Antic Hay

By Aldous Huxley

In the aftermath of the First World War, Theodore Gumbril, craving excitiment, embarks on a series of wild and immoral adventures with his bohemian friends, experiencing for the first time an exuberant lust for life that his previous conventional lifestyle lacked.

Charged with excitement and Huxley’s trademark satirical bite, Antic Hay is among Aldous Huxley’s best works, scoffing at morality and conventionalism, and imploring readers to live their lives to the fullest, a message that continues to resonate in modern times.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443428491

Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) is the author of the classic novels Brave New World, Island, Eyeless in Gaza, and The Genius and the Goddess, as well as such critically acclaimed nonfiction works as The Perennial Philosophy and The Doors of Perception. Born in Surrey, England, and educated at Oxford, he died in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews for Antic Hay

[jeffome · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

St. Bart's 2016 #3 - Somewhat interesting 'novel of ideas' that could not break 3 stars for me.....full of pretentious ridiculous characters that I struggled to care about, all pontificating on art, life, morals & on and on and on. And I realize that was part of the point of the book....to be a vehicle for a host of ideas, many conflicting, with only enough silly story to get them all out....but reading back what I have just typed makes me feel like I am back in school, a guaranteed way to stay below 3 stars! With that said, I did enjoy some of the humor in the book....I loved the focus on the inflatable trousers, I thoroughly enjoyed Theodore Sr., the big picture architect, & I laughed out loud over Pasteur's housekeeper calling him 'Master Paster.' But the interminable French & Latin & Italian quotes and verses drove me nuts! No, I don't speak French or Latin.....hell, I can barely speak English!!!! But if the intent was to make me feel inadequate and intellectually inferior, it was a big fail. Instead, my thoughts center on the absurdity of a novel of ideas being written to exclude a huge portion of potential readers from even contemplating the ideas, let alone be sold on them. I have read worse novels, for sure, and there is a datedness to this that further aggravates the situation, but I will tread cautiously as I approach the additional Huxley volumes in my library.

[aliciamay_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Huxley’s lesser known works and now I can see why. For a 250 page book it dragged along despite a promising start about a teacher quitting his job to design pneumatic pants. A lot of the satire was lost on me, but probably would have been entertaining for someone with knowledge of the English upper class in the 1920s. There were witty parts and several passages that I enjoyed, but overall I wouldn’t recommend it.

[ursula_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm finding out that just reading Brave New World in high school doesn't really give you any sense of what sort of an author Aldous Huxley was. Antic Hay is a novel about, essentially, the Lost Generation and their feelings of disaffection and uncertainty in the wake of World War I. A satire, it is at times just poking a bit of fun, at times jabbing viciously. The themes are pretty timeless: disillusionment, the experience of feeling adrift in the world, wondering if what you've wanted for yourself is really worth wanting. The characters are a group of acquaintances who cope with their ennui in a variety of ways - having affairs, becoming unhealthily obsessed with a woman in their social circle, quitting a job, committing to an artistic life, taking pretending to be someone else to new levels.The interesting things to me about this book were twofold: 1, how easily Huxley switches between humor and despair in the narrative; and 2, how he expressed truths in ways that would be just as valid in today's world with only a few key words changed. For an example, check out the quote at the end of the review. I found the book easy to read and digest, and an interesting look at the time period as well as human nature in general.Recommended for: people who know that the more things change the more they stay the same, people who need to be reminded that they are not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first to feel unmoored.Quote: "[W]ould a man with unlimited leisure be free, Mr. Gumbril? I say he would not. Not unless he 'appened to be a man like you or me, Mr. Gumbril, a man of sense, a man of independent judgment. An ordinary man would not be free. Because he wouldn't know how to occupy his leisure except in some way that would be forced on him by other people. People don't know 'how to entertain themselves now; they leave it to other people to do it for them. They swallow what's given them. They 'ave to swallow it, whether they like it or not. Cinemas, newspapers, magazines, gramophones, football matches, wireless, telephones -- take them or leave them, if you want to amuse yourself. The ordinary man can't leave them. He takes; and what's that but slavery?"

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Written and set in the early 1920s, Antic Hay follows a group of upper class friends around London. There isn't much in the way of action; they spend most of the time discussing art, politics and philosophy and showing off. They are all lost and lonely in a changing world where all the old certainties have gone, and all the men are or have been in love with Myra Viveash, the most interesting and probably the most damaged character in the book.

[takeitorleaveit_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Huxley’s most theatrical novel of sorts, this early 1920’s satire toys with the relatively new concept of capitalistic advertizing to the masses, the perils of progress, and the differences between art and intellectual curiosity. The characters are far from his finest display, but worth a quick read for fans of the conversation novel.

[russbriz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Light, amusing and a view of a changing british society.

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like "Those Barren Leaves" this story is about that certain section of society which Huxley paints so humorously, though never to the detriment of the serious content. That content being the intellectual and philosophical themes that this book was written to discuss. Again, as far as I can tell, the book is written more for the thoughts and conversations of the characters, than for the plot and the actions of the characters, but that may just be the way I read it. The book is amusing in that it pokes fun at several of the characters with its almost farcical caricatures. The book also verges itself, just in the right places, of doing what it satirises, which makes it all the more fun, but he gets the balance just right. He also creates a balance between the full-of-life, and the morbid despair. The main character, Gumbril, gives up his dreary job as a teacher, which he doesn't enjoy, to enjoy his life more, and make the most out of it before he becomes too old. This is contrasted with another character, who being larger than life at the start, goes on to give up on it all, and becomes depressed,contemplating killing himself. I found it more humourous than "Those Barren Leaves", and he does give the reader things to think about here too, but I don't think he concludes the book so well, and overall I didn't like it quite so much. I would reccomend it to those who have enjoyed other Huxley novels though, and also those who have not read Huxley before, because of its sheer hilarity.