Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley

The novel takes it title and structure from music, particularly the music of Bach, as it weaves themes and moods in and out, contrasting one instrument with another. Huxley does the same here, presenting a large cast of characters and allowing them to present their ideas separately, contrasting one viewpoint with another. He says, "In the human fugue there are eighteen hundred million parts....It is only by considering one or two parts at a time that the artist can understand anything."

This is a novel about life-philosophies and where they lead the separate characters. Huxley portrays one of his characters (a novelist, modeled upon himself) as writing, "The character of each personage must be implied, as far as possible, in the ideas of which he is the mouthpiece." And that is exactly what Huxley does here. He also allows various characters to give long speeches wherein they explain their ideas.

What Huxley is primarily concerned with is the balance that he feels must be achieved of the three aspects of man--the intellectual, the physical, and the spiritual or emotional.

All of this sounds very boring, as I relate it, but it is not. It is often very funny. (A murdered corpse just going into rigor kicks his murderer. That was priceless.) The plot is actually quite interesting, including bits of high drama. The types of people portrayed are realistic, if a little exaggerated. The ideas are interesting and give me something to think about. The writing is impeccable.

It is slow-going reading, and the people seem more like stereotypes than real, so emotional investment in the novel is minimal.

This is #44 on the Modern Library Top 100 list. It is certainly an interesting read and very well done, but it is written with an intellectual focus, revealing perhaps that Huxley had not achieved a balance in his own life.