Mortal Coils

Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 225K words
Chapters: 23

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mortal Coils by Aldous HuxleyAuthor: Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 5, 2012

Editor's review

Mortal Coils is a collection of short works by Aldous Huxley and a public-domain English literary work. Huxley is known for wit, irony, and keen observation of modern civilization, and this work continues his literary attention to human weaknesses and social absurdity. For Chinese readers, the value of this book lies not only in appreciating Huxley's narrative technique and language style but also in experiencing the intellectual character of early twentieth-century English literature through the original English. The Project Gutenberg edition is freely available and suitable as introductory or advanced reading material in English. When reading, pay attention to the ironic techniques and psychological characterization, and see how the author criticizes social phenomena within the short-story form. As a public-domain e-book, the text is in English, and readers need some English reading ability. Overall, this is a short-story collection suitable for literary enthusiasts, English learners, and readers interested in modernist literature to savor slowly; do not seek plot excitement but take pleasure in language and thought.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary enthusiasts who like Huxley's works and want to read his short stories
English learners with some foundation who want to read original short stories
Students interested in twentieth-century British modernist literature
Teachers who need public-domain English texts for reading or teaching materials

Not a good fit for

Readers with weak English reading ability who need a Chinese translation
General fiction readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced stories
Beginners who want detailed annotations or introductions

Reading tips

Read one story first to grasp the overall style, then read each piece closely, avoiding looking up too many words at the start.
Keep a notebook to record Huxley's common ironic sentence patterns and characterization techniques.
After each story, summarize the theme in two or three sentences to train sensitivity to short-story structure.
Read with background knowledge of Huxley's other works to deepen your understanding of his thought.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is a public-domain original English e-book provided by Project Gutenberg, with the main text in English and no Chinese translation. It is suitable for readers with some English reading ability to read the original directly.

Can I understand it without annotations?

Huxley's language is fairly literary, and some sentences require looking up words. Use a dictionary or the word-selection function of an e-reader; understand the general meaning first, then deal with difficult points, without getting stuck on every word.

Is it suitable as English learning material?

It can serve as advanced English reading material but is not suitable for complete beginners. It is better for readers who can already read general English short texts and want to encounter literary language, to accumulate expressions and feel style.

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About the author

Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 Author

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) was a renowned British writer and thinker, celebrated for his incisive social satire and deep humanistic concern. The library holds seven of his works, spanning novels, poetry, and essays. His early novel Crome Yellow portrays upper-class society through witty dialogue and a satirical tone, while the short-story collections Limbo and Mortal Coils reveal his keen observation of human nature and the predicaments of modern life. His poetry collections, such as The Burning Wheel, Leda, and The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems, reflect his poetic exploration and meditation on life, desire, and ideals. Overall, Huxley's writing is intellectual and speculative, combining satirical edge with philosophical depth, and has had a profound influence on twentieth-century English literature and intellectual culture.