

Aldous Huxley: The Most Beautiful Death - cj
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/03/most-beautiful-death.html

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CoreDumpling
It was a cruel twist of fate to claim the life of a visionary such as Huxley
on the same day as JFK and C.S. Lewis. Much like Sergei Prokofiev, who had the
misfortune of passing on the same day as Stalin, this event flew completely
under the radar.

It's comforting to hear the back story to this, of the strength of the bond
between Aldous and Laura. In a world that was steadily moving toward the
dystopia he feared in _Brave New World_ , at last he found the courage to face
death and go peacefully.

What a pity his message is now so misunderstood (cf.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1919530>)!

~~~
corin_
To be fair, I think those of us who might care about the death of Prokofiev
wouldn't have paid more/less attention just because Stalin also died.

~~~
cema
Many would (and did) -- consider the Russians.

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aerique
I'd like to try DMT before I die, but even while living in the Netherlands I'm
having a hard time obtaining it. I might try extracting it myself some day but
I'm not much of a DIY in that respect and I'd probably light up my garden
shed.

~~~
thret
I'm interested in trying it myself, 'self-transforming machine elves' sound
very interesting.

The Doors of Perception is his best work. I always felt that there was
something lacking in his fiction. Enjoyable, but I could never quite call it
literature.

~~~
Alex3917
If you want to know more about DMT-related stuff then check out podcast
Gnostic Media on iTunes and download episodes #35 and #58. Both of these are
actually about 5-MeO-DMT, which is very different but equally interesting.
Also there are a lot of really good Terence McKenna interviews on the
Psychedelic Salon podcast, e.g. this Under The Teaching Tree series:

<http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/?p=1509>

Of course there is also Rick Strassman's book The Spirit Molecule, as well as
James Orock's book Tryptamine Palace which is about 5-Meo-DMT. I'm way too
scared to try either, but really interesting stuff.

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anthony_w
Note that there is a transcript underneath the pictures, it's a lot easier to
read.

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geden
Had me tearing up. Must re-read 'Island'. It's the perfect antidote to Brave
New World.

~~~
pstuart
'Island' should be required reading, right along with 'Brave New World'.

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harscoat
Wao thanks for posting this. Soon the day of his death.

RIP Aldous Huxley and thanks for having written Brave New World. It changed my
life.

