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Crome Yellow
On vacation from school, Denis goes to stay at Crome, an English country house inhabited by several of Huxley's most outlandish characters--from Mr. Barbecue-Smith, who writes 1,500 publishable words an hour by "getting in touch" with his "subconscious," to Henry Wimbush, who is obsessed with writing the definitive "History of Crome." Denis's stay proves to be a disaster amid his weak attempts to attract the girl of his dreams and the ridicule he endures regarding his plan to write a novel about love and art. Lambasting the post-Victorian standards of morality, Crome Yellow is a witty masterpiece that, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's words, "is too ironic to be called satire and too scornful to be called irony."
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
About the author
Aldous Huxley
997 books12.4k followers
Brave New World
(1932), best-known work of British writer Aldous Leonard Huxley, paints a grim picture of a scientifically organized utopia.
This most prominent member of the famous Huxley family of England spent the part of his life from 1937 in Los Angeles in the United States until his death. Best known for his novels and wide-ranging output of essays, he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts. Through novels and essays, Huxley functioned as an examiner and sometimes critic of social mores, norms and ideals. Spiritual subjects, such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism, interested Huxley, a humanist, towards the end of his life. People widely acknowledged him as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time before the end of his life.
This most prominent member of the famous Huxley family of England spent the part of his life from 1937 in Los Angeles in the United States until his death. Best known for his novels and wide-ranging output of essays, he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts. Through novels and essays, Huxley functioned as an examiner and sometimes critic of social mores, norms and ideals. Spiritual subjects, such as parapsychology and philosophical mysticism, interested Huxley, a humanist, towards the end of his life. People widely acknowledged him as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time before the end of his life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 746 reviews
February 26, 2023
To Aldous Huxley with his immense talent of perception in order to paint a canvas of epoch was enough to draw a picture of a single party.
Crome Yellow is a chronicle of a party – it seems nothing happens but actually there is a battle of different intellectual conceits. The novel is a paragon of erudition and a trove of knowledge and concepts.
The party: some drink, some dance, some flirt, some watch, some talk, some think…
Crome Yellow is a chronicle of a party – it seems nothing happens but actually there is a battle of different intellectual conceits. The novel is a paragon of erudition and a trove of knowledge and concepts.
Consider, for example, the case of Luther and Erasmus. There was Erasmus, a man of reason if ever there was one. People listened to him at first – a new virtuoso performing on that elegant and resourceful instrument, the intellect; they even admired and venerated him. But did he move them to behave as he wanted them to behave – reasonably, decently, or at least a little less porkishly than usual? He did not. And then Luther appears, violent, passionate, a madman insanely convinced about matters in which there can be no conviction. He shouted, and men rushed to follow him. Erasmus was no longer listened to; he was reviled for his reasonableness. Luther was serious, Luther was reality – like the Great War. Erasmus was only reason and decency; he lacked the power, being a sage, to move men to action. Europe followed Luther and embarked on a century and a half of war and bloody persecution. It’s a melancholy story.
The party: some drink, some dance, some flirt, some watch, some talk, some think…
November 7, 2023
The GR blurb for this novel describes it as satire. I think satire is a difficult thing to pull off, and for me this book felt a bit like a single joke extended over 200 pages.
It’s the early 1920s, and a group of pretentious toffs gather at an English country house. Those visiting include an artist, a mystic, a philosopher and the lead character, Denis Stone, a young poet. The group spend their time reciting poetry, uttering quotations in French, or engaging in philosophical discourses.
At its best, the satire in this novel could be described as “faintly amusing”. However, I found most of it about as funny as toothache.
I couldn’t help wondering whether Huxley was indulging himself with some of the philosophical stuff.
As ever, the GR reviews reveal differing opinions, Clearly there are many who loved this book. Not for me though.
It’s the early 1920s, and a group of pretentious toffs gather at an English country house. Those visiting include an artist, a mystic, a philosopher and the lead character, Denis Stone, a young poet. The group spend their time reciting poetry, uttering quotations in French, or engaging in philosophical discourses.
At its best, the satire in this novel could be described as “faintly amusing”. However, I found most of it about as funny as toothache.
I couldn’t help wondering whether Huxley was indulging himself with some of the philosophical stuff.
As ever, the GR reviews reveal differing opinions, Clearly there are many who loved this book. Not for me though.
November 27, 2012
I had never read any of Huxley's novels other than Brave New World, and was surprised to find that his first novel, Crome Yellow, is quite far from a sci-fi novel, being instead of the species of British manor satires that seem to make up about half of the novels in the English language. Not only this, but the back of the book says that even less happens than is normal in these novels. That didn't exactly sound like what I wanted to read on a weekend night, but it was already in my hand so I cracked it open, sniffed the book odor, sneezed, and then began reading.
And I think it's fantastic. Yes, nothing happens, even less than usual. It's one of these novels that a young person writes about young people expressing enormous thoughts in tiny conversations. As Mr. Scogan bemoans in the novel, "Why will young men continue to write about things so entirely uninteresting as the mentality of adolescents and artists?" Note Huxley's attempt to show his self awareness by forecasting the failure of his own project.
His project doesn't fail though, because the writing is wonderful. Each turn of phrase is a treasure. And there's a story about a pack of hunting dogs except all of the dogs are pugs. Yes, it's about a few people in a manor talking about poetry to make their lives seem more important. But it's hilarious. And wry. And erudite. And totally worth reading no matter what the blurb on the back of the book leads you to think.
And I think it's fantastic. Yes, nothing happens, even less than usual. It's one of these novels that a young person writes about young people expressing enormous thoughts in tiny conversations. As Mr. Scogan bemoans in the novel, "Why will young men continue to write about things so entirely uninteresting as the mentality of adolescents and artists?" Note Huxley's attempt to show his self awareness by forecasting the failure of his own project.
His project doesn't fail though, because the writing is wonderful. Each turn of phrase is a treasure. And there's a story about a pack of hunting dogs except all of the dogs are pugs. Yes, it's about a few people in a manor talking about poetry to make their lives seem more important. But it's hilarious. And wry. And erudite. And totally worth reading no matter what the blurb on the back of the book leads you to think.
December 23, 2023
In the middle of this delightful ultra-English country house satire written in 1921, I got a jolt. One of the pompous old geezers is lecturing our limp-as-a-lettuce-leaf young Denis the would-be poet about what the world is really like (they do this quite a lot) :
People are quite ready to listen to the philosophers for a little amusement as they would listen to a fiddler or a mountebank. But as to acting on the advice of the men of reason – never. Wherever the choice has had to be made between the man of reason and the madman, the world has unhesitatingly followed the madman. For the madman appeals to what is fundamental, to passion and the instincts…
At that exact moment, in 1921, there was a guy just starting his political career in an obscure minuscule laughably unpopular political party over in Germany. Of course, he was Hitler, and he was a madman. It gave me a shudder.
That was an unintentional serious note - this is a sweet, funny book. When you start it you might groan and think hasn’t this eccentric aristocratic and artistic types all lined up to be executed by gentle mockery been done to death? And it has. But this young man Aldous Huxley could really turn out lovely sentences, unexpected anecdotes and lashings of charm.
Such a nice novel to end the year with. 3.5 stars.
People are quite ready to listen to the philosophers for a little amusement as they would listen to a fiddler or a mountebank. But as to acting on the advice of the men of reason – never. Wherever the choice has had to be made between the man of reason and the madman, the world has unhesitatingly followed the madman. For the madman appeals to what is fundamental, to passion and the instincts…
At that exact moment, in 1921, there was a guy just starting his political career in an obscure minuscule laughably unpopular political party over in Germany. Of course, he was Hitler, and he was a madman. It gave me a shudder.
That was an unintentional serious note - this is a sweet, funny book. When you start it you might groan and think hasn’t this eccentric aristocratic and artistic types all lined up to be executed by gentle mockery been done to death? And it has. But this young man Aldous Huxley could really turn out lovely sentences, unexpected anecdotes and lashings of charm.
Such a nice novel to end the year with. 3.5 stars.
December 10, 2015
Having only read Huxley's Brave New World, I was surprised at how different Crome Yellow was. I had to check the cover to make sure this was indeed a Huxley novel. It is his first novel, published in 1921, a full decade before Brave New World. Crome Yellow is a satire on English country manors, and a parody in particular of Garsington Manor, owned by Lady Ottoline Morrell. Garsington was a haven for a group of writers that inclided Huxley, D.H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, and others. Cromes fictional characters were much less distinguished, and Lady Morrell was deeply offended by the portrayal. Even though Chrome Yellow is very different than Brave New World, one of the characters makes a fleeting reference to a future society much like Huxley would later write of in BNW.
May 15, 2023
Not my favourite book by the hand of Huxley. It didn't really grab me as his novels normally do.
July 17, 2016
Words - I wonder if you can realize how much I love them. You are too much preoccupied with mere things and ideas and people to understand the full beauty of words. Your mind is not a literary mind.
Goodreads is but a sea of possibilities, rife with points of contact albeit drifting and bobbing. Too often I don't hear the calls across the foamy expanses. It is with relief and gratitude that I thank Jim Paris for suggesting this novel.
