The Genius and the Goddess

A Novel

De: Aldous Huxley

Narrado por: Julian Elfer

Thirty years ago, ecstasy and torment took hold of John Rivers, shocking him out of "half-baked imbecility into something more nearly resembling the human form." He had an affair with the wife of his mentor, Henry Maartens - a pathbreaking physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize, and a figure of blinding brilliance - bringing the couple to ruin.

Now, on Christmas Eve while a small grandson sleeps upstairs, John Rivers is moved to set the record straight about the great man and the radiant, elemental creature he married, who viewed the renowned genius through undazzled eyes.

©1955 Aldous Huxley (P)2019 Tantor

Lyrical brilliance.

Not an ounce of fat on this story. It is luscious sentence after luscious sentence.

Aldous Huxley once more shows off his genius

I can’t ever seem to get enough Huxley. His style and intellectual sarcasm is unmatched in my view . The fact that he referenced orwells 1984 was the best part for me though.

Absolutely riveting prose, plot and poetry

What a glorious tale with masterful writing and insightful storytelling. And vice-versa! Thoroughly engrossing! Vividly fleshed out topics of magnificent significance. Bullseyes to targets too often skirted or omitted entirely. Hitting the nails on the heads time after time. Profoundly meaningful, Aldous Huxley surpasses his best work and delivers genius once again.

Reverse Lolita

Spoiler Alert! I have to hand it to Huxley, I knew he was building to a Greek tragedy, but he gets points for a novel and actually quite logical execution. I love Aldous Huxley, he was my gateway author to adult books. His ideas are terrific and all the cultural, literary, psychological, sexual and philosophical references are stimulating and fun. But he's not a great novelist. He just isn't. I hate to say it. Brave New World was a great book, but it wasn't that well written. I can say that now, with fifty solid years of reading behind me. So I found myself getting a little annoyed with the style in which this short book was written. And yet, it finished with a one two punch worthy of the much better written After Many A Summer Dies the Swan. I'd say, if you love AH, give this a listen.

Insufferable

I like Huxley at his best, but this is Huxley at his worst, unfortunately. Bland narration doesn’t help this turgid novel.