Collected Short Stories

by Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley's stature as one of the giants of modern English prose and of social commentary in our time is confirmed in this gathering of his distinguished stories into a single volume. Twenty-one pieces are here, including "The Gioconda Smile," "Little Mexican," "Young Archimedes," and "Chawdron." Together they offer a complete view of Huxley's work in the genre, in which he established himself as an acknowledged master.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

395 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in English literature. Early in his career, he published short stories and poetry and edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry, before going on to publish travel writing, satire, and screenplays. He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death. By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times, and was elected Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.
Huxley was a pacifist. He grew interested in philosophical mysticism, as well as universalism, addressing these subjects in his works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945), which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism, and The Doors of Perception (1954), which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline. In his most famous novel Brave New World (1932) and his final novel Island (1962), he presented his visions of dystopia and utopia, respectively.

Reviews

[Irena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zbirka 8 podugih pripovjetki od kojih su neke bolje od drugih (npr. Oporavak mi se posebno svidjela). Ovo je moj prvi susret sa Huxleyom pa ne bih znala reći kakva je ova knjiga u odnosu na famozni Brave New World (sad je pogotovo želim pročitati) i ostale.
Huxley odlično piše, ali su pripovjetke same po sebi poprilično forgettable. Ipak, dosta sam rado i brzo čitala knjigu od 350 strana pripovjetki tako da si ne mogu ni dopustiti da joj dam manje od 4*.

[Elena Druță · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty boring. There was no short story that made me think about the characters or made me interested in what's going on.

[William Strasse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe that Huxley could honestly say that he wasn't good at visualizing things. He said LSD helped him with this, but these stories were all written before he really did LSD and they are full of imagery and paint themselves very vividly in the reader's mind. What I've always loved most about Huxley is his grasp of the heartbreak of being human. In fact, reading these stories I felt at times that my mind relates to Huxley more than any other author I've read. I looked up his birth chart and it turns out we actually have very similar energies in our "primal triad" (both Leos...I have a Taurus Ascendant, he has Moon in Taurus as well as Venus...ruler of Taurus...on the Ascendant...my Moon is Aquarius and we both have Aquarius Midheavens.) As I read the stories, I thought, "Damn...every other one of these ends in murder or suicide!" which wouldn't seem so odd except these stories are generally a lot less brutal in style than "Brave New World" or "Ape And Essence". In fact, at times I struggled through some stories because of the tedious English-ness of the dialogue. In the end, though, it was well worth it. My favorites here are "Young Archimedes" (which is truly heartbreaking) "The Portrait" and "Chawdron"...these latter two are just ingenious all the way around. Honorable mentions go to "Nuns At Luncheon" for it's darkly humo(u)rous twist at the end and "Half-Holiday" because there's a part of every man that can relate to the poor bastard of a main character in it.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Short stories are really too much bother; or perhaps I'm to stupid to write them."
-Huxley in "Nuns at Luncheon"

I like Huxley. I enjoy his fiction and nonfiction. His style appeals to me and his themes coincide with my interests. But short stories ARE NOT his optimal form.

Most of these short stories don't seem finished so much as abandoned. Huxley has many gifts, but conciseness is not one. He will spend a dozen pages describing the view from a Tuscan villa -- and if you made a Bingo board from this book, "Italian villa" would be the center square -- and then rush character development and plot, so the story doesn't stretch beyond his attention span.

If you didn't know the author was the man who wrote "Brave New World," you'd think most of these stories needed another draft or three.

"Sir Hercules," "The Tillotson Banquet," and "Nuns at Luncheon" are the best of this batch. Coincidentally, "Hercules" and "Nun" have a nasty and well-deployed sense of humor that recall Bertrand Russell. Meanwhile, "Banquet" is the best example of Huxley taking the piss out of the artists and minor royalty that populate most of these stories. ("Hack artist" and "marquess" would also get squares on the board.)

[Rita Moura de Oliveira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este é aquele livro que já aqui referi várias vezes por me estar a custar tanto terminar. E que mais de uma vez estive para pôr de lado mas que, por pura teimosia, não fiz. E parecia que o livro o percebia, pois quando cedia e voltava a pegar nele oferecia-me um conto em que sentia: «Afinal vale a pena.»

São 21 contos e a meu ver talvez um terço valha a pena. Como «Sir Hercules», a história de um casal de anões que acaba por ter um filho de tamanho «normal». «O sorriso de Gioconda», uma história de amor e de enganos com um volte-face no final. «O pequeno mexicano», em que a arte é substituída pela sobrevivência. «O retrato», em que a busca ávida por obras de arte dá azo à aldrabice. «Jovem Arquimedes», em que a vida um jovem humilde e promissor é destruída pela obsessão por uma educação superior. «A cura de descanso», em que um amor aparentemente puro se revela uma relação de interesse... ou não. Ou «Os Claxtons», sobre as virtudes e desvantagens de uma educação mais ou menos ascética.

Em resumo, foi uma aprendizagem, mas para quem, como eu, gosta de ler uma boa história em que mergulha como se lá estivesse dentro, não foi fácil.

[Amanda Bowers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely worth the read, but not sure if I'll revisit unless I find an annotated version that provides some context for dates each story was written, translations for non-English dialogue and just general information that may not be as familiar to a 21st century American reader. (I know that these things are easily findable online but would just be nice for it to be included.)