Crome Yellow is Huxley's first novel.
It has wit and snark.
It overflows with pain and self-deprecation.
It takes place in a place called Crome.
It involves a bank holiday and there are references to oysters.
Goodreads is but a sea of possibilities, rife with points of contact albeit drifting and bobbing. Too often I don't hear the calls across the foamy expanses. It is with relief and gratitude that I thank Jim Paris for suggesting this novel.
Crome Yellow is Huxley's first novel.
It has wit and snark.
It overflows with pain and self-deprecation.
It takes place in a place called Crome.
It involves a bank holiday and there are references to oysters.
November 10, 2020
6th book of 2020.
I read Brave New World a few years ago and have been meaning to read his earlier works, his social satires which I heard are very different. That they are. Almost unrecognisable - these are humorous, well-written (as BNW is) and mundane books. By mundane I mean without any utopias or dystopias or drugs.
There are however some eccentric characters, all in a house together. The property of Crome. One thing I will warn, there is a lot of dialogue in this. And not always back and forth. Huxley's characters go on rants here, for several pages, about art, or philosophy or writing. I didn't mind that, with interests in those subjects, but there are some rather dry bits.
There were some little poignant bits for me, I really like this extract, for some reason:
I also greatly enjoyed the story within the story, about a prior occupant of Crome, who was a dwarf, and has a rather tragic story.
I read Brave New World a few years ago and have been meaning to read his earlier works, his social satires which I heard are very different. That they are. Almost unrecognisable - these are humorous, well-written (as BNW is) and mundane books. By mundane I mean without any utopias or dystopias or drugs.
There are however some eccentric characters, all in a house together. The property of Crome. One thing I will warn, there is a lot of dialogue in this. And not always back and forth. Huxley's characters go on rants here, for several pages, about art, or philosophy or writing. I didn't mind that, with interests in those subjects, but there are some rather dry bits.
There were some little poignant bits for me, I really like this extract, for some reason:
"I hope you slept well," he said.
"Yes, isn't it lovely?" Jenny replied, giving two rapid little nods. "But we had such awful thunderstorms last week."
Parallel straight lines, Denis reflected, meet only at infinity. He might talk for ever of care-charmer sleep and she of meteorology till the end of time. Did on ever establish contact with anyone? We are all parallel straight lines. Jenny was only a little more parallel than most.
I also greatly enjoyed the story within the story, about a prior occupant of Crome, who was a dwarf, and has a rather tragic story.
July 10, 2016
I have not read this book for 41 years. Reading it today was an altogether different experience inasmuch as all that changes my life has undergone during the intervening decades. Written in 1921, Crome Yellow is frequently described as a satire on English country house gatherings of intellectuals. In actuality, it is much more.
We see the events unfolding through the eyes of the young dilettante poet Dennis Stone, who is hopelessly in love with Anne Wimbush, daughter of the hosts. His feelings are unrequited, as Anne is more interested in the temperamental French painter Gombauld. In his desultory pursuit of her, he ignores an attempt by the equally attractive Mary Bracegirdle to get to know him better. I remember when I read this story in 1975 that I was abashed by my own failures in dating, and I downrated the book because I identified too much with the narrator.
But there is much more to Aldous Huxley's novelette than Dennis. The country house is filled to overflowing with musicians, Don Juans, real and bogus literati, stuffy clericals, spiritualists, and antiquarians, most notably the host Henry Wimbush. There are two Sunday sermons; philosophical disquisitions by the irrepressible Mr. Scogan (along with Dennis, another stand-in for the author); an attack on contemporary life by Henry Winbush; and numerous other conversations that impinge on the young man's experience at Crome.
I remember loving Huxley's work when I was younger. Now I am thinking of re-reading his novels, stories, and essays; and I have just ordered a collection of his letters. People just don't write as well any more. I guess they just Tweet.
We see the events unfolding through the eyes of the young dilettante poet Dennis Stone, who is hopelessly in love with Anne Wimbush, daughter of the hosts. His feelings are unrequited, as Anne is more interested in the temperamental French painter Gombauld. In his desultory pursuit of her, he ignores an attempt by the equally attractive Mary Bracegirdle to get to know him better. I remember when I read this story in 1975 that I was abashed by my own failures in dating, and I downrated the book because I identified too much with the narrator.
But there is much more to Aldous Huxley's novelette than Dennis. The country house is filled to overflowing with musicians, Don Juans, real and bogus literati, stuffy clericals, spiritualists, and antiquarians, most notably the host Henry Wimbush. There are two Sunday sermons; philosophical disquisitions by the irrepressible Mr. Scogan (along with Dennis, another stand-in for the author); an attack on contemporary life by Henry Winbush; and numerous other conversations that impinge on the young man's experience at Crome.
I remember loving Huxley's work when I was younger. Now I am thinking of re-reading his novels, stories, and essays; and I have just ordered a collection of his letters. People just don't write as well any more. I guess they just Tweet.
June 15, 2008
A country house weekend, but like Island, the plot, such as it is, just seems an excuse to contrive situations for various cardboard characters to pontificate about life, philosophy, culture etc, rather than the driving force.
May 25, 2017
Huxley hat EINE GESELLSCHAFT AUF DEM LANDE, seinen ersten Roman, als Ideenkomödie bezeichnet. Der Roman des 27-jährigen sorgte für Missstimmung, da die Gastgeberin Ottoline Morrell sich in der Figur der Priscilla Wimbush unangemessen porträtiert fand und auch zahlreiche ihrer anderen namhaften Gäste, darunter Bertrand Russell, karikiert sah. Huxleys Antwort auf ein verärgertes Schreiben von ihr klingt ähnlich, wie es Rechtfertigungsschreiben dieser Art eben tun und wie wir es zum Beispiel von Thomas Mann kennen.
Worum geht es in dem Buch? Der noch sehr junge Dichter Denis Stone besucht den Herrensitz Crome und verliebt sich schwärmerisch in die einige Jahre ältere Anne. Huxley macht keinen Hehl daraus, dass Denis ein ironisiertes Alter Ego ist, mit dem er nicht sehr nachsichtig umgeht. Im Laufe des Wochenendes, das Denis auf Crome verbringt, lernen wir die Besitzer und ihre Familiengeschichte kennen, drei junge Frauen, mit ihnen verwandt, und illustre Gäste, intellektuelle und Künstler.
Es wird geistreich über Gott und die Welt geplaudert, in einer Leichtigkeit, wie man sie vorzugsweise in angelsächsischen Romanen findet. Heiter und ironisch ist die Grundstimmung, wobei mir vieles durchaus bedenkenswert und vor allem sympathisch ist:
"Durch Lektüre weiß ich sehr viel über Cesare Borgia, Franz von Assisi, Samuel Johnson; ein paar Wochen haben mir genügt, um diese interessanten Charaktere gründlich kennenzulernen, und dabei habe ich mir den ermüdenden und abstoßenden Prozess erspart, sie durch persönlichen Kontakt kennenzulernen, wozu ich gezwungen wäre, wenn sie heute lebten. Wie heiter und köstlich würde das Leben sein, wenn man sich von all diesen persönlichen Kontakten frei machen könnte! Vielleicht wenn in der Zukunft die Maschinen ein Stadium der Vollkommenheit erreicht haben - denn ich gestehe, dass ich wie Godwin und Shelley an die Möglichkeit der Perfektionierung glaube, so auch an die Vervollkommnungsfähigkeit der Maschine -, nun, dann wird es für Menschen meiner Art möglich sein, in der würdigen Zurückgezogenheit zu leben, die wir uns wünschen, umgeben von den zarten Aufmerksamkeiten stummer, elegant entworfene Maschinen und dabei vollkommen sicher vor menschlicher Zudringlichkeit. Eine wunderbare Vorstellung!"
Die Romanhandlung ist kurz nach dem ersten Weltkrieg angesiedelt und stellt eine Gesellschaft dar, wie es sie heute nicht mehr gibt. Auch wenn die Probleme der fuchsjagenden Klasse die meisten Leser heute nicht mehr ansprechen:
Ich habe diesen Roman mit Begeisterung gelesen und kann ihn uneingeschränkt allen empfehlen, die Spaß an britischer Art und Humor haben.
Worum geht es in dem Buch? Der noch sehr junge Dichter Denis Stone besucht den Herrensitz Crome und verliebt sich schwärmerisch in die einige Jahre ältere Anne. Huxley macht keinen Hehl daraus, dass Denis ein ironisiertes Alter Ego ist, mit dem er nicht sehr nachsichtig umgeht. Im Laufe des Wochenendes, das Denis auf Crome verbringt, lernen wir die Besitzer und ihre Familiengeschichte kennen, drei junge Frauen, mit ihnen verwandt, und illustre Gäste, intellektuelle und Künstler.
