Reviews

The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley

Only show reviews with written explanations

benjaminbarlow's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

mchester24's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I was excited to pick this book up as a fan of the writing of Huxley and interested in his first-person account of mind altering drugs. A lot of the information and insights given are predictably fascinating-- getting into the science of what peyote and similar drugs do to the brain, in terms of 'removing' filters and opening the mind up to perceptions that are always under the surface. Hearing Huxley's firsthand account as he takes the drug and is carefully observed by his writer friends was compelling, and the second half (Heaven and Hell) goes a bit further to get into why the human brain sees and perceives the things it does without drugs (though our understanding of it is increased by observing it on the drugs). A lot of interesting insights into the function and psychology of the brain, and the book was not a long one, but it really read as simply two essays that dragged a bit on without any natural stopping points in the middle. This made it a bit unreadable and harder to continue to come away with a satisfying chunk read with insights gained.

setlledbullet9's review

Go to review page

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

lunarjuniper's review

Go to review page

3.0

I think someday I'll have to revisit this book when I've gained a higher perspective/experience. I came into it with very limited knowledge of mescalin so it wasn't an easy subject matter for me to fully comprehend. Other substances seem to bring a similar awareness, yet I think so far I have been missing something I need to go deeper with this subject matter. As always, beautifully written. Huxley writes thought provoking masterpieces.

jnchnbyreads's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

3.0

matissrv's review

Go to review page

4.0

Interesants ieskaits pāris apreibināšanās veidos, lai tiktu pie vizionāras un mistiskas apziņas pieredzes. Jo īpaši pārsteidza pieņēmums, ka mūsu krāsu uztvere ir notrulinājusies, devalvējusies, jo līdz masveidā ražojamu krāsu izgudrošanai pasaule, precīzāk, ikdienas dzīve bija burtiski krietni pelēkāka, un baznīcas ar krāšņām freskām bija viena no retajām vietām, kur saskarties ar apziņu izmainošu krāsu spozmi. Tagad to vienkārši vairs nespējam, ar retiem izņēmumiem, iespējams, milzīgu, superkrāšņu ekrānu pieredzes priekšā.
Iepriekš nebiju saskāries ar slavenu literatūras un mākslas darbu, kā arī baznīcu svēto pieredžu interpretāciju caur viņu psihedēliskajām pieredzēm, kas izraisītas ne tikai apzināti, bet arī tāpēc, ka, lūk, savulaik cilvēki, visu ziemu un pavasari, neēdot neko svaigu un uz Lieldienām vēl ieturot gavēni, bija ar tik novājinātu ķermeni, ka efekts tam ir tāds pats kā psihotropo vielu lietošanai (vēl to var panākt arī šaustot sevi, lūdzoties ļoti neērtās pozās, skandinot mantras ilgu laiku). Fascinējoši!