind of the woman he had shared it with.

Rating:
Summary: Huxley's last years
Review: THIS TIMELESS MOMENT is Laura Archera Huxley's memoir of her marriage to Aldous Huxley. Laura Archera, a young musician from Italy, married the aging and recently-widowed Huxley in 1956. Her book chronicles their life together until his death in 1963.

By her own admission, Mrs. Huxley was not a "bookish" person. Nor was English her mother tongue. Her writing style is strangely disjointed and contains both non-sequitors and inconsistent statements. Nonetheless, her love for Aldous Huxley is clear. It is this love that makes the book worthwhile.

Due to Mrs. Huxley's tact and her awkward writing style, the reader needs a background knowledge of Aldous Huxley's life and work to understand a number of her anecdotes and veiled references. I re-read Mrs. Huxley's memoir after completing David King Dunaway's ALDOUS HUXLEY RECOLLECTED. Only then did Mrs. Huxley's story begin to make some sense.

Mrs. Huxley devotes a chapter and then some to the Huxleys' drug use. This section of the work has a "crusading" tone which I found annoying. It is followed by several heartbreaking chapters describing Huxley's final illness and death. I developed a new appreciation for this great man and his wife who worked so hard to finish one final essay, "Shakespeare and Religion", just days before his death. Mrs. Huxley's reveals that Huxley was working on a novel on mysticism at the time of his death. She states that Huxley told her in his final days that he was on the verge of fitting everything together in one last novel. She then shares the first chapter of this unnamed, unfinished work. It is beautiful (and, unmistakeably, Aldous Huxley). It is the finest chapter in Mrs. Huxley's book. I kept wishing it would go on and on.

Mrs. Huxley succeeds in showing a rarely seen side of Aldous Huxley. So often, he is portrayed as cold, aloof and cerebral. Here, Huxley is a warm, vibrant, sensual human being who is utterly at peace with himself and the world.