Es wird geistreich über Gott und die Welt geplaudert, in einer Leichtigkeit, wie man sie vorzugsweise in angelsächsischen Romanen findet. Heiter und ironisch ist die Grundstimmung, wobei mir vieles durchaus bedenkenswert und vor allem sympathisch ist:
"Durch Lektüre weiß ich sehr viel über Cesare Borgia, Franz von Assisi, Samuel Johnson; ein paar Wochen haben mir genügt, um diese interessanten Charaktere gründlich kennenzulernen, und dabei habe ich mir den ermüdenden und abstoßenden Prozess erspart, sie durch persönlichen Kontakt kennenzulernen, wozu ich gezwungen wäre, wenn sie heute lebten. Wie heiter und köstlich würde das Leben sein, wenn man sich von all diesen persönlichen Kontakten frei machen könnte! Vielleicht wenn in der Zukunft die Maschinen ein Stadium der Vollkommenheit erreicht haben - denn ich gestehe, dass ich wie Godwin und Shelley an die Möglichkeit der Perfektionierung glaube, so auch an die Vervollkommnungsfähigkeit der Maschine -, nun, dann wird es für Menschen meiner Art möglich sein, in der würdigen Zurückgezogenheit zu leben, die wir uns wünschen, umgeben von den zarten Aufmerksamkeiten stummer, elegant entworfene Maschinen und dabei vollkommen sicher vor menschlicher Zudringlichkeit. Eine wunderbare Vorstellung!"
Die Romanhandlung ist kurz nach dem ersten Weltkrieg angesiedelt und stellt eine Gesellschaft dar, wie es sie heute nicht mehr gibt. Auch wenn die Probleme der fuchsjagenden Klasse die meisten Leser heute nicht mehr ansprechen:
Ich habe diesen Roman mit Begeisterung gelesen und kann ihn uneingeschränkt allen empfehlen, die Spaß an britischer Art und Humor haben.
February 10, 2017
Sadly, this book has not withstood the test of time.
December 7, 2008
My friend Celia is a huge Huxley fan, so some time ago I bought a copy of Crome Yellow but never really had an awful lot of time to read it. Last week, I dove in, and absolutely adore it. It's the Great Gatsby of the United Kingdom, a novel entrenched in 1920s high society lifestyles, of dinner parties and estates. Huxley focuses most directly on Denis, a struggling poet who cannot quite grasp the art of writing something up to par, nor can he win the heart of the young lady he has fallen for.
What was most exceptional about this novel, to me at least, was the time Huxley dedicates to presenting each character and the care with which he does it. Henry Wimbush is perhaps my favourite of the lot, a man fascinated by tales of his ancestry, tales as often filled with disappointment and melancholy as with luck and prosperity, but above all, with a subtle humour that almost tickles.
I recommend this novel without hesitation and look forward to reading more of Huxley's work.
What was most exceptional about this novel, to me at least, was the time Huxley dedicates to presenting each character and the care with which he does it. Henry Wimbush is perhaps my favourite of the lot, a man fascinated by tales of his ancestry, tales as often filled with disappointment and melancholy as with luck and prosperity, but above all, with a subtle humour that almost tickles.
I recommend this novel without hesitation and look forward to reading more of Huxley's work.
October 4, 2018
Years ago before I knew about Goodreads, I had heard about Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and soon read and enjoyed that dystopian novel. After joining Goodreads, I noticed that Huxley had many other books besides his classic novel, of course he must have but the beauty of Goodreads is all is here with a search of an author. I decided on reading "Crome Yellow" and "Mortal Coils" now because I had bought this Kindle edition years ago and thought it was time to see more of Huxley's writing. This edition has both books but I will review "Mortal Coils" under that title. All my notes and highlights are here if interested. This edition has several little typos which I reported but nothing major.
I had no idea going into "Crome Yellow" what was in store for me and would I like it. It was not a fast read for me for several reasons; A) I was looking several things up, mind you not a lot but I love doing that because I always learn something new; and B) I was still drained from the virus I had which made me fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I always think of Gary Cooper's daughter talking about her father being able to do that on the movie set when they had a break. I like to go on tangents. 😄 Does that mean I did not enjoy this wonderful quirky book? No! I actually enjoyed it and when I thought of it on the whole it was quite a quirky gem. Why do I call it quirky? I label it as such because if you are looking for a definite story, you will not be thrilled but there is a story here. It kind of reminds me of a gone wrong Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April. In Arnim's novel several females come together and find common feelings and friendships, whereas as in Huxley's story you have a get together of family and friends but there is kind of a disconnect. After reading "Mortal Coils" and "Crome Yellow" I get more of a sense what kind of writer, he was and his vast ability to tap into the human being with all its pathos, goodness, evilness and yes, self centeredness. There are many degrees of this in humans which vary from person to person but there is always some amount of selfishness, even when we are around people it is there. It doesn't mean we care nothing for others but it is natural to a point and deviations can be quite unhealthy. In these stories, it is evident and some have more of this extreme compared to other characters. So Huxley's characters seem so real yet with the exaggeration of some. In thinking about who he reminds me of it is Irene Nemirovsky because her characters seem to show there bare self at times.
What I found extremely fascinating is that "Crome Yellow" was written before "The Brave New World" and one character, Mr. Scogan talks about a society of the future with regards to a society controlling order. Huxley was thinking of this and giving us a preview in many passages. I will highlight one but if you want to see more check out my highlights on page 1 and 2 of my notes.
"In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a sunlit world."
"Crome Yellow" was written in 1921 but this passage, I found very interesting post The Great War (WW1) and years before the rise of Hitler.
"The spirit of Infidelity is the very spirit of German criticism. The Higher Criticism, as it is mockingly called, denies the possibility of miracles, prediction, and real inspiration, and attempts to account for the Bible as a natural development. Slowly but surely, during the last eighty years, the spirit of Infidelity has been robbing the Germans of their Bible and their faith, so that Germany is to-day a nation of unbelievers. Higher Criticism has thus made the war possible; for it would be absolutely impossible for any Christian nation to wage war as Germany is waging it."
Onto the story, Denis is going to visit Crome on a holiday with friends and mostly to see Anne, who he loves but she is only his friend. Her uncle is quite antisocial and her aunt is looking for the last fads in the spiritual world. Jenny who is pretty much deaf but opens Denis eyes in a kind of self awakening. There are other quirky characters like Scogan who has his ideas how society should run. Many more interesting characters which make this holiday quite strange. In thinking about the ending, it seemed so real and actually perfect. It was not conclusive but I can see how it would play out later. There is humor here and philosophy on life as well. It was a worthwhile read IMO.
A must read for Huxley fans. 🌼💖
I had no idea going into "Crome Yellow" what was in store for me and would I like it. It was not a fast read for me for several reasons; A) I was looking several things up, mind you not a lot but I love doing that because I always learn something new; and B) I was still drained from the virus I had which made me fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I always think of Gary Cooper's daughter talking about her father being able to do that on the movie set when they had a break. I like to go on tangents. 😄 Does that mean I did not enjoy this wonderful quirky book? No! I actually enjoyed it and when I thought of it on the whole it was quite a quirky gem. Why do I call it quirky? I label it as such because if you are looking for a definite story, you will not be thrilled but there is a story here. It kind of reminds me of a gone wrong Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April. In Arnim's novel several females come together and find common feelings and friendships, whereas as in Huxley's story you have a get together of family and friends but there is kind of a disconnect. After reading "Mortal Coils" and "Crome Yellow" I get more of a sense what kind of writer, he was and his vast ability to tap into the human being with all its pathos, goodness, evilness and yes, self centeredness. There are many degrees of this in humans which vary from person to person but there is always some amount of selfishness, even when we are around people it is there. It doesn't mean we care nothing for others but it is natural to a point and deviations can be quite unhealthy. In these stories, it is evident and some have more of this extreme compared to other characters. So Huxley's characters seem so real yet with the exaggeration of some. In thinking about who he reminds me of it is Irene Nemirovsky because her characters seem to show there bare self at times.
What I found extremely fascinating is that "Crome Yellow" was written before "The Brave New World" and one character, Mr. Scogan talks about a society of the future with regards to a society controlling order. Huxley was thinking of this and giving us a preview in many passages. I will highlight one but if you want to see more check out my highlights on page 1 and 2 of my notes.
"In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a sunlit world."
"Crome Yellow" was written in 1921 but this passage, I found very interesting post The Great War (WW1) and years before the rise of Hitler.
"The spirit of Infidelity is the very spirit of German criticism. The Higher Criticism, as it is mockingly called, denies the possibility of miracles, prediction, and real inspiration, and attempts to account for the Bible as a natural development. Slowly but surely, during the last eighty years, the spirit of Infidelity has been robbing the Germans of their Bible and their faith, so that Germany is to-day a nation of unbelievers. Higher Criticism has thus made the war possible; for it would be absolutely impossible for any Christian nation to wage war as Germany is waging it."
Onto the story, Denis is going to visit Crome on a holiday with friends and mostly to see Anne, who he loves but she is only his friend. Her uncle is quite antisocial and her aunt is looking for the last fads in the spiritual world. Jenny who is pretty much deaf but opens Denis eyes in a kind of self awakening. There are other quirky characters like Scogan who has his ideas how society should run. Many more interesting characters which make this holiday quite strange. In thinking about the ending, it seemed so real and actually perfect. It was not conclusive but I can see how it would play out later. There is humor here and philosophy on life as well. It was a worthwhile read IMO.
