[dustintrex]

It's a real shame that Huxley's final novel Island, written after his first exposure to actual psychedelics, gets so little press compared to Brave New World.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel)

But apparently the world wasn't ready for a utopia of Tantric sex and drugs where people are genuinely happy.

[WriterGuy2021]

Brave New World has become more than a novel now...it's a symbol in the cultural lexicon. Another example is the use of "orwellian" as an adjective by people that have never read 1984. I agree that his other works demonstrate his skills as an artist much better.

[Anon84]

Another of Huxley's books that's shamefully unknown is "The Perennial Philosophy" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061724947?ie=UTF8&linkCod... where fleshes out the teachings of major religious traditions

[Jibbedeyeah]

>Tantric sex and drugs where people are genuinely happy

That seems like vapid, temporary happiness to me. Like rockstar, Kurt Cobain, type happiness.

[svrourke]

Kurt Cobain isn't typically who I would think of when prompted with the phrase "Rockstar Happiness"

[dustintrex]

Quite far from it. Have a read!

[Melting_Harps]

> Quite far from it. Have a read!

I've read it, along with his entire bibliography as Aldous Huxley has been my favorite author since I read Doors of Perception as 16 year old boy, and I think that both are still highlighting the pitfalls of centralized planning of Society as in the case within Brave New World.

To me both seem like a direct response to the perils outlined in Artic Hay, which is to say that effective centralized planning of Society and Human Organization can be successfully achieved provided you include the basic needs and wants of the Human Condition while catering to it's pleasure seeking nature to make one's servitude acceptable (include Genetic modification as in the case of BnW) all while omitting the need for strife, challenge, and adversity that makes something feel fulfilling for Humans: hence the story of the savage.

[germinalphrase]

I quite like the idea in “The Island” that there is a desire to dominant within all people, but for those who have a strong compulsion to dominate, we must provide a productive outlet. In the novel, this outlet was rock climbing in which the desire to dominate is turned inward upon the self rather than outward upon other people.

[nickstinemates]

Island is an amazing book. I highly recommend it. I read it at least once a year and its just as moving the 10th time as it was the first.

[ivankolev]

On your last note, I felt Heinlein tripped on something similar while writing Time enough for love[0]. I haven't read Island, I'll put it on my list.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_for_Love

[hyper_reality]

Transhumanist philosopher David Pearce has a fascinating piece arguing along these lines. The dystopic Brave New World "has come to serve as the false symbol for any regime of universal happiness", and Island offers a counterpoint, however hardly anybody has read it compared to Brave New World: https://www.huxley.net/