After many a summer swan dies
I was very excited to find an original version of Huxley book when I visited second-hand booksellers in Istanbul. I was particularly happy about running into a book other than Brave New World: After Many A Summer. It is one of those books when the front cover screams at you to pick it up. I mean, look at this beautiful front cover featuring The Eye of Time by Salvador Dali (the artwork featuring a watch of diamonds with a face and a teardrop falling from a ruby):
The book has a relatively straightforward story line: A multimillionaire named Jo Stoyte, who lives in his castle in California in 1930s with his mistress, expects his doctor (Obispo) to offset the effects of mortality, and possibly find a solution to his soon-to-happen death. In the meantime, an English scholar (Jeremy Pordage) is invited to investigate a series of historical papers dating back to 18th to 19th century in the castle.
My relationship with this book was kind of straightforward as well: I was very curious in the beginning, started to enjoy a lot after a couple of chapters, got surprised by the style after the first chapter, started to develop a dislike midway through the book, developed a familiarity and started to enjoy it again towards the end of second chapter, and loved the book by the time I was done (great final part).
It has been a long time since I read Brave New World that I forgot how dense and philosophical Huxley could get. His literary style is not easy, you need to develop a certain level of familiarity to understand why he tells his story in the particular ways he writes. Secondly, Huxley knows a lot and talks about those things a lot through the characters. References to ideas, books, and works require some knowledge (but it is still fine, you can go through them). Finally, the book features English from early 20th century and as a second language reader, it was difficult for me to progress, which was frustrating at times. However, I tried to be positive about the overall experience and I am really happy I managed to finish this book in two weeks! (Check Goodreads, it takes many people a couple of months to finish it or they simply quit)
First of all, I think it is a great book. I found so many ideas that were relevant to me and our age in general. I was lost at some of the complexity of his ideas, but when it was something I was interested in (say literature or words/linguistics), I was fascinated how ideas were interwoven within the text. Huxley’s philosophical musings are not for everyone, but I think it deserves a chance to be read anyway since he successfully manages to be relevant and addresses beyond his time in this book.
Secondly, due to my interest into literary fiction and writing, I paid close attention to his writing style as well. I was impressed by his way of using different techniques and voices to move the story forward. For instance, the story is constructed in a way that the main story features another story and they both progress (albeit different pacing) and the story-within-the-main-story plays a key role in the last chapter of the book. Besides, Huxley takes his time to dedicate one whole chapter, for instance, to a single character reading an historical paper where the main character has similar passion as Mr. Stoyte, or sometimes just a `heavy` discussion between two characters (i.e., his musings really). Although I got used to him bringing his thoughts on an extended number of topics highlighted by existentialism, life and death, I thought his pacing was too slow at times (Yes, I think I know what literary fiction is, still too slow especially Part Two). Thanks to my dedication, I was able to move forward anyways and got rewarded by a great last part, which was a clever ending.
Thirdly, the characters are definitely memorable and well-developed. Stoyte (William Hearst?) might be perceived as a recognizable character due to his wealth and ambition to be immortal, however, his background and perspective are definitely interesting. While the scholar and the doctor are greatly introduced and narrated, Stoyte’s mistress (Virginia) steals the show whenever she is mentioned. She is a secret (and sometimes quite openly) star of this book as her youth, beauty, and religious manner provide a rich variety of materials/context for Huxley to create contrast with the men of the book and their older age.
Overall, I think this is a nice read for literary fiction lovers and Huxley fans. It is not a page-turner, but I think that you will enjoy it when you get accustomed to the author’s style and pay as much attention to his musings as you pay to the plot itself. Plus, I believe that it has a surprising and satisfying end but in order to reach that, you got to go through Huxley’s thoughts first.
Here are a few quotes from the book:
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for an involuntarily poor man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (p. 80)
You can have all the virtues — that’s to say, all except the two that really matter, understanding and compassion — you can really have all the others, I say, and be a thoroughly bad man. (p. 97)
How disastrous when a man knows how to say wrong things in the right way! (p. 131)
When one has a gift standing gracefully on one’s head, one is foolish and ungrateful to envy the Marathon-runner. (p. 157)