A must read for Huxley fans. 🌼💖
May 25, 2022
В романе "Жёлтый Кром" события разворачиваются в поместье Кром. Хаксли сатирически живописует общество, которое там собралось. Юный поэт Дэнис Стоун приезжает туда погостить с тайным желанием завоевать сердце Анны, племянницы хозяев. Психологические портреты английского общества послевоенных лет весьма разноречивы и довольно карикатурны. Хозяин, Генри Уимбуш увлечен историей своих предков и отдал тридцать лет, чтобы написать книгу о них. Кстати, очень славные отрывки из этой книги он зачитал - о сэре Геркулесе, карлике, его жене Филомене и сыне Фердинандо, о более поздних предках трёх девицах Лапита, которые на людях говорили о душе и духовном, и невозможности принимать пищу, а сами чревоугодничали в потайной комнате. Именно шантаж деда Генри Уимбуша одной из д��виц о раскрытии тайны позволил ему жениться на ней. Жена Генри, Присцилла, с оранжевой шевелюрой и привычной ниткой жемчуга, увлечена спиритизмом, астрологией, скачками и ставками. Она составляет сложные гороскопы всех 22 игроков предстоящего футбльного матча, и, конечно же, ошибается. Их племянница Анна непонятно чего хочет, а Мэри хочет любви или, как она называет, естественного полового влечения, но бедняжка не знает, кого же ей полюбить и выбирает в конце концов заезжего гастролера-сердцееда Айвора, у которого на любой случай заготовлен стих со странными словечками, такими как "аурумальные" бабочки, что означает "золотые". Она милая девушка, но хочет казаться ужасно умной, и по делу и без дела сыплет умными фразами - например, луна у нее обязательно с указанием фазы, а спиритизм - наука. Про любовь к красивым словечкам Хаксли приводит смешной случай. Дэнису в детстве прописали коричную настойку, и на бутыльке было написано красивое слово "карминативный". Он искренне полагал, что оно означает что-то вроде согревающего, возбуждающего, связанного с кармой, карнавалом или может быть с плотью. Даже стих сочинил. Заглянул в словарь - оказалось, что это слово означает "ветрогонное". Хаксли беспокоит, что люди к месту и не к месту употребляют красивые слова, не вполне понимая их смысл. Ещё один карикатурный персонаж - мистер Скоуган с неизменной сигарой во рту. Его суждения абсурдны, например, он издеваясь, предлагает провести церковную реформу с тем, чтобы священники носили не только воротнички задом ��аперед, но и всю одежду - сюртук, жилет, брюки с тем, чтобы каждое духовное лицо являло миру гладкий фасад, который бы не портили запонки и прочее, и это бы сдерживало от принятия сана тех, кто к этому не готов. Художник Гомбо мечется между кубизмом и реализмом. Дженни забавляется тем, что рисует карикатуры на всех. Охрипший после проповедей проповедник Бодиэм - человек в Железной Маске, своими проповедями яростно бьющий, как цепом, по своей пастве, которая как резина отскакивает без малейшей реакции. Паства спит. Миссис Бадж, прочитав, что правительству нужны персиковые косточки, начала их собирать, не удосужившись узнать, зачем они нужны, и была горда своим вкладом в дело военной помощи. Сюжетных линий в романе мало, ведь целью было психологически обрисовать общество. И у него получилось. И по иронии судьбы тогда, когда Дэнис решился уехать от Анны, она проявила к нему неподдельный интерес. Но делать было уже нечего. Так он и уехал. Хаксли и в этом, самом первом романе пишет пророчества, по сути предшествующие изложенным в романе "О, дивный новый мир" - о биологическом евгеническом отборе, об исчезновении института семьи, о Рационалистическом государстве, в котором психологи-контролеры будут обследовать родившихся детей и делить их на руководящих интеллектуалов, фанатиков, функция которых будет заключаться в выполнении планов элиты, и стадо - люди, лишенные умственных способностей или должного фанатизма в исполнительности. Если в дивном новом мире это - антиутопия, то здесь сатира. Дэнис получил от��ет на вопрос о его месте в этой иерархии, что его место в камере смерти.
Хаксли высмеивает эксцентричных соотечественников, готовых заспиртовывать гортани известных оперных певцов, других эксцентриков, едущих уговорить Паганини расстаться со своей скрипкой или, на худой конец, с гитарой, остальных странных соотечественников, отправляющихся в крестовые походы или просто выставляющие свои странности напоказ всей Европе. Эксцентричность, по его мнению, - это оправдание аристократии, праздных классов, наследуемое богатство, привилегии, ренты и все по��обные несправедливости.
Хаксли высмеивает эксцентричных соотечественников, готовых заспиртовывать гортани известных оперных певцов, других эксцентриков, едущих уговорить Паганини расстаться со своей скрипкой или, на худой конец, с гитарой, остальных странных соотечественников, отправляющихся в крестовые походы или просто выставляющие свои странности напоказ всей Европе. Эксцентричность, по его мнению, - это оправдание аристократии, праздных классов, наследуемое богатство, привилегии, ренты и все по��обные несправедливости.
June 11, 2018
Crome Yellow (1921) was Huxley’s first novel, written when he was around twenty-seven, four years older than the protagonist, the young poet (or would-be poet), Denis Stone. It’s a curious piece, and distinctly underplotted, with the loose narrative of Denis’s stay at a country house, Crome, serving as a frame on which to hang various philosophical monologues. That sounds like a criticism, but in fact this is a breezy and enjoyable read. Malcolm Bradbury, in his introduction to the edition I read, terms it a ‘comic novel of ideas’, which seems about right.
For Huxley’s contemporaries, Crome Yellow would have had an extra interest and satirical bite through its à clef element. Crome is apparently based on Garsington Manor, near Oxford, home from 1914 to Bloomsbury group hostess Ottoline Morrell, and presumably there are portraits of particular individuals among its various eccentric guests. You don��t need to know this background to enjoy Huxley’s meandering narrative, however, with its sprightly dialogue and its motley assemblage of characters. The touchy, self-conscious Denis makes a good semi-comic protagonist, as he haplessly pursues his puppyish love for his hosts’ sylph-like niece, while polishing lines of verse in his mind about the resemblance of his soul to a “pale, tenuous membrane.”
Some of the inserted narratives and monologues are a lot of fun, as well. I liked the Swiftian, or Calvinoesque, philosophical fable concerning an eighteenth-century owner of Crome, the diminutive Sir Hercules Lapith, who constructed himself a perfect, size-appropriate environment in his married home, with his equally tiny Venetian wife, Filomena, amusing himself hunting rabbits “using a pack of thirty black and fawn-coloured pugs”. This idyll comes to a brutal end when the couple’s normal-sized son Ferdinando returns from his Grand Tour and imposes his Brobdingnagian values on his parents.
Another episode I liked was the lizard-like Mr Scogan’s long disquisition about the fatuousness of the notion of “getting away” for a holiday, when all human beings are existentially trapped in their prisons of their selves and of social convention (“metaphorically, we never get farther than Southend.”) When the Byronic painter Gombauld contends that his war time experience was “as thorough a holiday from all the ordinary decencies and sanities … as I ever want to have,” Scogan “thoughtfully agrees, ‘Yes, the war was certainly something like a holiday. It was a step beyond Southend; it was Western-super-Mare; it was almost Ilfracombe.’”
For Huxley’s contemporaries, Crome Yellow would have had an extra interest and satirical bite through its à clef element. Crome is apparently based on Garsington Manor, near Oxford, home from 1914 to Bloomsbury group hostess Ottoline Morrell, and presumably there are portraits of particular individuals among its various eccentric guests. You don��t need to know this background to enjoy Huxley’s meandering narrative, however, with its sprightly dialogue and its motley assemblage of characters. The touchy, self-conscious Denis makes a good semi-comic protagonist, as he haplessly pursues his puppyish love for his hosts’ sylph-like niece, while polishing lines of verse in his mind about the resemblance of his soul to a “pale, tenuous membrane.”
Some of the inserted narratives and monologues are a lot of fun, as well. I liked the Swiftian, or Calvinoesque, philosophical fable concerning an eighteenth-century owner of Crome, the diminutive Sir Hercules Lapith, who constructed himself a perfect, size-appropriate environment in his married home, with his equally tiny Venetian wife, Filomena, amusing himself hunting rabbits “using a pack of thirty black and fawn-coloured pugs”. This idyll comes to a brutal end when the couple’s normal-sized son Ferdinando returns from his Grand Tour and imposes his Brobdingnagian values on his parents.
Another episode I liked was the lizard-like Mr Scogan’s long disquisition about the fatuousness of the notion of “getting away” for a holiday, when all human beings are existentially trapped in their prisons of their selves and of social convention (“metaphorically, we never get farther than Southend.”) When the Byronic painter Gombauld contends that his war time experience was “as thorough a holiday from all the ordinary decencies and sanities … as I ever want to have,” Scogan “thoughtfully agrees, ‘Yes, the war was certainly something like a holiday. It was a step beyond Southend; it was Western-super-Mare; it was almost Ilfracombe.’”
