The Genius and the Goddess: A Novel

Bottom Line FirstAldous Huxley’ The Genius and the Goddess at 168 pages is more of a novella than a novel. It is tightly written without being spare. Narrator John Rivers tell the story of haw he matured from a narrow hyper religious man child a modern man aware of but with no answers to the complexities of the larger world. This is intelligent writing. It respects the reader who is ultimately asked to judge the speaker who is not able to resolve the moral conflict thrust upon him. Highly recommended.In Huxley’s more successful and more highly regarded novel: Eyeless in Gaza, Huxley creates tightly wound spiritually too pure, momma’s boy who becomes the foil of a spoiled and selfish narrator. In this much shorter novel we begin with a man child of the same outlook and over-dependence on his mother, who learns to be more than a priggish momma’s boy.John Rivers leaves graduate school to become an assistant to the brilliant genius Professor Henry Marteens. He is invited into the Marteen’s house and into the lives of the entire family. Initially he seems to be little more than an observer of this odd if highly intelligent family and handily deals with the teen-age daughter of the of house who develops a huge crush on John..Except… Except he falls into a passionate if remote, unspoken love of his hostess Mrs. Kathey Marteens; The Goddess of our story. With these few characters, Huxley will create a moral dilemma that will teach John that the simple homilies of his youth and the certainties of philosophy do not properly equip a young man for the world.Appended to the book is a short biography of Aldus Huxley, an essay giving his beliefs in the fashions of love, and a 2 page list of his book titles.

I love it when I accidentally stumble upon a piece of literary treasure that leaves me changed, for the better, in having read it.Huxley manages to capture the Grace of a Goddess, her husband, a Genius, the dynamics of their family unit and household and the unsuspecting guest (John Rivers) who is invited into their world and lives. Told conversationally and in recollection over the course of one evening, we learn of the impact made to John Rivers' life and universe when he experiences love, passion and devotion to a woman-embodied goddess being.Layers of delirious and delicious insight pour forth from Huxley's writing, leaving you tickled, delighted, bemused, charmed and awed. This story has some truly funny moments with richly developed characters you will miss once the novella is done.Don't deny yourself another moment, Huxley fan or not. If you appreciate a bit of philosophical brain-candy that tugs at the heart-strings of emotion and epiphany, then purchase this treasure by a literary giant today.

Forget the plot, though the plot is a good enough plot. This is some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read. It should be read aloud. I don't want to give away any of the story, because it is not what I expected and I want you to be surprised too. But the writing! Just gorgeous!!

i didn't like how this ended.

This book arrived exactly as described. It is a pristine book published in 1955. Thank you!

First thought as I closed this book: "I need to read this again."The theories were a bit tiring to read in the way they were fitted into the story. (It always shows when a non-fiction writer writes fiction, eg. Carl Sagan in "Contact".) Once the story started moving and the large theories gave way (a bit), it became more interesting. The story itself, universal and timeless, is plain and simple in the sense of every-day normality, no unnaturally dramatic twists or peculiar events. Even the awe-striking closure is hardly outside the sphere of normality. But the emotional depth of the characters make it very interesting. They are so well-developed that you feel a growing understanding of them page by page. As a reader you sympathise with all of them and by the time you finish the book you feel as intimate with them as if you are a member of the family.- The genius and his parasitic personality, always fixed on absorbing another's energy.- The goddess who sinned in action but not really in essence.- The unwitting and vulnerable youth who has the experience of passion thrown upon him.- The sin that is blurred between black and white.- The punishment for both sinners: death for the seducing "Eve" and eternal guilt for the seduced raw boy being the only one left who knows the truth.- And, of course, the element than any tragedy will demand: the innocent victim.Overall, it is the study of a sin. However justified by the very human nature of those involved, it is a sin committed nonetheless, therefore a sin to be punished for, a sin to inflict pain and take its toll. It is a book I enjoyed reading and will definitely read again as there is a lot to be gained from the characters every time you return. I will certainly recommend it to anyone with an interest in studying human nature and will not be disappointed by the lack of apparent physical action.

The Genius and the Goddess is my favorite work by Huxley. It's not as profound as Brave New World, but the intellectual characters that Huxley creates and their struggles remind me of my graduate school days. If you've studied Math, Physics, or Computer Science and are at all fond of any of Huxley's other works, you'll like this. There's a good synopsis on wikipedia. Check it out.

This is a very good book for its time and it holds up well. It uses real English grammar and surprises the reader with enjoyable and moving content. I am a Aldous Huxley fan however so I like most of his works.

Great book..

Non seulement Huxley est un styliste hors-pair (ce que ne rendent pas toujours très justement les traductions de ses travaux), c'est aussi un auteur supra-bulbé et profondément mystique. C'est ce qu'on pourra constater dans ce Genius and the Goddess ( Le génie et la deesse , 1955) qui, sans trop en déflorer le thème, évoque une tragique histoire d'amour. On évoquera aussi, pour le côté styliste, la forme de long (quasi) monologue, rendant d'autant plus addictive la lecture que cette voix nous parle, humainement.Oui, ce court roman prouve qu'il y a bien plus à tirer de la somme des travaux de Mister Huxley que l'ultra-référentiel et universellement acclamé  Brave New World ( Le Meilleur des mondes  en VF) et qu'il est bon, pour ceux possédant les qualités linguistiques suffisantes, de plonger "en anglais dans le texte" dans une œuvre protéiforme et passionnante de bout en bout. Le génie et la deesseBrave New WorldLe Meilleur des mondes

This book was written in 1955. I very much like this edition's gold cover. Looks precious. And it is definitely worth the time! And what's more, there is an essay from the 1920s at the end titled "Fashions in Love" which I highly recommend to everyone who is interested in exploring human nature, instinct, passion, desire and the "two coexisting and conflicting conceptions of love".I have to admit, it was tough to keep my interest going as the on-set of "The Genius and the Goddess" is kinda slow. It all starts with two people talking about the past in front of an open fire. Come on... And yet, as I took on reading and letting myself believe the story John Rivers is about to reveal to his friend I grew more and more intrigued by how the characters develop in what they think, say and do and how the relations between them turn increasingly intricate.In the course of events, John Rivers, who is working as an assistant to Nobel Prize winner Mr. Henry Maartens and also living at the Maartens' house, happens to experience deeply ambiguous feelings as Katy, the beautiful wife of his mentor, approaches him to make love. Her mother has died recently. Henry is sick. So she is in need of someone to regain her inner strength. Consequentially, Mrs. Maartens and John Rivers engage in an affair which enables Katy to find God's virtue again and at the same time saves Henry who is "empty of God, swept clean of common manhood and garnished like a Christmas tree, with glittering notions" and who falls into deep despair on the brink of suicide when he is without a muse to nurture, inspire and worship him. To make matters worse, Mr. Maartens daughter Ruth is in love with Rivers, using make-up, writing love poems and, as soon as she suspects betrayal, contributing to his guilty conscience in bitter contempt.You want to know how it ends, right? Read it. As I said, it is worth your time!

Classic Huxley - a very easy read.

This particular one, no more than a novella, is really absurdly expensive.