Skip to content

Cambridge Book Club, September 2023 - Island by Aldous Huxley

Photo of Mary Mustard
Hosted By
Mary M.
Cambridge Book Club, September 2023 - Island by Aldous Huxley

Details

We will be meeting on the last Friday of this month, instead of the usual Thursday - so this month we will be meeting at 7pm at The Alex on Gwydir Street on the 29th September.

A table for the Book Club is booked under the name 'Mary'.
There is limited space and we don't want to overwhelm the venue, so we have limited the number of attendees. We are usually in the back of the pub in the Garden Room. If you get lost here is my number +447985288404.

The pub is very accommodating and will try to provide more seats if needed, but if you find you cannot attend for any reason please change your attendance in the group so others can take your place.

Street parking is free after 6.30pm. There is also a multistory nearby, the Grafton East Car Park.

The book for September is 'Island' by Aldous Huxley, this time suggested by me! I haven't read it before so I hope it's a good suggestion.

At each meeting, everyone who attends may nominate a book for the following month. The book is decided by a dice roll. Ideally, we will limit the length to approximately 400 pages so that people will be able to finish reading before the next meeting. If for whatever reason you can't finish or don't want to finish, that's totally fine. Just come along anyway and discuss what you liked and disliked!

Looking forward to seeing you all :)

"For over a hundred years the Pacific island of Pala has been the scene of a unique experiment in civilisation. Its inhabitants live in a society where Western science has been brought together with Eastern philosophy to create a paradise on earth. When cynical journalist, Will Farnaby, arrives to research potential oil reserves on Pala, he quickly falls in love with the way of life on the island. Soon the need to complete his mission becomes an intolerable burden and he must make a difficult choice.
In counterpoint to Brave New World and Ape and Essence, in Island Huxley gives us his vision of utopia."

“It’s dark because you are trying too hard.

Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.

I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little prig. Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.
When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic. No rhetoric, no tremolos, no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell.
And of course, no theology, no metaphysics.
Just the fact of dying and the fact of the clear light.

So throw away your baggage and go forward.
There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,
trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.
That’s why you must walk so lightly.
Lightly my darling,
on tiptoes and no luggage,
not even a sponge bag,
completely unencumbered.”

COVID-19 safety measures

Event will be indoors
The event host is instituting the above safety measures for this event. Meetup is not responsible for ensuring, and will not independently verify, that these precautions are followed.
Photo of Cambridge Book Club, UK group
Cambridge Book Club, UK
See more events
The Alexandra Arms
22-24 Gwydir Street · Cambridge