October 29, 2017
"Youth is wasted on the young"
A callow youth spends some days in the English countryside at an estate presided over by a gray, unflappable host with an eccentric, colorful wife. His other companions are a deaf girl, a cherubic girl who wants to try "it", a cynical bore with a speech for every occasion or topic, and not forgetting a lovely young thing who's a bit of a tease. For awhile we also meet a youthful ladykiller with a yellow car. Our callow youth dreams of romance with the lovely young thing but can't quite manage it. He comes close once, but ah..... Humorous and satirical, CROME YELLOW is full of Huxley's various philosophizings and you can definitely note the seeds of the idea for "Brave New World" that came later. Crome is the name of the estate, and there is a paint color called "chrome yellow" I believe, but except for the ladykiller's car, there's nothing particularly yellow about this novel. I confess to have missed something. This is a light read. The cover notes tell us that this novel shocked Europe in its day. Well, that may have been, but it's totally innocuous by today's standards. People who liked "Brideshead Revisited" will certainly like CROME YELLOW....it's not an action novel, but a lightweight satire of manners, of youth, and of those now-long past days.
A callow youth spends some days in the English countryside at an estate presided over by a gray, unflappable host with an eccentric, colorful wife. His other companions are a deaf girl, a cherubic girl who wants to try "it", a cynical bore with a speech for every occasion or topic, and not forgetting a lovely young thing who's a bit of a tease. For awhile we also meet a youthful ladykiller with a yellow car. Our callow youth dreams of romance with the lovely young thing but can't quite manage it. He comes close once, but ah..... Humorous and satirical, CROME YELLOW is full of Huxley's various philosophizings and you can definitely note the seeds of the idea for "Brave New World" that came later. Crome is the name of the estate, and there is a paint color called "chrome yellow" I believe, but except for the ladykiller's car, there's nothing particularly yellow about this novel. I confess to have missed something. This is a light read. The cover notes tell us that this novel shocked Europe in its day. Well, that may have been, but it's totally innocuous by today's standards. People who liked "Brideshead Revisited" will certainly like CROME YELLOW....it's not an action novel, but a lightweight satire of manners, of youth, and of those now-long past days.
January 10, 2012
An author's first novel is often semi-autobiographical, and Huxley's "Crome Yellow" is no exception. Drawing from his experiences at Garsington Manor and his time with the Bloomsbury set, Huxley satirizes and caricatures the British world fresh from The Great War and heady with a world of possibilities, including another potential global conflagration that could destroy humanity.
Huxley's range of male characters read like spokes on a wheel of his own personality. Early in the novel Huxley's main protagonist, Denis, laments his fear of passing through the world without making his mark - that his poetry and prose would be the stuff of weak tea and remain unread by the masses (a thinly-veiled Huxleyism, if there ever was one). Huxley's counter-point to his youthful protagonist is Mr. Scogan, a prophetic middle-aged man who guesses with alarming accuracy the type of novel that Denis is trying to write (and which is basically the book Huxley does not want "Crome Yellow" to become), causing Denis to swear-off the book entirely. Scogan also hints about the possibility of a future of birthing humans in test-tubes - an early foreshadowing to "Brave New World" which would be published 12 years after CY.
There are several well written scenes, including a touching oral history of a dwarf forefather given by one of CY's many characters - and the County Fair scene with Scogan as a fortune teller is a favorite. Recommended for Huxley and British lit fans.
Huxley's range of male characters read like spokes on a wheel of his own personality. Early in the novel Huxley's main protagonist, Denis, laments his fear of passing through the world without making his mark - that his poetry and prose would be the stuff of weak tea and remain unread by the masses (a thinly-veiled Huxleyism, if there ever was one). Huxley's counter-point to his youthful protagonist is Mr. Scogan, a prophetic middle-aged man who guesses with alarming accuracy the type of novel that Denis is trying to write (and which is basically the book Huxley does not want "Crome Yellow" to become), causing Denis to swear-off the book entirely. Scogan also hints about the possibility of a future of birthing humans in test-tubes - an early foreshadowing to "Brave New World" which would be published 12 years after CY.
There are several well written scenes, including a touching oral history of a dwarf forefather given by one of CY's many characters - and the County Fair scene with Scogan as a fortune teller is a favorite. Recommended for Huxley and British lit fans.
March 24, 2023
*March 2023 re-read. The second reading of this book highlights to me everything I hate about people! Self-congratulating, self-obsessed, cocky, don't-let-you-get-a-word-in-edgeways aristocratic twats!! Eugh! I get that Huxley was writing this with a hint of irony (I mean who has a character called Mr Barbecue-Smith?!!) but the characters were pretty repellent and the protagonist whimsical. No thanks Huxley, off to the library in the book cull! Down to a 2 star!
Original review (I clearly must have been tripping!): This book is a classic. Admittedly not a lengthy text but quality is key here. I identify with Huxley's main character's awkwardness, self doubt and social misfit manners. Huxley has an uncanny ability of describing eccentricity and the foibles of the self assured aristocrat. I was in stitches at certain stretches in this book. A really enjoyable read. Having only read The Doors of Perception by Huxley, I was very pleasantly surprised by this little gem.
Original review (I clearly must have been tripping!): This book is a classic. Admittedly not a lengthy text but quality is key here. I identify with Huxley's main character's awkwardness, self doubt and social misfit manners. Huxley has an uncanny ability of describing eccentricity and the foibles of the self assured aristocrat. I was in stitches at certain stretches in this book. A really enjoyable read. Having only read The Doors of Perception by Huxley, I was very pleasantly surprised by this little gem.
March 14, 2021
"Romanas, kuriame niekas nepasikeičia, tik kai kas gauna pamoką apie gyvenimą".
Išleistas 1921m. Visas romano veiksmas vyksta gražiame dvare, skirtingos asmenybės, intelektualūs pokalbiai, susižavėjimas, ieškojimas savęs.. Ir baigiasi romanas, kai jaunuolis skubotai išvyksta, iš nusivylimo suplanavęs priežastį, ir visą laiką abejodamas savo sprendimu..
🖋️ Tai, kas svarbu, nutinka širdyje. Regimi dalykai - malonūs, tačiau tie, paslėptieji, tūkstančius kartų svarbesni. Gyvenime prasminga tik tai, kas paslėpta.
🖋️ Jei tik visada galėtumėm be didelių pastangų daryti gera...
🖋️ Bet kas galiausiai yra skaitymas, jei ne yda, lygiai kaip girtuoklystė, gašlumas, arba bet kokia perdėto nuolaidžiavimo savo silpnybėms forma? Juk žmogus skaito tam, kad pakutentų ir pralinksmintų protą; juk žmogus svarbiausia skaito todėl, kad nemąstytų.
🖋️ Kentėdamas žmogus visada vienišas..
🖋️ Kiekvieną kartą, kai teks rinktis išminčių arba beprotį, pasaulis nesvyruodamas nueis paskui pastarąjį. Beprotis kreipiasi į tai, kas esmingiausia - į aistras ir instinktus, o filosofas į tai, kas paviršutiniška ir atliekama - protą.
🖋️ Mūsų sąmonė - tai knyga su devynias užraktais, kurią tik retkarčiais išvysta išorinis pasaulis.
🖋️ Meilės nuotykiai įgyja romantiškų savybių tik kai juos atitolina laikas arba kai jie atkeliauja iš kitų lūpų. O tau pačiam, kol tai vyksta, jie tik dalelė gyvenimo kaip ir visa kita.
🖋️ Žmogus laimingas tik tada, kai ką nors veikia.
Išleistas 1921m. Visas romano veiksmas vyksta gražiame dvare, skirtingos asmenybės, intelektualūs pokalbiai, susižavėjimas, ieškojimas savęs.. Ir baigiasi romanas, kai jaunuolis skubotai išvyksta, iš nusivylimo suplanavęs priežastį, ir visą laiką abejodamas savo sprendimu..
🖋️ Tai, kas svarbu, nutinka širdyje. Regimi dalykai - malonūs, tačiau tie, paslėptieji, tūkstančius kartų svarbesni. Gyvenime prasminga tik tai, kas paslėpta.
🖋️ Jei tik visada galėtumėm be didelių pastangų daryti gera...
🖋️ Bet kas galiausiai yra skaitymas, jei ne yda, lygiai kaip girtuoklystė, gašlumas, arba bet kokia perdėto nuolaidžiavimo savo silpnybėms forma? Juk žmogus skaito tam, kad pakutentų ir pralinksmintų protą; juk žmogus svarbiausia skaito todėl, kad nemąstytų.
🖋️ Kentėdamas žmogus visada vienišas..
🖋️ Kiekvieną kartą, kai teks rinktis išminčių arba beprotį, pasaulis nesvyruodamas nueis paskui pastarąjį. Beprotis kreipiasi į tai, kas esmingiausia - į aistras ir instinktus, o filosofas į tai, kas paviršutiniška ir atliekama - protą.
🖋️ Mūsų sąmonė - tai knyga su devynias užraktais, kurią tik retkarčiais išvysta išorinis pasaulis.