Real human characters that felt strangely familiar are what kept me invested even through the somewhat unfamiliar setting of the early 20th century Europe. Most of the stories end on a depressing note, but feel all the more compelling for that.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these rather old-fashioned-but-reasonably-entertaining stories Huxley displays many subtle insights both into human character and the character of human societies. He's especially good at sniffing out pretension, self-deception, and delusion, as well as the nefarious effects of social hierarchy. The stories do tend to run annoying long due to his over-fondness of landscape description and the loquaciousness of early 20th century upper-crust Brits, but to my mind they are well worth the effort.

[Cole Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huxley is an excellent writer! Though steeped in 20th century Italian history, politics, culture, literature, art, etc. these are stories I shall surely revisit (after doing a bit more background study). My only complaint is that the editors neglected to include footnoted translations for the sections of Italian and French, and a table of contents would also be
nice, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

[Renan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pra resumir bem minha opinião sobre o livro: são 21 contos, que oscilam entre leituras incrivelmente fascinantes e agradáveis (daquelas que você lê 50 páginas sem perceber) e outras extremamente tediosas que quase me fizeram desistir da leitura. Apesar dos pesares, ainda acho que é um bom livro, pois os contos "fascinantes" fazer a leitura valer à pena.

[Eddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of Huxleys essays and novels, but his short fiction is less than deliverable. The stories were long and dry, they did not feature his typical wit and I did not see any philosophical ideas behind them. Perhaps I simply missed the point but I believe I’ll stick to his essays and longer works of fiction.

[Mirna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zadovoljavajuće, ali ništa više od toga. S vremenom dozlogrde iritantni, djetinjasti, gotovo histerični ženski likovi. Jadne (likinje), baš su osuđene na -tu- jed(i)nu kožu iz koje im nema izlaza. Taj dio je razočaravajući.
Preferiram Huxleyeve romane i eseje, pripovijetke mi nisu baš sjele.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this around 1974 and don't remember a thing about it. I'm not even sure if I read it, but if I did I probably enjoyed it. In this time period I would find all the works of favorite authors and read them, because I did not have a TV or a social life. Historical note: my Bantam paperback does not have an ISBN.

[Juan · Rating 2 out of 5]

These stories were probably a hoot when they were originally published but alas they have not aged well. Tempted for 3 stars if not for Chawdron.

[Renato Venturini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Histórias e histórias que te levam a outras atmosferas. Muito bom.

[André Lourenço · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book with short but interesting stories.

[Guilherme Rodrigues · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandonei no segundo conto. Chatérrimo.

[Kyle K]

Happily Ever After -

Eupompus Gave Splendour to Art by Numbers -

Cynthia -

The Bookshop -

The Death of Lully -

Sir Hercules -

The Gioconda Smile -

The Tillotson Banquet -

Green Tunnels -

Nuns at Luncheon -

Little Mexican -

Hubert and Minnie -

Fard -

The Portrait -

Young Archimedes -

Half-Holiday -

The Monocle -

Fairy Godmother -

Chawdron -

The Rest Cure -

The Claxtons -

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

*Happily ever after --
Eupompus gave splendour to art by numbers --
Cynthia --2
The bookshop --
The death of Lully --
Sir Hercules (aka The dwarfs)--3
The Gioconda smile --3
The Tillotson banquet --3
*Green tunnels --
Nuns at luncheon --2
Little Mexican --
*Hubert and Minnie --
*Fard --
The portrait (aka A deal in old masters)--3
*Young Archimedes --
*Half-holiday --
The monocle --
Fairy godmother --
*Chawdron --
*The rest cure --
The Claxtons --3

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

(1957) consists of twenty stories compiled from five of Huxley’s earlier collections; Limbo (1920),
Mortal Coils (1922), Little Mexican (1924), Two or Three Graces (1926), Brief Candles (1930), and one from his novel Crome Yellow *1921).

[Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provavelmente é o que em português se chama Contos escolhidos, que é o que eu li. Livro desses que você vê na biblioteca e se interessa do nada... Fantástico! Huxley é um grande contista - este livro me marcou muito mais do que Admirável mundo novo.

[Jane McGregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have only ever read Brave New World, please explore this author's short stories. Exceptionally well written especially if you read mostly modern literature. I found this collection highly engrossing.

[Tender Looks · Rating 5 out of 5]

MARAVILLOSAS HISTORIAS.

No puedo parar de pensar en que Huxley haría magníficos One-shots si tuviese mi edad pero unf, sólo pienso en que quiero ser esta clase de autor y me muero por escribir pero al mismo tiempo no me atrevo.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were good but not as compelling as his full length novels. A couple of them had some curious people or plots which I may revisit. I was a bit surprised by the fact that almost half the stories were set in (at least partially) Italy.

[Patrick\ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A high level of arrogance shows through in some of these, largely masked in his major writings. Watch out!

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories, but only a couple approach the brilliance of his other works. On the whole I would say I was let down, but that the book still had some short stories.

[Ashley Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected Short Stories by Aldous Huxley (1973)

[Karen Ceja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi favorito, El Genio y La Diosa. El Pequeño Arquímides me gustó mucho también, especialmente por la descripción de los paisajes italianos y la forma tan matemática de mostrar la música :)

[Rina DSouza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm....did not enjoy it too much at all.

[Melissa M.]

read: The Bookshop. rating: 1 star

[Vahe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this stories are interesting, although Huxley as a novelist is much more interesting to read