Name: The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)
ISBN: 9780060595180

Aldous Huxley

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)

Only interesting parts were appendix I and II

Andre Schweighofer

Half an hour after swallowing the drug I became aware of a slow dance of golden lights . . . Among the most profound explorations of the effects of mind-expanding drugs ever written, here are two complete classic books—The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell—in which Aldous Huxley, author of the bestselling Brave New World, reveals the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. This new edition also features an additional essay, "Drugs That Shape Men's Minds," which is now included for the first time.

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell

Safiya 

Far from the fantastic surreal new brave world, Huxley talks here about drugs, schizophrenia, art and religion.
I couldn't agree with all of his assumptions, however they just might open a new possibility of transcendental scientific research, other than that, what he says of arts keeps a very subjective tune, despite the poignant apothegms he gets into his use, to which one unwillingly relates, and might harm one's feelings such as : "Thus, it seems virtually certain that I shall never know what it feels like to be Sir John Falstaff...", for I too have "a kind of alacrity in sinking"...
The appendixes are pêle-mêle.
Broadly, it casts a new light on the modern understanding of spirituality and theology, and a tiny aperçu of what chemistry in our blood can do.
"The mind is its own place, and the Places inhabited by the insane and the exceptionally gifted are so different from the places where ordinary men and women live, that there is little or no common ground of memory to serve as a basis for understanding or fellow feeling. Words are uttered, but fail to enlighten. The things and events to which the symbols refer belong to mutually exclusive realms of experience"

John Balek

I first read this when I was 17 and this is my first time revisiting it since then. I have considered this one of my favorite books since then and wanted to see if that still holds true. This book got me into psychonautics and really formulated my way of thinking about the world from that age. 

Rereading this book I can say that it still holds up as an impactful, inspiriting, and educating read. His insight into the world of psychedelics is still just as valuable to me now as it was back then. This is also a read book on religion, art, and societal influences. There's so much involved in this short book but it is clearly stated and a pleasure to read.

The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)

Reviews