🖋️ Meilės nuotykiai įgyja romantiškų savybių tik kai juos atitolina laikas arba kai jie atkeliauja iš kitų lūpų. O tau pačiam, kol tai vyksta, jie tik dalelė gyvenimo kaip ir visa kita.
🖋️ Žmogus laimingas tik tada, kai ką nors veikia.
Read
June 17, 2021Giving up on page 100...could be me, but I’m not really feeling this one 😏 I may come back and finish it in a few months time.
July 11, 2024
Revisiting a book read ages ago can be quite revealing in a variety of ways: the reader is forced to confront the the manner in which he or she has changed over time & also the way in which literary tastes have altered to either limit or to expand its potential audience. Some books may seem to have become dated while others are happily rediscovered.
Beginning in college, I read multiple novels + several non-fiction works by Aldous Huxley, savoring each of them. I hope to find time to reread several more of his books.
Crome Yellow, the author's 1st novel was written when Aldous Huxley was 27. It captures a particular time & place, a country house called Crome, patterned after Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, just after WWI, clustering within its domain artistic folks, perhaps on the order of Yaddo in America.
Denis Stone, the novel's narrator, is young, sensitive, quite intelligent & "enamored of words", a bit withdrawn and in love with a woman named Anne, niece of the estate's owners, who does not return his affection. Denis is taking a break by spending time at the substantial country estate of the wealthy owners of Crome, a rather buffoonish Henry Wimbush & his wife Priscilla, who embraces astrology.
Among the guests, there is the ever-critical, rather pompous Mr. Skogan, "like an extinct bird-lizard with a beaked nose & wrinkled skin", known for his irregular word patterns & said to be modeled after Bertrand Russell; a fellow named Gombauld, an artist from Provence who "exuded vitality"; hard-of-hearing Jenny Mullion who is "enigmatically remote", while constantly annotating her journal; and Mr. Barbeque Smith, a short, stout & outspoken journalist.
Meanwhile, Mary Bracegirdle is seduced by the ever-lustful Ivor Lombard, causing Denis to feel increasingly amorous toward Anne, whose attentions are drawn elsewhere. And yes, some of the characters' names remind one of those in Dickens.
This is hardly a novel with a lot of action and mostly, those who inhabit Crome spend their time not riding to the hounds or playing badminton but just talking.
What struck me is the extreme care that Huxley took with words in this his 1st of a great many novels, plays, screenplays and formal essays. Crome Yellow is quite definitely not to be confused with the author's best-known novel, Brave New World but within its particular narrative format, it is really quite good, even a century after it was published.
I found was that while some (many) readers may call the characters in this novel shallow caricatures, they seemed to me rather different, imbued with considerable sensitivity by the author, even as we laugh at some of their mannerisms, including the character of Denis, who most resembles Huxley himself. Here is just one example, Huxley's rendering of an Anglican minister reconciling his own belief with his flock's lack of it:
Revisiting Crome Yellow was like a return to a time long past, one where I found the characters humorously rendered but mostly captured with compassion, composed by an author who conveyed a mastery of words.
*There is an interesting introduction by Michael Dirda within my Dalkey Archive Press edition of the novel.
**Within my review are images of: a young Aldous Huxley; the Garsington Manor estate; Huxley with D.H. Lawrence at Garsington; some of the Bloomsbury group at Garsington, including Lytton Strachey, Huxley & Maria Nys (2nd from left), who the author met there & who became his wife.
Beginning in college, I read multiple novels + several non-fiction works by Aldous Huxley, savoring each of them. I hope to find time to reread several more of his books.
Crome Yellow, the author's 1st novel was written when Aldous Huxley was 27. It captures a particular time & place, a country house called Crome, patterned after Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, just after WWI, clustering within its domain artistic folks, perhaps on the order of Yaddo in America.
Denis Stone, the novel's narrator, is young, sensitive, quite intelligent & "enamored of words", a bit withdrawn and in love with a woman named Anne, niece of the estate's owners, who does not return his affection. Denis is taking a break by spending time at the substantial country estate of the wealthy owners of Crome, a rather buffoonish Henry Wimbush & his wife Priscilla, who embraces astrology.
Among the guests, there is the ever-critical, rather pompous Mr. Skogan, "like an extinct bird-lizard with a beaked nose & wrinkled skin", known for his irregular word patterns & said to be modeled after Bertrand Russell; a fellow named Gombauld, an artist from Provence who "exuded vitality"; hard-of-hearing Jenny Mullion who is "enigmatically remote", while constantly annotating her journal; and Mr. Barbeque Smith, a short, stout & outspoken journalist.
Meanwhile, Mary Bracegirdle is seduced by the ever-lustful Ivor Lombard, causing Denis to feel increasingly amorous toward Anne, whose attentions are drawn elsewhere. And yes, some of the characters' names remind one of those in Dickens.
This is hardly a novel with a lot of action and mostly, those who inhabit Crome spend their time not riding to the hounds or playing badminton but just talking.
What about? About almost everything. Nature, art, science, poetry, the stars, spiritualism, the relations of the sexes, music, religion.Just by chance, all of these topics were those explored by Aldous Huxley during his lifetime. He was a descendant of T.H. Huxley ("Darwin's Bulldog") & Matthew Arnold, a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford and someone whose motto seemed to be Aún Aprendo, "I am still learning", with his life a continuous quest to explore all he encountered.
What struck me is the extreme care that Huxley took with words in this his 1st of a great many novels, plays, screenplays and formal essays. Crome Yellow is quite definitely not to be confused with the author's best-known novel, Brave New World but within its particular narrative format, it is really quite good, even a century after it was published.
I found was that while some (many) readers may call the characters in this novel shallow caricatures, they seemed to me rather different, imbued with considerable sensitivity by the author, even as we laugh at some of their mannerisms, including the character of Denis, who most resembles Huxley himself. Here is just one example, Huxley's rendering of an Anglican minister reconciling his own belief with his flock's lack of it:
That morning he had preached, as he had often preached before, on the nature of God. He had tried to make them understand about God, what a fearful thing it was to fall into his hands. God, they thought of as something soft & merciful. They blinded themselves to facts; still more, they blinded themselves to the Bible.F. Scott Fitzgerald called Crome Yellow "too ironic to be called satire and too scornful to be called ironic." Huxley thought of his novel as "a little marionette performance & not a real milieu", even making jest of the character of Denis, who the author stated was himself in extreme youth, "someone probing into the palpitating entrails of his own soul."
There were times when he wanted to jump down from the pulpit & shake calm, well-bred, beautifully dressed Henry Wimbush into life--times when he would have liked to beat & kill his whole congregation.
Revisiting Crome Yellow was like a return to a time long past, one where I found the characters humorously rendered but mostly captured with compassion, composed by an author who conveyed a mastery of words.*There is an interesting introduction by Michael Dirda within my Dalkey Archive Press edition of the novel.
**Within my review are images of: a young Aldous Huxley; the Garsington Manor estate; Huxley with D.H. Lawrence at Garsington; some of the Bloomsbury group at Garsington, including Lytton Strachey, Huxley & Maria Nys (2nd from left), who the author met there & who became his wife.
May 1, 2013
Novels like Brave New World, 1984, The Handmaid's Tale and Fahrenheit 451 always seemed to me to be a double-edged knife blade. Their importance in opening many people to the door of science-fiction cannot be questioned. Any discussion of dystopian literature would be empty without their totalitarian omnipresence whilst any mention of the authors, regardless of context, will invariably bring the conversation back onto their one dystopian novel - again and again. It seems to many people these novels were their only ones of note and that for me is unfortunate.
Sure, their dystopian fiction stands equally amongst the pillars that prop up the almighty literary temple. However if readers went further into the poritco, they might see behind the pillars the lurking brothers and sisters of the cruel family: novels that were not as good at sports as their bigger, bulkier brothers; novels that could not play any instruments; or novels that did not earn as much money as their other halves.
So stands Crome Yellow as Aldous Huxley's first published book, set in the idyllic, unflappable English country-house of Crome. At its heart the book is the sharpest social satire - a character study of the 1920s, presented as less roaring but more lost. The novel primarily follows the emotional turmoil of Denis Stone, a mediocre poet, who falls for Anne Wimbush, the niece of Crome's Owner Henry Wimbush. From each of his interactions with the eccentric residents, the awkward fashion of the time is revealed; a sallow yellow mist of awkwardness, not much unlike the Vintage Cover, permeates Crome. This bag of characters, flung together like divining stones, languish amongst the fads of psuedo-science, sexual clumsiness and artistic hypocrisy. Their superficial nature and lack of conviction is both amusing but also jabs at an overall larger issue. Though Denis is emotionally idealistic he is so indecisive that his every action fails before it is even thought out. The contradictory nature of the characters would be highly entertaining if it was not so tragic. Nevertheless humour does make for the backbone of the novel; the scene that involves the highly militant rationalist Mr Scoogan turned Crome fair's soothsayer is fantastic.
