Crome Yellow (Aldous Huxley)

This post will essentially be Spoiler Free, however comments by other users may possibly contain information that spoils portions of the plot, so read at them your own risk.

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What It's About

Denis, a writer in search of literary success, heads off for an extended stay at Crome - the country house of his friends, the Wimbushs. However, right when Denis arrives his visit hits a sour note, with his intended visit being forgotten about, and everyone talking over him. To add insult to injury, other visitors occupy the interests of his friends and his long time love interest - one being a writer themselves.

What I Thought

Crome Yellow, although taking me much longer to finish than expected (hello pandemic-related reading slump!) was a marvelous little read. 

For anyone familiar with Huxley's best known work, Brave New World, this bears almost no similarity to it, other than the author's matter-of-fact style. This isn't a science fiction or dystopian novel in any way, and is more of a group portrait - a study of human nature, and of a few different types of artsy individuals/intellectuals.

Humourous and subtle, this short novel made me laugh out loud several times, and on more than one occasion I found myself reading aloud a short passage to others to share the experience. No, the style of humour isn't necessarily for everyone (it's more about irony and real life, rather than farce), but it definitely was a winner for me. The characters are quirky and odd, with various degrees of likeability, but they are all charming additions in their own way.

Although not a lot occurs in terms of plot, you get snippets of the history of the one family, which transports you back into different periods. Now usually I don't tend to enjoy these sorts of diversions from the main plot, but I actually thought in this case that they added to the overall feel of the story and enjoyed them being there.

I have at least one more of Huxley's books, and am definitely looking forwards to reading it now that I have experienced more than one style of his.

If you like witty, character-driven books with that sort of "one-room" feel, I would definitely check this one out.

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Have you read any books by Huxley before? Do you enjoy books with minimal plot but lots of character development, or do you want lots of action?