Walter Bilas

The quest for eternal youth (through the consumption of some very dodgy animal parts) is at the heart of this 1939 novel set in California, bringing together the rich, famous and downright bizarre in a tale which cries out for cinematic treatment provided it is shorne of the tedious philosophising Huxley engages in though some of his characters. Whole chapters of Part One detract from an otherwise riotous plot, touching on social and political issues of the late thirties and thus presupposing knowledge of context. Evelyn Waugh achieves an altogether different and more ribald result in The Loved One (1947) by way of comparison.

Huxley’s second major novel is a snapshot of bohemian London in the aftermath of the First World War. Characterisation is exquisitely drawn (no doubt from amongst the author’s own friends and acquaintances), and while poor on plot, the dialogue tends to overcompensate with liberal smatterings of Latin, Italian etc which might benefit from translation in footnotes. Historical knowledge is also presumed, rendering the novel heavy-going for readers unfamiliar with the period of publication. Would make an excellent TV adaptation in the right hands.

Dickens updated for the 21st century, without the prolixity and verbosity. A tale of two cities - rich and poor living side by side, intertwining (albeit sometimes implausible) plots and identifiable characters - ‘Caledonian Road’ keeps you absorbed from cover to cover, an indictment of a London that has made little progress since Dickens berated it in his own novels and advocated socialism as a panacea for the ills of his day. Fast forward to the present, and it’s safe to say that large bouts of intervening socialism have done nothing to improve matters. One by one, the characters come to sticky ends or simply do what so many do on a daily basis: up sticks and leave for good. A whopping doorstopper of a novel, it should be adapted for the screen without delay.