However the novel is not without its poignant moments. Surprisingly evocative is Henry Wimbush's magnum opus: a complete history of Crome. A story of its 18th century dwarven forebears ends with an unexpected, bitter-sweet tragedy that will haunt the reader long after they turn the last page. Even the marriage of Henry's grandfather is quickly tinged at its end with blackmail and human folly. This contrast against the perfunctory nature of Dennis and his friends is what makes the book so elegantly smart to read.
Huxley is a smart author. His contrast between the comedic and the tragic is both meaningful and universal. Even to this present day, where the country-house parties seem to be all but gone, the focus of the novel is cutting in that Crome Yellow is all about meaning. The search for meaning in the aftermath of the war; a great void which characters try to fill with their engorged, to an almost caricaturistic reverance, idealogies from science to art; from sex to marriage. Dennis tries to find meaning within himself and, as a poet that means, through his words:
In the end maybe my original paragraph was unfair. I must admit I keep forgetting to read any of Orwell's other fictional works and must share in the hypocrisy of the characters in Crome. Not to mention that science-fiction after all is a social commentary; and is a country-house party, where leaving is almost impossible, not too dissimilar to a nightmarish dystopia? Readers of Brave New World will be delighted with seeing the seeds of that book being sown in Crome's well groomed lawns. The novel is impeccable in its writing and so absorbing it feels like more like an amuse-bouche than anything else; each chapter is a live moment of brilliance but overall it is substantial enough to feel deeply important. It is no surprise that Huxley's work influenced the writings of his contemporaries like Waugh and Arlen. Finally with the risk of looking a little superficial I must end with Fitzgerald's last words where he states to: Drop everything and read Crome Yellow. Wholeheartedly, drop most things and read Crome Yellow.
Sure, their dystopian fiction stands equally amongst the pillars that prop up the almighty literary temple. However if readers went further into the poritco, they might see behind the pillars the lurking brothers and sisters of the cruel family: novels that were not as good at sports as their bigger, bulkier brothers; novels that could not play any instruments; or novels that did not earn as much money as their other halves.
So stands Crome Yellow as Aldous Huxley's first published book, set in the idyllic, unflappable English country-house of Crome. At its heart the book is the sharpest social satire - a character study of the 1920s, presented as less roaring but more lost. The novel primarily follows the emotional turmoil of Denis Stone, a mediocre poet, who falls for Anne Wimbush, the niece of Crome's Owner Henry Wimbush. From each of his interactions with the eccentric residents, the awkward fashion of the time is revealed; a sallow yellow mist of awkwardness, not much unlike the Vintage Cover, permeates Crome. This bag of characters, flung together like divining stones, languish amongst the fads of psuedo-science, sexual clumsiness and artistic hypocrisy. Their superficial nature and lack of conviction is both amusing but also jabs at an overall larger issue. Though Denis is emotionally idealistic he is so indecisive that his every action fails before it is even thought out. The contradictory nature of the characters would be highly entertaining if it was not so tragic. Nevertheless humour does make for the backbone of the novel; the scene that involves the highly militant rationalist Mr Scoogan turned Crome fair's soothsayer is fantastic.
However the novel is not without its poignant moments. Surprisingly evocative is Henry Wimbush's magnum opus: a complete history of Crome. A story of its 18th century dwarven forebears ends with an unexpected, bitter-sweet tragedy that will haunt the reader long after they turn the last page. Even the marriage of Henry's grandfather is quickly tinged at its end with blackmail and human folly. This contrast against the perfunctory nature of Dennis and his friends is what makes the book so elegantly smart to read.
Huxley is a smart author. His contrast between the comedic and the tragic is both meaningful and universal. Even to this present day, where the country-house parties seem to be all but gone, the focus of the novel is cutting in that Crome Yellow is all about meaning. The search for meaning in the aftermath of the war; a great void which characters try to fill with their engorged, to an almost caricaturistic reverance, idealogies from science to art; from sex to marriage. Dennis tries to find meaning within himself and, as a poet that means, through his words:
He was in the mood to write something rather exquisite and gentle and quietist in tone; something a little droopy and at the same time - how should he put it? - a little infinite. He thought of Anne, of love hopeless and unattainable.As he remarks, "words have power". So then the reader may ask what the colour in the novel's title represent then? It is not obvious. However a scene where Dennis expounds the creation of the word 'carminative's meaning solely from its connotations may explain the title. Perhaps Huxley is trying to say that Dennis's superficial connotations are valid. That meaning derived from mere experiences can outlast the coldness of rationalism. The way the word looks, the way it sounds on the tongue, its individual parts, the colours it brings forth are not lessened in any way - but needs conviction for it to be regarded as anything but shallow. Fitzgerald remarks in his review that, "the book is yellow within and without". Just as a word may connote sunshine, saffron and the colour yellow - Crome's yellow is a smaller part of a larger word that strives to be found.
In the end maybe my original paragraph was unfair. I must admit I keep forgetting to read any of Orwell's other fictional works and must share in the hypocrisy of the characters in Crome. Not to mention that science-fiction after all is a social commentary; and is a country-house party, where leaving is almost impossible, not too dissimilar to a nightmarish dystopia? Readers of Brave New World will be delighted with seeing the seeds of that book being sown in Crome's well groomed lawns. The novel is impeccable in its writing and so absorbing it feels like more like an amuse-bouche than anything else; each chapter is a live moment of brilliance but overall it is substantial enough to feel deeply important. It is no surprise that Huxley's work influenced the writings of his contemporaries like Waugh and Arlen. Finally with the risk of looking a little superficial I must end with Fitzgerald's last words where he states to: Drop everything and read Crome Yellow. Wholeheartedly, drop most things and read Crome Yellow.
January 12, 2011
This is Huxley's first published work, written in his mid-twenties, just after the First World War. He had spent some time living at Garsington Manor (the model for Crome), home of Lady Ottoline Morrell. Huxley had been disqualified from active duty in the war due to a period of near-blindness, but as his eyesight recovered, he studied English Literature at Oxford, and had a stint at teaching at Eton.
On the surface, the book is a light comedy, in the Country House genre. In this role alone it is an amusing success. In addition, it has some depth, with commentary on social mores in general, the awakening sexual revolution, the role (and styles) of literature and art, Christian Fundamentalism, Social Darwinism (including a farmyard analogy) and Sanity (Scrogan: "Everything that gets done in this world is done by madmen"), amongst others.
In this, Crome presages Huxley's extraordinary masterwork Brave New World, written some 10 years later, and is well worth a read, if only to get a better feeling for the latter.
On the surface, the book is a light comedy, in the Country House genre. In this role alone it is an amusing success. In addition, it has some depth, with commentary on social mores in general, the awakening sexual revolution, the role (and styles) of literature and art, Christian Fundamentalism, Social Darwinism (including a farmyard analogy) and Sanity (Scrogan: "Everything that gets done in this world is done by madmen"), amongst others.
In this, Crome presages Huxley's extraordinary masterwork Brave New World, written some 10 years later, and is well worth a read, if only to get a better feeling for the latter.
July 27, 2017
To me, the name Aldous Huxley has always been synonymous with "one-hit wonder". I had been required to read his famous Brave New World in high school and subsequently had never heard of him again, so when I encountered another book by him -- and one with such an intriguing title (why not Chrome Yellow?, I wondered) -- curiosity got the best of me. Well, I'm glad it did! I found the book to be just as intriguing as its title -- unique and difficult to pigeonhole.
Huxley assembled a group of eccentric characters for a summer holiday at a country house. Although the "plot" consists simply of a sequence of events intended to amuse the holiday guests, the result is a very entertaining satire of the leisurely class of post-WWI England. If you need a laugh, then this book fits the bill! Overshadowing the narrative, however, the characters take turns expounding (in conversation or monologue) on some topic of particular interest to each of them. Ho hum -- yawn! It began to wear a little thin. This book was definitely headed to the two-star pile!
But wait! This odd sort of book never fails to send me immediately to Wikipedia to see what I can glean about the author's intention in writing it. Really--no one sets out to write a boring book, do they?
I was surprised to discover that Aldous Huxley was far from a one-hit wonder. In fact, he was quite an extraordinary fellow, from a family of extraordinary people. He was (according to the Wikipedia entry) widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in seven different years. His various interests and occupations are outlined in detail in the Wikipedia article and in numerous biographical works.
Because of an illness when he was a teenager, Aldous Huxley was almost completely blind. Later in life, laryngeal cancer gradually robbed him of his ability to speak. Yet he continued to read, write, and speak, even being known on occasion to use a magnifying glass to read a speech which he had memorized and forgotten. In light of these challenges, his many achievements as a writer, lecturer, and influential thinker are even more amazing. Of particular note are his successful work as a screen-writer in California and the influence of his ideas on the founders of the Esalen Institute and the prestigious Besant Hill School of Happy Valley (named for the renowned theosophist Annie Besant).
However, back to this book. Crome Yellow was Huxley's first novel, written when he was a mere youth of 27 years. While it is not a brilliant novel, it is an impressive first effort which provides a fascinating glimpse into Huxley's young mind. Apparently familiar with a variety of topics, Huxley rather ingeniously devised this "novel" to showcase both his knowledge and his wit. Now that is brilliant!
