内容简介
ForoverahundredyearsthePacificislandofPalahasbeenthesceneofauniqueexperimentincivilisation.Itsinhabitantsliveinasocietywherewesternsciencehasbeenbroughttogetherwitheasternphilosophyandhumanismtocreateaparadiseonearth.Whencynicaljournalist,WillFarnaby,arrivestosearchforinformationaboutpotentialoilreservesonPala,hequicklyfallsinlovewiththewayoflifeontheisland.Soontheneedtocompletehismissionbecomesanintolerableburden.IncounterpointtoBraveNewWorldandApeandEssence,inIslandHuxleygivesushisvisionofutopia.(20040922)
作者简介
AldousHuxleywasbornon26thJuly1894nearGodalming,Surrey.Hebeganwritingpoetryandshortstoriesinhisearlytwenties,butitwashisfirstnovel,'CromeYellow'(1921),whichestablishedhisliteraryreputation.Thiswasswiftlyfollowedby'AnticHay'(1923),'ThoseBarrenLeaves'(1925)and'PointCounterPoint'(1928)-bright,brilliantsatiresinwhichHuxleywittilybutruthlesslypassedjudgementontheshortcomingsofcontemporarysociety.Formostofthe1920sHuxleylivedinItalyandanaccountofhisexperiencestherecanbefoundin'AlongTheRoad'(1925).Thegreatnovelsofideas,includinghismostfamouswork'BraveNewWorld'(publishedin1932,thisnovelwarnedagainstthedehumanisingaspectsofscientificandmaterial'progress')andthepacifistnovel'EyelessinGaza'(1936)wereaccompaniedbyaseriesofwiseandbrilliantessays,collectedinvolumeformundertitlessuchas'MusicatNight'(1931)and'EndsandMeans'(1937).In1937,attheheightofhisfame,HuxleyleftEuropetoliveinCalifornia,workingforatimeasascreenwriterinHollywood.AstheWestbraceditselfforwar,Huxleycameincreasinglytobelievethatthekeytosolvingtheworld'sproblemslayinchangingtheindividualthroughmysticalenlightenment.Theexplorationoftheinnerlifethroughmysticismandhallucinogenicdrugswastodominatehisworkfortherestofhislife.Hisbeliefsfoundexpressioninbothfiction('TimeMustHaveaStop',1944and'Island',1962)andnon-fiction('ThePerennialPhilosophy',1945,'GreyEminence',1941andthefamousaccountofhisfirstmescalinexperience,'TheDoorsofPerception',1954.HuxleydiedinCaliforniaon22ndNovember1963.(20040922)
