Light, amusing and a view of a changing british society. ( )

Like "Those Barren Leaves" this story is about that certain section of society which Huxley paints so humorously, though never to the detriment of the serious content. That content being the intellectual and philosophical themes that this book was written to discuss. Again, as far as I can tell, the book is written more for the thoughts and conversations of the characters, than for the plot and the actions of the characters, but that may just be the way I read it. The book is amusing in that it pokes fun at several of the characters with its almost farcical caricatures. The book also verges itself, just in the right places, of doing what it satirises, which makes it all the more fun, but he gets the balance just right. He also creates a balance between the full-of-life, and the morbid despair. The main character, Gumbril, gives up his dreary job as a teacher, which he doesn't enjoy, to enjoy his life more, and make the most out of it before he becomes too old. This is contrasted with another character, who being larger than life at the start, goes on to give up on it all, and becomes depressed,contemplating killing himself.
I found it more humourous than "Those Barren Leaves", and he does give the reader things to think about here too, but I don't think he concludes the book so well, and overall I didn't like it quite so much. I would reccomend it to those who have enjoyed other Huxley novels though, and also those who have not read Huxley before, because of its sheer hilarity. ( )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6... ( )

Set in "fashionable" 1920's London, this is a frequently tedious send-up of conventional mores and morality. Theodore Gumbril Jr. is a bored young man whose aunt's bequest has given him slight financial flexibility, and he quits his teaching position for more enjoyable pursuits. He attempts to market his new idea, pneumatic trousers, sets up an elaborate guise with the purpose of more successfully seducing attractive women, married or not, it doesn't matter. Along the way he meets a pure young woman whom he dallies with, eventually realizing that she could be that rare something real, but loses her when he is swayed by an older, equally bored married woman. The book is filled with characters of equal lack of substance or integrity. The only remotely sympathetic characters are the young lady in question, Emily, and Gumbril's father, who has created a model of London as a planned city, which actually sounds like an intriguing idea for the times. Otherwise, the book is only of occasional interest and diversion. ( )