Huxley assembled a group of eccentric characters for a summer holiday at a country house. Although the "plot" consists simply of a sequence of events intended to amuse the holiday guests, the result is a very entertaining satire of the leisurely class of post-WWI England. If you need a laugh, then this book fits the bill! Overshadowing the narrative, however, the characters take turns expounding (in conversation or monologue) on some topic of particular interest to each of them. Ho hum -- yawn! It began to wear a little thin. This book was definitely headed to the two-star pile!
But wait! This odd sort of book never fails to send me immediately to Wikipedia to see what I can glean about the author's intention in writing it. Really--no one sets out to write a boring book, do they?
I was surprised to discover that Aldous Huxley was far from a one-hit wonder. In fact, he was quite an extraordinary fellow, from a family of extraordinary people. He was (according to the Wikipedia entry) widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent intellectuals of his time and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in seven different years. His various interests and occupations are outlined in detail in the Wikipedia article and in numerous biographical works.
Because of an illness when he was a teenager, Aldous Huxley was almost completely blind. Later in life, laryngeal cancer gradually robbed him of his ability to speak. Yet he continued to read, write, and speak, even being known on occasion to use a magnifying glass to read a speech which he had memorized and forgotten. In light of these challenges, his many achievements as a writer, lecturer, and influential thinker are even more amazing. Of particular note are his successful work as a screen-writer in California and the influence of his ideas on the founders of the Esalen Institute and the prestigious Besant Hill School of Happy Valley (named for the renowned theosophist Annie Besant).
However, back to this book. Crome Yellow was Huxley's first novel, written when he was a mere youth of 27 years. While it is not a brilliant novel, it is an impressive first effort which provides a fascinating glimpse into Huxley's young mind. Apparently familiar with a variety of topics, Huxley rather ingeniously devised this "novel" to showcase both his knowledge and his wit. Now that is brilliant!
November 16, 2015
3.5★ I may up this to 4 stars -- I want to see how it lasts in my memory. This is a satire or comedy of manners so there is not much action. Various people are gathered at a country house for a visit which gives Huxley a chance to show us different types of 'bright young things' (this was published in the early 1920s). I found much to amuse me but it rarely made me laugh out loud.
One character I found particularly funny was the local vicar, Mr. Bodiham: "He preached with fury, with passion, an iron man beating with a flail upon the souls of his congregation. But the souls of the faithful at Crome were made of india-rubber, solid rubber; the flail rebounded." A predecessor of Amos in Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm!
There were indications of Huxley's masterpiece to come, Brave New World. For example, in this early passage by one of the guests (Mr. Scogan):
"Eros, for those who wish it, is now an entirely free god; his deplorable associations with Lucina may be broken at will. In the course of the next few centuries, who knows? the world may see a more complete severance. I look forward to it optimistically. ... our descendants will experiment and succeed. An impersonal generation will take the place of Nature's hideous system. In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a sunlit world."
Finally, a quote I love from this (also by Mr. Scogan):
"After all, what is reading but a vice, like drink or venery or any other form of excessive self-indulgence? One reads to tickle and amuse one's mind; one reads, above all, to prevent oneself thinking."
One character I found particularly funny was the local vicar, Mr. Bodiham: "He preached with fury, with passion, an iron man beating with a flail upon the souls of his congregation. But the souls of the faithful at Crome were made of india-rubber, solid rubber; the flail rebounded." A predecessor of Amos in Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm!
There were indications of Huxley's masterpiece to come, Brave New World. For example, in this early passage by one of the guests (Mr. Scogan):
"Eros, for those who wish it, is now an entirely free god; his deplorable associations with Lucina may be broken at will. In the course of the next few centuries, who knows? the world may see a more complete severance. I look forward to it optimistically. ... our descendants will experiment and succeed. An impersonal generation will take the place of Nature's hideous system. In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a sunlit world."
Finally, a quote I love from this (also by Mr. Scogan):
"After all, what is reading but a vice, like drink or venery or any other form of excessive self-indulgence? One reads to tickle and amuse one's mind; one reads, above all, to prevent oneself thinking."
February 27, 2019
Just before I started writing this review, I googled Crome Yellow and found out that it was Huxley’s first novel. Let’s say I haven’t planned on giving it a stellar review. I still don’t, but at least it has an excuse now.
So, to get to the point, I was very bored while reading it. Simply because nothing really happens in this book. A young writer, Denis, is invited to stay during the summer at an estate. The estate’s name is Crome.
Read the full review: https://readingbadger.club/2019/02/27...
I get that this novel was supposed to be a satire. I get that it criticized in quite a funny way at times, the fads and fashions of that age. For me, it just didn’t do it.
So, to get to the point, I was very bored while reading it. Simply because nothing really happens in this book. A young writer, Denis, is invited to stay during the summer at an estate. The estate’s name is Crome.
Read the full review: https://readingbadger.club/2019/02/27...
I get that this novel was supposed to be a satire. I get that it criticized in quite a funny way at times, the fads and fashions of that age. For me, it just didn’t do it.
September 28, 2014
Just recently, Finlay Lloyd publishers sent me a copy of Crow Mellow by Julian Davies, which the blurb says is a satire based on Aldous Huxley’s early social satire, Crome Yellow, but transplanted to contemporary Australia. Crow Mellow looks like fun to read, especially since there are playful illustrations on every page, but it’s much too long ago since I read the original Crome Yellow for me to spot the resemblances, so I decided to re-read the original first.
My copy is an ancient grey Penguin Classics edition, one of four Huxleys that my father bought me as a present when I was a teenager. My recollection is that I enjoyed them all, especially Brave New World, but I suspect that I was too young to really appreciate Huxley’s wit. Considering that he was only in his middle twenties when he wrote it, it’s rather amazing that he wasn’t too young to write it!
The blurb draws attention to the science fantasies of Mr Scogan because this debut novel anticipates the Huxley of Brave New World, but I was more interested in the way that Huxley used this character to satirise himself within his own novel. Denis Stone is a middle-class young graduate with literary ambitions, paying a visit to Mr Wimbush’s country house. He fancies himself as a poet, and is writing his first novel. When Mary Bracegirdle, thinking it would be nice to have a little literary conversation, asks what he is writing and he replies that he is writing verse and prose, Mr Scogan pounces, unerring in his target:
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/09/29/cr...
My copy is an ancient grey Penguin Classics edition, one of four Huxleys that my father bought me as a present when I was a teenager. My recollection is that I enjoyed them all, especially Brave New World, but I suspect that I was too young to really appreciate Huxley’s wit. Considering that he was only in his middle twenties when he wrote it, it’s rather amazing that he wasn’t too young to write it!
The blurb draws attention to the science fantasies of Mr Scogan because this debut novel anticipates the Huxley of Brave New World, but I was more interested in the way that Huxley used this character to satirise himself within his own novel. Denis Stone is a middle-class young graduate with literary ambitions, paying a visit to Mr Wimbush’s country house. He fancies himself as a poet, and is writing his first novel. When Mary Bracegirdle, thinking it would be nice to have a little literary conversation, asks what he is writing and he replies that he is writing verse and prose, Mr Scogan pounces, unerring in his target:
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2014/09/29/cr...
July 19, 2010
This was the author's first novel, published in 1921 when he was just twenty-seven years old. The setting is in a country-house called Crome and there's very little that goes on here by way of plot, just a series of mini escapades and mildly thought-provoking and sometimes witty dialogues among its guests, one of whom intones:
"That's the test for the literary mind, the feeling of magic, the sense that words have power. The technical, verbal part of literature is simply a development of magic. Words are man's first and most grandiose invention. With language he created a whole new universe; what wonder if he loved words and attributed power to them! With fitted, harmonious words the magicians summoned rabbits out of empty hats and spirits from the elements. Their descendants, the literary men, still go on with the process, morticing their verbal formulas together and, before the power of the finished spell, trembling with delight and awe. Rabbits out of empty hats? No, their spells are more subtly powerful, for they evoke emotions out of empty minds. Formulated by their art the most insipid statements become enormously significant."
But we know these already! So I'm going to kill anyone who gives this book 5 stars or say that he even likes this review.
"That's the test for the literary mind, the feeling of magic, the sense that words have power. The technical, verbal part of literature is simply a development of magic. Words are man's first and most grandiose invention. With language he created a whole new universe; what wonder if he loved words and attributed power to them! With fitted, harmonious words the magicians summoned rabbits out of empty hats and spirits from the elements. Their descendants, the literary men, still go on with the process, morticing their verbal formulas together and, before the power of the finished spell, trembling with delight and awe. Rabbits out of empty hats? No, their spells are more subtly powerful, for they evoke emotions out of empty minds. Formulated by their art the most insipid statements become enormously significant."
But we know these already! So I'm going to kill anyone who gives this book 5 stars or say that he even likes this review.
June 28, 2019
این کتاب از هاکسلی نویسندهی رمان دنیای قنشگ نو است. ماجرای پسری به نام دنیس را شرح میدهد که برای تعطیلات تابستانی به خانهای به نام کروم میرود. او در این تعطیلات عاشق (آن) میشود و...
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واقعیت اینست که انسانها محکومند به تنهایی رنج ببرند!
ص۱۱۶
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